O’neill to be grilled at the Covid inquiry about Storey funeral

MICHELLE O’neill will appear at the Covid inquiry this week, where she is expected to be grilled about her attendance at the funeral of IRA man Bobby Storey at the height of the pandemic.

The current First Minister will be questioned at the inquiry tomorrow, while former First Minister Arlene Foster will appear on Wednesday.

Ms O’neill sparked outrage from many quarters in June 2020 when she appeared at Mr Storey’s funeral, along with other Sinn Fein ministers, at a time when tight restrictions on public gatherings were in place.

Sinn Fein insisted that both the party and Ms O’neill acted within the rules at all times.

At the time Ms O’neill said she would “never apologise for attending the funeral of my friend”.

Following claims she and others had broken Covid guidelines the incident was investigated, but the Public Prosecution Service subsequently decided not to prosecute anyone in connection with the funeral.

Appearing before the Covid inquiry last week, former DUP Economy Minister Diane Dodds said the funeral incident “damaged relations” within the Stormont Executive.

“It was really difficult to then stand at another press conference and say to the public, ‘we’re going to allow you to do this’, when all of this had taken place just a few days before it,” she added.

When Ms O’neill goes before the inquiry panel tomorrow she is expected to be vigorously questioned about her attendance at Mr Storey’s funeral at the height of the pandemic.

Former DUP leader Baroness Arlene Foster will also likely be asked about the incident.

Last week former Sinn Fein Communities Minister Caral Ni Chuilin, who also attended Mr Storey’s funeral, admitted she should not have attended the event at all.

In her written statement to the inquiry, Ms Ni Chuilin accepted that public confidence in the Executive was “impacted by breaches of rules and standards by public figures in the north or in Britain”.

She added: “I attended the funeral of my dear friend Bobby Storey in a personal capacity, and I accept that in doing so I caused hurt to families who lost a loved one during the pandemic. I apologise for the hurt caused by my actions.”

Brenda Campbell KC, counsel for bereaved families, put it to Ms Ni Chuilin during her appearance:: “By the time that you took over as Communities Minister in June 2020, you — and everyone — would have been only too aware that the Executive had imposed previously unthinkable restrictions on our community and that those restrictions had caused a great many people to make very painful sacrifices, particularly around the attendance at funerals of parents, of children, of partners, or, as you put it, of ‘dear, dear, friends’.

“Rather than just hurt, can you see the impact that that had on our community in terms of anger, and resentment, towards our publicly-elected representatives?”

Ms Ni Chuilin responded: “I can, Ms Campbell, and I just want to take the opportunity again to apologise to the families who lost a loved one. I am very sorry. I absolutely do see the impact, and I also recognise that people were more than angry, so I do accept that — and I really am sorry.”