It is a travesty of justice that others paid fines for lesser breaches than Sinn Fein at the IRA funeral

The first people to think of in the scandalous outcome of the Bobby Storey funeral saga are the bereaved people across Northern Ireland.

More than 20,000 people in the Province have died since lockdown last year, mostly non Covid deaths, yet almost all funerals were affected by the pandemic.

Law-abiding bereaved folk across the country obeyed the rules drawn up by Michelle O’Neill and others. Yet they saw her break those rules, attend the massive funeral of a terrorist Godfather, and then say she would do the same again.

It is daily disgrace that Ms O’Neill remains deputy first minister, telling the rest of us daily what we can and can’t do. Observance of those rules has led not just to heartbreak such as missed funerals, but to ruined businesses, missed education, loneliness, domestic violence and missed health treatment.

Worse, the defiant Ms O’Neill — who muttered some feeble, belated regret yesterday — has been at the helm of a party that has been most militant on lockdown and quickest to criticise others such as Boris Johnson for irresponsibility.

The second people to think of after yesterday’s appalling decision not to prosecute anyone are the many people fined for lesser offences, such as travelling to walk far from home.

What a travesty of justice that such people paid fines, yet the PPS say Sinn Fein politicians are excused because rules were complicated. They weren’t complicated for all the people, with no knowledge of politics or law, who had small funerals.

Arlene Foster has called for Simon Byrne to quit, and perhaps he should. But this is much wider than the chief constable. It raises serious concerns about the prosecuting service too.

Think also about Belfast City council’s disgraceful closure of Roselawn cemetery to facilitate the IRA funeral.

And how can Mrs Foster share a platform every day with Ms O’Neill giving Covid instructions?

Indeed, again you wonder how a system of mandatory coalition can ever work with a party that does not want Northern Ireland to exist yet keeps getting special dispensation for outrageous behaviour, including collapsing Stormont.

Boris Johnson’s government stands shamed by its failure to so much as criticise Sinn Fein, let alone take action to constrain their ability to damage politics in Northern Ireland.

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