DUP deputy leader Gavin Robinson says covid inquiry must hold Sinn Fein to account

The DUP say the UK's Covid Inquiry must hold Sinn Fein politicians to account for attending a "political rally" during pandemic restrictions.
By David Thompson
Published 9th Dec 2023, 00:00 BST
Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill and SF president Mary Lou McDonald both attended the funeral of former IRA and SF man Bobby Storey in West Belfast during covid restrictions. Ms O'Neill said she would never apologise for attending the funeral of a friend. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEyeSinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill and SF president Mary Lou McDonald both attended the funeral of former IRA and SF man Bobby Storey in West Belfast during covid restrictions. Ms O'Neill said she would never apologise for attending the funeral of a friend. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye
Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill and SF president Mary Lou McDonald both attended the funeral of former IRA and SF man Bobby Storey in West Belfast during covid restrictions. Ms O'Neill said she would never apologise for attending the funeral of a friend. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Gavin Robinson said people in government were ignoring their own rules during the crisis. His comments come after the national inquiry - currently sitting in London - heard evidence from the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson on parties in 10 Downing Street and how the government handled the pandemic.Mr Robinson said: “Those who made the rules should have kept the rules and set an example. I, like many thousands of others, personally missed the opportunity to properly mourn and honour the life of a loved one. Yet people in Government were ignoring their own rules".The inquiry will come to Belfast in 2024 to examine the local government's response to the coronavirus panedmic."Whilst at the moment the focus is on London, the Inquiry will come to Belfast when Michelle O’Neill and those Sinn Fein MLAs and MPs who participated in a political rally in West Belfast in spite of health guidelines against such gatherings, must be held to account. I welcome the fact that the PSNI will participate in that Inquiry as they also have serious questions to answer about how health guidelines were undermined by those who made the rules", the East Belfast MP told the News Letter, referencing the funeral of the former IRA man Bobby Storey whose funeral saw thousands take to the streets. Earlier this month, the News Letter revealed that police have submitted documentation to the inquiry – but the PSNI won’t reveal whether any of it related to its botched handling of the Storey funeral.Police recommended charges against 24 Sinn Fein politicians, including the former deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill in relation to the event. However, the Public Prosecution Service decided that the fact that the PSNI had engaged with the organisers ahead of the funeral – along with unclear regulations created by Stormont – meant that any prosecutions wouldn’t be possible.Alan Todd – who ran the PSNI’s covid ‘gold command’ – gave a statement as well as documentation to the inquiry.

Related topics:Boris JohnsonSinn FeinCovid InquiryMichelle O'NeillPSNIDUPGovernment