BBC News
By Conor Macauley
Published
image captionGraffiti and placards opposing the Northern Ireland Protocol started to appear in mid-January after allegations of loyalist intimidation.
DUP mayor Peter Johnston and chief executive Anne Donaghy gave evidence to a Stormont committee on Thursday.
They denied the withdrawal had been a political decision and said it was in the interest of staff safety.
Mr Johnston said the council had been vindicated and would take the same decision in similar circumstances.
Workers were stood down at Larne Port on 1 February after the appearance of threatening graffiti the previous month.
There were also allegations of the number plates of staff vehicles being recorded and negative social media commentary.
MHCLG to continue monthly data returns for some time | Local Government Chronicle (LGC)
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Executives union calls for pay rise in line with staff | Local Government Chronicle (LGC)
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The government s annual grant to the Local Government Association to carry out sector-led improvement work will be cut by 10% in the coming year to £17.3m, but with the top-sliced money continued to be used for sector support.
Negotiations are still ongoing between the LGA and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government over the future of the grant from MHCLG to its Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA), which it has been receiving since 1999 to pay for improvement services to councils.
The LGA is forced to enter into what are often protracted discussions every year over its grant funding, with the ministry so far unwilling to give into its calls for a multi-year settlement.
Concerns have been raised that political considerations lie behind the selection of some areas that will receive new government support following yesterday s Budget.
Leaders and chiefs in deprived areas that have been pushed towards the back of the queue for support under the new levelling up fund have expressed disbelief at their exclusion.
Meanwhile it has emerged that almost 90% - 40 out of 45 - of the latest recipients of the towns fund which were announced yesterday have at least one Tory MP.
Graeme McDonald, managing director of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, tweeted: “Feeling hugely uncomfortable about the allocations from the Town Fund. Hope it receives and is able to stand up to the level of scrutiny it deserves.”