FIRST Minister Arlene Foster has backed the lifting of a lifetime ban on gay men from donating blood.
The DUP leader said the health minister, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill, presented her with new medical evidence.
"It has never been about equality or morality, it was about the safety of people receiving the blood," she told the BBC.
Mrs Foster added: "Michelle came with the new evidence to us and I was quite happy to endorse the decision she suggested".
She said the decision had been agreed by the executive.
Ms O'Neill announced on Thursday that she would lift the lifetime ban, bringing the north into line with Britain.
Gay and bisexual men will now be able to donate blood, but only a year after they last had sex with another man.
