Overwhelming cross-party Assembly vote calling for O’Neill funeral apology

A cross-party motion tabled by every Executive party with the exception of Sinn Féin left Ms O’Neill unusually isolated and followed a debate in which her claim that she had not broken her own law and public health advice was repeatedly ridiculed from around the chamber.

Surprisingly, even Sinn Féin did not vote against the motion – allowing it to pass without a division, something which would have revealed the scale of the party’s defeat.

During the debate, Ms O’Neill again made clear that she has no intention of apologising for attending the former IRA intelligence chief’s funeral.

The overwhelming Assembly opposition to Ms O’Neill’s actions and the level of cross-community support which it achieved makes it more difficult for Sinn Féin to claim that unionists are simply using the issue as a party political attack on republicans.
First Minister Arlene Foster was not present in the chamber for the debate.

Speaking in the debate, Ms O’Neill said there had been “unfortunate considerable controversy” about her actions last week and that “it is unfortunate that this matter has divided the Executive and the Assembly”.

However, she made no move to either apologise for attending the funeral, or to accept that it has massively breached both the regulations and the guidance which she told the public to heed.

The Sinn Féin vice president said  “With hand on heart, I would always say I would apologise for any unintended hurt that was caused. It was not, and it would never be my intention to hurt anyone in society.”

She added: “At no stage did I seek to give offence to anyone...nor would I ever seek to do so.”

Ms O’Neill appeared to row back on her eventual admission last week that her decision to agree to have a ‘selfie’ photograph taken with a man whose arm was around her was in breach of public health advice, instead telling MLAs that she believed she had not broken either the guidance or the law in the cemetery.

She said: “The personal responsibility was on me to ensure that my actions were in compliance with the regulations and the guidance, which I take very seriously. I’m satisfied that I did act very responsibly within the church.

“I’m satisfied that I did act responsibly within the church, as part of a limited group of no more than 30 people as part of the cortege and at the ceremony in Milltown where I paid my respects.”

DUP MLA Christopher Stalford, one of four signatories to the motion, told MLAs that “in a way that would shame the Trump administration” Ms O’Neill was now asking people to “close their eyes to what they could see” and accept “alternative facts”.

He said that her “lamentable defence...hinges on a spurious premise” that the crowd behind the hearse constituted the funeral but the massive crowd marching behind them were not part of the funeral.

Referring to “hundreds” of people who marched behind the hearse and “thousands” who were in the crowd, he said: “This clearly and openly constitutes a breach of the regulations”.

Stressing that Ms O’Neill had helped write the regulations, he referred to the ceremony in Milltown Cemetery where Ms O’Neill was one of the speakers. Mr Stalford said: “She knows both the letter and the spirit of those regulations – why then was a public address system necessary...you don’t need a public address system if you intend to address 30 people.”

The South Belfast MLA said that Ms O’Neill had been “zealous” in telling the public to obey what she said, yet she was now adopting a “do as I say, not do as I do” approach.

Significantly, Mr Stalford said that he had asked for consideration of an inquiry to be established by the Assembly committee which scrutinises the First and deputy First Ministers, something which would have the power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents.

The SDLP’s Daniel McCrossan said that his party recognised the grief of the Storey family but said that “this debate is not about the Storey family – it is about practising what we have preached”.

He said it was a disappointment that Ms O’Neill “could not share in the sacrifice” of so many other people who had heeded her words.

“There cannot be one rule for those who govern and another for the rest of us,” he said.

Fellow SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said that the virus had “ripped the heart out of many families” and there was a need for politicians to show the public that they were sharing in their sacrifices which are necessary to suppress Covid-19.

He said: “Sinn Féin have lauded themselves as being the anti-establishment party, yet they forget one thing: They are the establishment; they are the elite; they are on high as the joint leaders of government and have been for 13 years.

“They’ve made it to the lofty heights of where they are and chose to look down on others and say ‘do as we say, not as we do’ - more reminiscent of 1980s Tories than freedom fighters or socialists that I know.”

Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong said that she did not know how the Executive’s afternoon press conference announcements about public health measures could continue with any credibility.

The Strangford MLA said that many people had asked her why they should heed the advice when Ms O’Neill was not doing so.

DUP MLA Mervyn Storey, who said he had lost good friends over his acceptance of powersharing with Sinn Fein, quoted a letter from a neighbour who buried his father on 15 June.

The constituent said: “We adhered to every single element of the legislation as described by the undertakers. Yes we were disappointed...however it hasn’t hurt anything like the pain at watching what happened at yesterday’s republican funeral”.

Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd queried why the parties behind the motion condemning Ms O’Neill had not approached his party about the issue, and said that “there’s an attempt here to score political points”.

The Upper Bann MLA claimed that he knew there were members who attended large funerals but said “I don’t judge them for that”, and said that one of those who called for Ms O’Neill to resign had joined in a huge crowd, something he said was “blatant hypocrisy”.

Fellow Sinn Féin MLA Órlaithí Flynn said that there had been “little consideration of the pain felt by Bobby Storey’s family” during the debate of the last week, and said that Mr Storey had been a keen supporter of younger Sinn Fein members.

Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken said that Ms O’Neill needs to resign. Mr Aiken said he had told Ms O’Neill personally that it was “not a matter of orange and green - it is a matter that goes tot the core of how we deal with this crisis”.

He accused her of “arrogance” which had endangered the public’s health.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said that Ms O’Neill had not even been contacted by the PSNI, yet Black Lives Matters protesters had been fined and “aggressively pursued” by police, something he said “sums up the hypocrisy of the state here”.

TUV leader Jim Allister said: “By their actions, Sinn Féin have been laughing in the faces of families who have been bereaved across this province”.

But the North Antrim MLA, who had wanted the motion to go further and call for Ms O’Neill’s resignation, asked if it was merely “sound and fury, signifying nothing”.

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