I’ll never apologise for attending IRA man’s funeral, vows defiant Michelle O’Neill

The First Minister, who initially had been restrained in her response to Ms O’Neill’s participation in a funeral which disregarded public health measures which they both told the public to heed, last night said that the Executive’s position had been “totally undermined”.

That came after new revelations that Mr Storey had not been buried in Milltown Cemetery, where a huge crowd heard orations from Sinn Féin leaders including Ms O’Neill, but had been cremated on the other side of Belfast at Roselawn.

That cremation took place in highly unusual circumstances where many staff were sent home and republican guards were posted at the gates.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the senior IRA man’s funeral, Ms O’Neill insisted she acted within the rules in respect of all the things that were within her control, such as the size of the cortege and the numbers inside the church.

In her first use of the word “sorry”, she said: “I am also concerned that those grieving families are experiencing more hurt over recent days I am sorry for that.”

But Ms O’Neill also said bluntly: “I will never apologise for attending the funeral of my friend” – despite her own law leading to thousands of people not attending their friends’ funerals.

Mrs Foster rejected Ms O’Neill’s words, saying: “There has been no recognition that regulations and guidelines were broken and the Deputy First Minister cannot escape that reality.

“There is no escaping the fact that trust and the creditability of the Executive messaging has been totally undermined by the Deputy First Minister and that has not been rectified by today’s comments.”

However, Mrs Foster did nothing to indicate that Ms O’Neill’s refusal to apologise or resign would lead to the DUP forcing her out of office by the First Minister’s resignation – something which the DUP ruled out on Thursday.

Yesterday Upper Bann DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley reported five Sinn Féin MLAs to Stormont Speaker Alex Maskey, asking for them to be investigated for potential breaches of the code of conduct for MLAs.

However, since 2017 there has not been an Assembly Standards Commissioner, meaning that there is no one who can investigate the five MLAs – Gerry Kelly, Martina Anderson, Pat Sheehan, Cathal Boylan and Sean Lynch.

And Mr Maskey himself promoted the funeral.

The Sinn Féin veteran – who the DUP helped elect Speaker in preference to the SDLP’s Patsy McGlone as part of a deal with Sinn Féin in January – was one of many Sinn Féin politicians to post the funeral arrangements on his Facebook page.

The night before the funeral, he posted details of where the funeral mass would be, when it would be, when Mr Storey’s remains would leave his home, the address of his home and the route of the cortege to a “short ceremony” with an oration by Gerry Adams.

That was all done despite the Stormont public health advice stating clearly that “funeral arrangements should not be advertised”.

The leaders of the five Executive parties met yesterday morning in an effort to resolve the row but an initial written statement from Ms O’Neill, which preceded her appearing before the cameras, was made as that meeting was taking place.

However, her statement, in which she said that “I would never set out to hurt any family or compound their grief at such a sad time”, did not satisfy her critics in an Executive where every other party has called on her to quit.

Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, who both participated in what have been described as “robust” exchanges, said Ms O’Neill’s remarks did not go far enough.

They rejected her claim that she stuck to the rules, insisting there were clear breaches.

TUV leader Jim Allister said that Ms O’Neill’s statement was “breathtaking in its arrogance”.

He said: “Many people missed funerals for friends because they complied with the law. But O’Neill wasn’t prepared to miss the funeral of her ‘great friend Bobby Storey’.

“The obfuscation and selectivity of this statement of non-apology only compounds the situation of the rule-maker as rule-breaker.”

Ms O’Neill also appeared to attempt to blame the Catholic Church, saying that there had been a “lack of understanding” on behalf of the clergy who did not really understand Stormont’s guidance to them.

But last night the church reiterated its position that the advice which it was given by Stormont did not allow for what happened at Tuesday’s funeral.

Earlier, Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald appeared to take a slightly softer line when speaking in the Republic. She told Newstalk: “I am acutely conscious of everyone who has lost a loved one and buried them in the most difficult and heart-breaking and lonely of circumstances at the heart of the pandemic.

“Can I also say that I do understand that looking at the images of very busy pathways in west Belfast and taking all of that in obviously has jolted and has caused some hurt among some of those families, and for that I am very sorry.”

In a statement to the News Letter last night, veteran DUP peer Lord McCrea recalled how recently as a church minister he was officiating at a funeral and had to tell a daughter-in-law to stay outsie hte church because of the restrictions on how many could gather inside.

The former MP said that Ms O’Neill’s statement was “pathetic” and “does not in any way sweep aside” what happened on Tuesday.

The peer, who along with DUP chairman Lord Morrow preempted Mrs Foster’s call for Ms O’Neill to resign by making that call themselves on Wednesday evening, added: “It is clear that she, with the usual Sinn Fein arrogance does not to get it and as she brazenly asserts, she did nothing wrong.”

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