The Belfast City Council probe into the IRA Roselawn scandal must thoroughly examine the claims of crowds coming in via side gates

Mary Lou McDonald, for all her smooth image, was at the helm of the breach, alongside the party top guard. She then tried to justify on the grounds of compassion for bereavement, which only exacerbated the insult to all the people who were actual relatives of a deceased person but still obediently obeyed funeral guidance.

Michelle O’Neill actually scolded her critics for “politicking”, when in fact she did not get anything like the criticism she deserved: having been since March the most aggressive public advocate of the toughest possible lockdown.

Police closed streets for a funeral in west Belfast when the cremation was in east. The event was publicised. Covid guidelines mysteriously and conveniently changed just after it all, which made it seem less out of step than it might have done .

A raft of political opponents of Sinn Fein, some of whom have been scathing about Dominic Cummings, were barely critical of the Storey scandal at first, and only ramped up their criticism of it when they saw the public mood.

But Sinn Fein can do as they want. Irish governments will not allow penalty against them, ever. Weak British ones will not even criticise the party, certainly not if they are Tory. Peter Mandelson was the last secretary of state who dared do so.

One of the few scraps that has come out of this saga is a probe into police and Belfast City council handling of the funeral. If these investigations are not thorough, then the SF exemption from normal standards of public life will be total.

In Belfast, Sinn Fein’s deflection tactics, calling for a bullying probe, failed last night. But there is a long way to go. It is essential that the investigation thoroughly examines reports of crowds entering Roselawn by side gates. Is there CCTV footage outside the crematorium building? If not, why not?

This scandal reflects a wider pandering to republicans in public life, and it is polluting the political atmosphere badly.

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