Belfast readers are 'panic buying' Sally Rooney novels after her publisher pulled her books from UK sale over Palestine Action

No Alibis on Botanic Avenue in Belfast had sold out of Rooney's novels by 11am on Friday, and fresh stock arrived from a Dublin wholesaler that afternoon. Owner David Torrans called it 'a freedom of speech issue' and vowed to keep selling her books. Faber & Faber says anti-terror law bars it from paying Rooney, who pledged UK earnings to Palestine Action, a proscribed group.

Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said of the withdrawal: 'This is one of those consequences.'

Normal People sold more than one million copies in the UK alone.