Safeguard our migrant public servants and energy supply, Foster and McGuinness warn May

Prime Minister Theresa May (centre) with First Minister Arlene Foster (left) and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Stormont Castle in Belfast, as she said that the UK's departure from the European Union (EU) must work for Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday July 25, 2016. Mrs May said she wanted to "engage with" all of Stormont's parties as she travelled to Belfast. See PA story ULSTER May. Photo credit should read: Charles McQuillan/PA Wire

The Ministers wrote to Mrs May on Wednesday, August 10, insisting the free movement of labour on which our public and private sectors depend needs to keep flowing.

“Policies needs to be sufficiently flexible to allow access to unskilled as well as highly skilled labour,” they wrote.

“This applies not only to businesses and the private sector but also to public sector employers who are heavily dependent on the EU and other migrant labour,” the Ministers argued.

Although nurses, unlike other migrants from outside the European Union, are exempt from having to earn over £35,000, to live here, there are concerns over what will happen in a post-Brexit world.

The Ministers also warned Mrs May that energy security is a critical issue for Northern Ireland.

“Energy is a key priority, given that there are inherent cost and supply issues in a small, isolated market, so we will need to ensure that nothing in the negotiation process undermines this vital aspect of our economy.

The warning comes weeks after top energy executives in Northern Ireland warned that if local energy plants aren’t commercially sustainable the lights could go out in Londonderry and elsewhere in the not so distant future.