Hay's concerns on air gridlock

Mr Hay told the Sentinel he is in the process of contacting the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister to see if any intervention from the Assembly can be made to alleviate the plight of Londonderry tourists stranded across Europe and beyond.

A group of school children from the city are currently stranded in Belgium having paid a visit to World War I battlefields and Mr Hay says that the calls he is receiving are highly critical of airlines for dispensing a lack of information on the situation.

Most of Europe's airspace remains closed a week after the volcano erupted beneath a glacier in Iceland. The paralysis of air traffic has prompted an emergency meeting of EU Ministers and British Armed forces are preparing to deploy Royal naval ships in an effort to get some of the affected tourists home.

Mr Hay told the Sentinel: "People are highly concerned about the lack of information being sent out by airlines. The situation is becoming highly worrying. This is costing people quite a bit of money and some of them do not have the resources, so panic is beginning to set in.

"Many families are stranded and as public representatives we have a great deal of responsibility to make sure that people are at least receiving proper information.

"The families we have spoken to over the weekend have expressed bewilderment at being stranded and say there is no one there to help them. As an MLA for the area I am going to see what I can do for those people from the Foyle area and I am planning to speak to the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister to see what can be done."