Two North Antrim MLAs have spoken out following announcements surrounding an investigation into the funeral of Republican Bobby Storey
The DUP’s Policing Board lead member Mervyn Storey has said the investigation into breaches of Covid-19 regulations at the funeral of Bobby Storey must continue.
The DUP North Antrim MLA said,
“The police have confirmed that a number of people have been invited for interview in relation to the events that day. The focus on process is one thing and I’m glad to hear progress but an outcome is the most important. It is 81 days since the covid-19 rules were fundamentally undermined by that event.
I lodged a complaint with the police in the aftermath of the funeral and asked for an investigation with an outside oversight given the confusion about the PSNI’s knowledge on the day of the funeral.
“The admission by senior Sinn Fein representatives recently that the funeral undermined public health messaging was a step forward. Such an admission appears to have been a tacit recognition that all regulations were not adhered to at the event.
The TUV leader and North Antrim MLA said the First and deputy First Ministers are ‘Still Dodging Questions on Storey Funeral’.
The Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister reads:
”In the days after the funeral of convicted IRA terrorist Bobby Storey I tabled a number of questions at Stormont. As a result, I discovered that the Communities and Finance Ministers travelled to the funeral at public expense by Ministerial car. Yet three months a number of questions put to the Executive Office remain unanswered.
”Did Junior Minister Kearney travel to the funeral by Ministerial car? What about deputy First Minister O’Neill? How did Belfast City Council send out an email to funeral directors about the limit on indoor gatherings being raised to 30 before there was an official announcement that the regulations were being changed? Will the Executive Office launch an investigation into how this information was leaked?
”I also asked for the First and deputy First Ministers for their assessment of whether the deputy First Minister, in attending the funeral of Bobby Storey on 30 June 2020, was supporting the rule of law unequivocally in word and deed, as required by her pledge of office. Again, this question remains unanswered.
”It would seem that Ms O’Neill and Mrs Foster are very much on the same page in seeking to keep the public in the dark when it comes to these issues. While Mrs Foster professes a desire to see independent investigations completed into the events surrounding the funeral it appears that she is happy to sit on answers to important question on the issue held within her own department.
”Stormont might wish that this matter would just go away but I will continue to press for accountability and have today tabled a number of questions to the Executive Office asking that my questions, which should have been answered months ago, are responded to.”
