Sinn Féin isolated as every other Executive party calls on Michelle O’Neill to quit over ‘flagrant’ breaches

Ms O’Neill, who broke her own public health advice during her attendance at top IRA man Bobby Storey’s vast funeral on Tuesday, yesterday remained defiant, refusing to even apologise for what she did.

But with the shattering of her credibility to tell the public how to behave, the Executive cancelled its planned press conference yesterday at which she and Arlene Foster had been due to speak.

With evidence of widespread public anger at how blatantly Ms O’Neill failed to do what she told the rest of the public to do, Mrs Foster yesterday morning wrote to her Stormont Castle counterpart to ask her to step aside while her actions are investigated.

That move by Mrs Foster came after the DUP leader and party colleague Gregory Campbell initially refused to call on Ms O’Neill to resign.

But a statement by DUP chairman Lord Morrow on Wednesday night in which he demanded that both Ms O’Neill and Conor Murphy stand down appeared to back up what other DUP sources say was a growing belief in the party that Mrs Foster’s restraint was untenable.

By yesterday morning the DUP was the final Executive party to say that the deputy first minister had to go, after SDLP leader Colum Eastwood had joined the earlier calls by the UUP and Alliance for her to quit.

But senior DUP figures went out of their way to make clear that they do not plan to do what Sinn Fein did to them in January 2017 – ejecting each other from office by Mrs Foster tendering her resignation as first minister, thus toppling devolved government.

Even the Green Party – which chose to stand aside in North Belfast as recently as December, thus making it easier for Sinn Fein to win the Westminster seat – called on her to quit, with leader Clare Bailey denouncing “flagrant and conscious breaches of the coronavirus regulations”.

In an unusually hard-hitting statement, the South Belfast Green MLA said: “I believe that people are genuinely hurt and angry that the deputy first minister did not do herself what she asked of others.

“The deputy first minister must act at all times in the best interests of everyone in Northern Ireland. There can be no greater collective interest than our health and well-being.

“Michelle O’Neill should consider whether her priority during this pandemic is the people of Northern Ireland or the republican family.”

Mrs Foster made clear that she would not collapse Stormont if Ms O’Neill refuses to stand aside, arguing that it is vital that Northern Ireland has a government amid the coronavirus emergency.

She said: “Why would I punish the people of Northern Ireland for the bad behaviour of Sinn Fein?

“People expect me to lead, I will lead and I am not going to walk away from the government of Northern Ireland at a time when we are having severe challenges ahead of us. I think that that would be a dereliction of my leadership and I’m not prepared to do that.”

Speaking to UTV, Mrs Foster confirmed that yesterday’s joint public health press conference which she and Ms O’Neill were due to take was cancelled because she was not prepared to appear with Ms O’Neill until the row over her attendance at the funeral was resolved.

“There is a credibility issue now and we have to deal with that,” she said.

“What we need to do is to find a way to build the credibility back.”

However, Mrs Foster did not make clear whether that meant she will never again share a platform with Ms O’Neill until she either stands aside or apologises, or whether it is just a temporary stance by her.

Last night the Executive’s former chief spin doctor, Stephen Grimason, said that he did not think that this was a crisis which would endanger devolution because none of the parties wanted that to happen.

The Executive’s former director of communications told Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra programme that the danger for Sinn Fein was that the story may not die down, and public anger could grow.

However, in evidence of continued DUP disquiet, last night DUP peer Lord McCrea repeated his call for not just Ms O’Neill to resign – something Mrs Foster has now backed – but also for Finance Minister Conor Murphy to quit, something which the DUP leadership has not called for.

In a statement to the News Letter, the DUP veteran said: “Michelle O’Neill and Conor Murphy have lost all credibility and integrity and must in the interest of the whole community resign now.

“Also, having breached the guidelines their attendance in the Assembly or Executive meetings would also compromise the safety and well-being of the rest of the MLAs.

“The appropriate period of isolation under Michelle O’Neill’s guidelines must be adhered to by all Sinn Fein MLAs including O’Neill, Murphy, Gerry Kelly and Martina Anderson.”

Lord McCrea also said that DUP peers had sought a meeting with the chief constable ahead of Tuesday’s “defiant act of lawlessness”.

He said that no meeting had taken place but that it was imperative that the PSNI was seen to enforce the law as rigorously with those present at the funeral as they had done with those responsible for “minor breaches”.

This morning the Executive party leaders will meet in an attempt to resolve the issue.

Despite the presence of thousands of people on the streets of west Belfast on Tuesday, Ms O’Neill has insisted the funeral cortege was limited to 30, while social distancing in the church was “exemplary”.

However, among multiple breaches of her own department’s guidance there were reportedly more than 100 people inside the church – something the Roman Catholic Church has confirmed was not applied to other funerals, which have been limited to 10 mourners inside the building.

There was one further coronavirus-linked death reported yesterday, and seven new cases of the virus.

No one should be stopped from attending funerals, says SF leader

Mary Lou McDonald has said that no one should be punished for attending the funeral of a friend – even though Michelle O’Neill’s own legislation did just that.

Speaking in Dublin yesterday, the Sinn Fein president insisted that people had done their best to abide by the coronavirus regulations during this week’s Belfast funeral.

She told reporters: “I don’t think anybody should be punished or asked to step aside or step down because they attended the funeral of their friend.”

However, Stormont’s legislation restricts the population’s movement, with few exceptions.

One of those exceptions is to attend a funeral of a member of one’s household, a close family member or the funeral of a friend if none of their family can attend.

A breach of that law is an offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000.

For that reason, and out of altruistic attempts to save lives, thousands of people over recent months have restricted funerals to 10 people.

Ms McDonald said that her party colleague has a “very considerable” job to do in leading Northern Ireland back to normality and that she should not be punished and asked to step aside.

She said: “Where someone is a public figure or where someone dies in very difficult and tragic circumstances people will come out to pay their respects ...There needs to be, above all else in these circumstances, absolute thought and sensitivity to the families in question.”

Deputy first minister broke pledge of office, says Allister

Michelle O’Neill broke her pledge of office, TUV leader Jim Allister has claimed, arguing that she therefore can no longer serve as a minister.

The pledge includes a commitment to support the rule of law “unequivocally in word and deed”.

Mr Allister highlighted that The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 state that it is only a reasonable excuse for someone to leave home to attend a funeral if no one from the family of the deceased or their household can attend – which was not the case on Tuesday.

The legislation also limits the number of people who can attend an outdoor gathering.

Mr Allister said: “Yet as a rule-giver Ms O’Neill, who has regularly lectured the public on there being no exemptions from these requirements, has the audacity to insist she did nothing wrong!

“Has she no shame or no thought for those on whom she inflicted these restrictions when they were burying loved ones?”

Ms O’Neill said categorically on Wednesday: “I’m satisfied that my actions were within the public health guidance ... my actions I stand over”.

Meanwhile, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said that Ms O’Neill’s “failure to show contrition is unacceptable”.

He said that he “reluctantly” called on her to step aside pending an investigation into what had happened.

Highlighting the sacrifices of ordinary people, the Foyle MP said: “It is incredibly hurtful that the Sinn Fein leadership decided that their movement, their pain, their people are more important than anyone else.”

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