Woman who shielded for a year ‘angered’ after coming across funeral procession of 200 people on Falls Road in Belfast

Jane Smith, who asked for her real name not to be used, was driving on the Falls Road to get her Covid jab on Tuesday when she came across the procession.

By her estimate up to 200 people may have taken part in the procession and she believes there was little social distancing. The PSNI said they were called to the church concerned but by the time they arrived there was almost nobody present.

Mrs Smith took a 20 second video clip on her phone while stuck in traffic, which appears to show some 50 people.

However she believes the clip only captured around a quarter of the full procession.That would mean some 200 people took part in the funeral procession.

“I know people want to show their respects but I wonder how many people might have caught Covid the other day going to this funeral?” she asked. “Because there was no social distancing at all. They might have been outside but sure that doesn’t matter.”

There were no paramilitary trappings to the funeral, she said.

“I thought it was kind of ironic that I was going to get my vaccine and that this was happening in front of me,” she said. ”Because I was going to try and protect myself and these people are having a funeral with so many people at it.

”I thought to myself - half of them are not even wearing masks and there was no social distancing, nothing.”

Although she is from a Protestant background, she argued that she would have felt the same way if it had been held in a Protestant area.

“It is not about religion. It made me feel angry. I have spent the last year shielding in my house with my husband.”

Her husband has a litany of significant underlying health issues.

She is in her mid-forties and her husband in his mid-fifties.

“We are trying to keep us safe - and people are doing that!”

She knows families whose loved ones have died of Covid .

“And they could only have six people at the funeral because they were not allowed any more - and then you see this happening. There was not even a policeman about or anything.”

Mrs Smith shared the clip with a number of friends and it later appeared on social media, where it prompted hundreds of comments.

She knows up to five people who died of Covid.

“At least two of them were very good friends and I could not go to their funeral. Their families could not even go to their funerals because they were with them when they died and so they had to isolate for 14 days.”

Mrs Smith believes the PSNI should investigate carefully.

“They need to. It doesn’t matter who you are and what you are. It shouldn’t be allowed. There are people all over NI following the rules and can’t go to their loved ones’ funerals or anything - and then there are people just doing that? It is not right.”

Asked if they were collecting CCTV or dashcam footage, a PSNI spokeswoman replied: ”Police are aware of the video circulating on social media of a funeral procession on the Falls Road on Tuesday afternoon (23 February) and are making enquiries.”

On Wednesday police said the procession had been reported to them just before 1pm on Tuesday. A spokeswoman said: “Police responded and based on observations of people gathered outside the church at the time, officers did not identify any breaches of the Health Protection Regulations.”

It is understood that when police arrived at the scene there were only a few people standing outside the church and as a result, it was determined that no Covid regulations had been breached.

PSNI called out to funeral procession on Falls Road in Belfast - DUP says rules on funerals are ‘very clear’

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor