The former Lord Mayor of Belfast has declared himself "incredibly disappointed" at the lack of information from the authorities following the deaths of two people who went to a dance music festival in the city.

Micky Murray of Alliance was speaking ahead of the funeral of one of those young people, Trae Keenan, tomorrow.

He had died after being taken to hospital on Sunday morning, having attended the Saturday edition of the Emerge festival.

The funeral for the second victim, a 17-year-old girl called Mia Keevan, who also died on Sunday, is taking place tomorrow.

placeholder image — Mia Keevan and Trae Keenan

At least two other people were hospitalised after attending the festival.

The festival was at Boucher Playing Fields, owned by Belfast City Council.

The matter came up for discussion on Thursday's edition of BBC Talkback.

Presenter William Crawley said there are "big public interest questions" for the Public Health Authority and police, but that "the answers have been few, and the silence has been deafening".

Councillor Murray said he had asked for an "urgent" meeting between the council, the organisers of Emerge, and "anyone that's involved in public safety".

In the end, he said, "councillors were left out of that meeting".

Instead, he told the show, council officers met with organisers and police, then councillors met with the officers.

"It's incredibly disappointing that those agencies who have a responsibility for public health have not come out and made statements, and have not made themselves available, in my opinion," he said.

"I think what's allowed to happen is that the narrative is being controlled by social media."

He added: "Obviously there's a police investigation on so we can't speculate on what exactly the cause of death was."

Trae Keevan's sister Shanice had said that his death is thought to be linked to a heart attack stemming from a panic attack, not from drugs.

Mr Keevan was in his 20s, a father, and was from south Down. Miss Keevan was from Co Tipperary.

The council would not answer questions about today’s meeting.

Whilst it voiced condolances, it said “as there is an ongoing PSNI investigation we cannot comment further at this time”.

The PHA issued a press release today, reiterating its drug safety advice ahead of further concerts due to happen at Boucher Playing Fields in the coming days, but said it “cannot comment on ongoing investigations by the PSNI in relation to recent tragic events”.

The PSNI said enquiries are going on into both deaths.