A former skipper of the Rathlin ferry says he has been forced to leave the island to find work after being "hung out to dry'" by civil servants.
Fergus McFaul says the situation arose due to the absence of an executive and accountable ministers.
He says he made his thoughts clear to Ian Paisley when the DUP MP visited Rathlin on Saturday.
The 35-year-old says a delay of a matter of hours in appointing a new ferry operator in January led him an up to 20 crew and office staff losing their employment rights.
The Department of Infrastructure gave the ferry contract to Dunaverty Limited on January 11 after its predecessor ceased trading due to "financial difficulty".
It followed several weeks of talks between the department and the former ferry operator.
But according to Mr McFaul, the delay in appointing the new operator led to the loss of TUPE – the transfer of undertakings (protection of employment).
The father-of-two, who worked on the ferry for 17 years, was then forced with other former crew and staff to apply for his old job, a process he describes as "deeply insulting".
Mr McFaul's application was successful, however, he resigned last month when it was confirmed that he had lost all entitlements gained from his previous tenure.
Up to a quarter of the staff have resigned, he said.
The Rathlin native blames officials at the Department of Infrastructure.
He says he has been forced to find a job away from the island and now works three week stints on the continent.
Mr McFaul, who is also vice-chair of the Rathlin Development Association, raised his grievance with Mr Paisley at Saturday's constituency clinic on the island – understood to be the DUP representative's first for up to eight years.
"I don't believe this would have been allowed to happen had we had accountable politicians at Stormont and for that reason the DUP share responsibility for this mess," he said.
"I made my thoughts clear to Mr Paisley – the lack of government has meant we were hung out to dry by civil servants who are accountable to nobody.
"I received a sympathetic hearing – I think he understands the issue."
Mr Paisley has been contacted.
A Department of Infrastructure statement said it is aware of concerns raised by an employee "over the cessation of trading of Rathlin Island Ferry Limited (RIFL) in January 2023 and the transition to the new provider".
"The application of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) is, and has always been, a matter between the previous operator, Rathlin Island Ferry Ltd, and the new operator Dunaverty Ltd,” the statement said.
