Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PSNI spent £19,000 on Storey funeral
TUV leader blasts huge patrol cost
THE PSNI spent almost £19,000 on the policing operation for Bobby Storey’s funeral.
An estimated £18,861 was spent patrolling the event in West Belfast last June, figures obtained by the Mirror reveal.
The funeral of the ex-senior IRA man was one of the most controversial events of the Covid-19 pandemic here.
It caused a major dispute in Stormont as large crowds – including senior
Sinn Fein representatives – attended, despite strict limits on public gatherings. A total of 24 of the party’s politicians, including Deputy First Minister Michelle O’neill, were interviewed over alleged restriction breaches. But the investigation resulted in no prosecutions. Police watchdog Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary is reviewing the PSNI’S response to the funeral and its report will be DEATH Bobby Storey published on May 17. The estimated cost of policing the funeral was revealed after a Freedom of Information request.
In its response, the PSNI said some costs were estimated including officer hours which were “worked out using a ready reckoner rate”.
Officers deployed as part of their normal duties, as opposed to those specifically detailed to the event, were not included in the cost.
It added: “Please also note that these estimated costs do not include any additional sundries, i.e. transport, fuel etc, that would have been utilised.” TUV leader Jim Allister hit out at the policing spend, saying: “At a cost of almost £19,000 it is clear the PSNI were in no doubt that funeral of this terrorist was going to demand significant resources.
“At the heart of all of this is the cold reality thousands of ordinary people were unable to give their loved one the send off they would have liked.”
A PSNI spokesman said: “HMIC is conducting an independent review of police actions in relation to the funeral and until that is complete it would be inappropriate to comment further.”