Covid Inquiry Reveals: Lockdown Compliance Unaffected After Storey Funeral, Says O'Neill

The Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, stated that there is no proof indicating a decrease in adherence to guidelines. Covid limitations following Bobby Storey’s funeral.

The former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, stated this during the Covid-19 Inquiry in Belfast on Wednesday whilst they were examining Stormont choices determined through testing, tracing, and isolating.

The former DUP The leader mentioned that compliance decreased afterwards. Sinn Fein Ministers such as Ms O'Neill participated in the major funeral ceremony for the high-ranking republican in west Belfast in June 2020, despite limitations on public assemblies at the time.

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"I believe we weren't delayed in promoting compliance since every day at our press briefings, we urged the public to adhere to guidelines," Mrs Foster stated during the inquiry on Wednesday.

There was a lapse in compliance following the participation of senior Sinn Féin members in a prominent republican funeral towards the end of June, leading to significant challenges regarding adherence and conformity in Northern Ireland.

She mentioned that even though efforts were put in, including collaborating with the PSNI And despite providing funds for councils to hire COVID marshals, there remained "an issue persisting with the Executives" concerning non-compliance due to the Storey funeral.

When asked about Mrs. Foster's remarks, Ms. O'Neill stated at the inquiry: "I believe that unfortunately, Arlene Foster brought up this matter once more today for political reasons."

I do not think there is any proof indicating that this is true.

Ms O'Neill apologized for her presence at the funeral during the Covid inquiry in 2024.

On Wednesday, Mrs Foster stated that it was "cruel" for individuals to pass away unaccompanied during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ex-DUP head stated that if she had the power to alter one aspect of that time, it would have been allowing families to make their own educated choices about staying with their loved ones during their final moments.

When asked if Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities experienced hardships due to longstanding inequalities, Mrs. Foster stated that this applied "to several distinct groups."

“For instance, young individuals were deprived of opportunities in life that should have been available to them," she stated.

Individuals residing solo experienced solitude and loneliness; those passing away unaccompanied in hospitals – if I had the power to alter one aspect, my lady, it would be this very situation.

We ought to have provided all the details to the families, informed them about the potential dangers, and let them decide for themselves if they wished to be with their loved ones during their final moments.

“I believe it’s rather cruel, upon reflection, to let somebody pass away solitary, as countless individuals experienced.”

Mrs Foster and Ms O'Neill were similarly questioned regarding the choice to discontinue contact tracing on March 12, 2020. According to Mrs Foster, this decision came following a Cobra meeting held on March 12, where both she and Ms O'Neill, along with Health Minister Robin Swann, had minimal opportunities for input and found themselves primarily listening.

Both Mrs Foster and Ms O'Neill stated that they did not gather from the Cobra meeting that contact tracing was supposed to cease.

Mrs Foster stated: "Following the Cobra meeting, I mistakenly believed that we weren't going to halt contact tracing based on our discussion. However, it seems the Department of Health interpreted the situation differently and ceased the contact tracing activities."

The Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer, Michael McBride, informed the inquiry that the limitations in testing capabilities led to the choice to cease community testing. He also stated that ceasing contact tracing became a "secondary issue" due to this limitation.

Despite having access to fewer than 200 tests per day as late as one week following 12 March, our capabilities in Northern Ireland were constrained further due to shortages of reagents and swabs caused by worldwide supply chain problems.

Mrs Foster was questioned regarding whether a differing decision to halt testing and contact tracing on March 12 might have been reached, considering there were 20 confirmed cases in Northern Ireland at that point.

"There was a choice... however, those choices were not made. I believe we were still fairly early in the pandemic, and honestly, we were not ready for what was headed our way," she stated on Wednesday.

Mrs Foster stated that the test and trace system was not originally considered a "substantial" matter requiring a decision from the Executive.

In retrospect, she mentioned it "likely ought to have been brought before the Executive," yet she also noted that doing so "might have caused delays."

I am aware that there was a genuine worry back then about the substantial volume of tasks assigned to government officials, which likely delayed decision-making considerably," she stated. "I'm not saying this was the reason it reached the Executive, though.

She mentioned that there wasn't a "plug and play" system available for contact tracing, and expressed her hope that one of the lessons learned would include the capability to rapidly increase capacity should such an event occur again.

Ms O'Neill stated that she voiced worries regarding the cessation of contact tracing in March because it contradicted the recommendations put forth by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Notes from Ms O'Neill, who was serving as the deputy First Minister at the time, were presented during a meeting held on March 16. In her notes, she stated "The GB approach is a living nightmare compared to the rest of the world."

She informed the inquiry that it was unequivocally a choice made by the Department of Health to cease contact tracing in mid-March. When questioned regarding a memo indicating that the Department of Health preferred allocating resources towards tackling COVID-19 instead of conducting contact counts and having individuals isolate for seven days before getting tested, Ms O'Neill responded accordingly.

I reckon this might be seen as a protective remark suggesting we shouldn't merely tally up; instead, let's take another course of action. However, I feel that once more, it was not the appropriate strategy.

Ms O'Neill was questioned by inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett about whether her concerns were overlooked due to significant political divisions in Northern Ireland.

The reality of us living on an island and being one unified epidemiological entity was not taken into account during the decision-making process.

That isn't a political statement; it's merely a logical one. It seemed as though this wasn't being considered.

I believe that occasionally, this might have been perceived as my desire to adopt all practices from the southern region. However, I did not. My aim was to embrace whatever proved effective, regardless of its origin, provided it benefited those we served.

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