Independent Bobby Storey funeral investigation to be set up, despite council staff threatening to quit

During a virtual emergency council meeting called yesterday, not a singled councillor on Northern Ireland’s largest public authority voted against a DUP proposal – which, unusually, was seconded by Alliance – to bring in an outsider to lead an investigation.

In a recorded vote, 36 councillors supported the motion, with 21 abstaining. Sinn Féin and People Before Profit had both said that they would abstain after raising concerns about such an investigation.

The decision came despite the council having conducted its own internal investigation which was leaked on Thursday night and which chief executive Suzanne Wylie and senior executive Nigel Grimshaw had argued was sufficient, threatening to resign if the council went further and set up a wholly independent probe.

Sinn Féin councillor Matt Garrett asked the city solicitor if the motion was in order or whether an independent investigation could be prejudicial because of an ongoing police investigation into possible breaches of the coronavirus regulations at the funeral.

The city solicitor said it was “less than ideal” to have multiple investigations and there was “potential” for prejudice but that the parameters of the proposed investigation were such that it could proceed “with caution”.
DUP group leader George Dorrian said he regretted that the meeting was necessary.

He said that his party wanted “all the facts” about what had happened at the cemetery to be established, as well as clarity on what had been decided beforehand by the council.

He said that the eight families affected, as well as the wider community, needed an explanation, adding that “the hurt and pain this has called is unparalleled”.

Alliance councillor Sian Mulholland, who seconded the motion, said: “We just simply need somebody to look at this independently...we need full openness and transparency”.

Green councillor Mal O’Hara apologised to the families treated less favourably than that of Mr Storey, but said that “words are a cold comfort” to those who received differential treatment.

He said that “throughout the coronavirus crisis we’ve all had to make sacrifices...it appears there is one rule for senior politicians and those with power and influence and another for ordinary people”.

The SDLP’s Donal Lyons said it was “unjust” that families had been treated differently, and he backed the independent investigation.

The terms of yesterday’s motion mean that council officers will be involved in choosing the investigator, in consultation with councillors.

It is not clear how long the process will take but several councillors expressed a desire for a speedy resolution to the issue.

Death threat to council officer

One of the senior Belfast City Council officers at the centre of the controversy over Bobby Storey’s funeral received a death threat just before yesterday’s council meeting.

The council said that it received an email which “due to the serious nature of its content” was passed to the PSNI.

Many councillors at yesterday’s meeting condemned the threat and urged those with information about it to pass it to the police.

However, the threat did not dissuade councillors from pressing ahead with an independent investigation into what happened over the former IRA director of intelligence’s funeral.

Sinn Fein’s Ciaran Beattie blamed unspecified councillors for “misinformation being put into public domain” and said that “the senior officers have done nothing wrong”.

PUP councillor John Kyle said that the events of the last fortnight had been “disturbing, distressing and damaging” and said that Michelle O’Neill had shown “breathtaking hypocrisy” in breaching the guidelines she had urged others to accept.

He also said that the council’s “communications internally and externally have been poor” and that the reputation of the council for acting fairly had been damaged, necessitating an investigation by an outside.

Ulster Unionist councillor Sonia Copeland said that any council investigation, no matter how rigorous, could be “ridiculed as a cover-up”.

She pledged not to be part of a “witch-hunt”, but added “I do expect the facts – warts and all”.

The east Belfast councillor also said it was important that the investigation must be able to compel production of documents and evidence, although it is unclear if will in fact have those powers.

Storey wouldn’t have wanted this: SF cllr

Bobby Storey would not have wanted preferential treatment, a Sinn Féin councillor has said.

Geraldine McAteer said that Mr Storey “passionately believed in equality...which is why I believe, having known him and had experience of the work that he did over the years, I do not believe that Bobby Storey would ever have advocated for special treatment to be afforded to his family at the expense and distress of others at Roselawn Cemetery”.

She went on to seem to blame the council staff for what had happened. Referring to council staff who treated the senior Sinn Féin figure’s funeral preferentially, Cllr McAteer said: “Those who took the decisions have caused hurt to families”.

People Before Profit’s Fiona Ferguson said she had concerns about hypocrisy because other calls for investigations – around care homes, unsafe workplaces and differential treatment of ethnic minorities – had been ignored.

She also said: “I don’t understand why we need CCTV of grieving families being trawled over by anyone”.

And she questioned if the city solicitor could be truly independent in having any role in the process when he was involved in the situation and was a coworker of those being investigated.

——— ———

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor