Bobby Storey funeral: Lawyers hope paperwork will show whether council ‘bowed to Sinn Fein pressure’

Bobby Storey, a former leading Provo, was the only person whose relatives were permitted a service at the council-run facility that day.

Reavey Solicitors, with offices from north-west Belfast to Carrickfergus, said it has sent “pre-action correspondence“ to the council.

Lawyer Glen Armstrong said what he is seeking is “a declaration from the High Court that the decisions taken by Belfast City Council leading up to June 30 were unlawful”.

He said: “This is very much a public accountability issue.

“The decision-making process was fundamentally flawed; it was clandestine, opaque, and cloaked with secrecy...

“We’d hope discoverable documentation would be disclosed to us that’d show who dotted the Is and crossed the Ts and whether the council did indeed bow to pressure from Sinn Fein leading up to the decision.”

The council said: “A decision has been taken by members to carry out an independent investigation, therefore it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

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