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THE PSNI HAS said that it is reviewing footage taken at the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey in Belfast today and will consider any suspected breaches of Northern Ireland’s coronavirus legislation.
It comes after the North’s health minister – unionist Robin Swann – said the large number of attendees at the funeral today was a clear breach of Stormont restrictions limiting public gatherings to 30 people during the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
Swann added the event must not become Northern Ireland’s “Dominic Cummings moment”.
Sinn Fein party president Mary Lou McDonald and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill were among high-profile party members in attendance at the service and later commemoration event at Milltown cemetery.
O’Neill in particular has faced strong criticism from political rivals in Northern Ireland, given her role as the joint head of a Stormont Executive that has been instructing people to limit the size of funerals during the lockdown.
Amid criticism from politicians, police in the North said they would review the events today.
PSNI Superintendent Melanie Jones said: “We were made aware of the plans for today’s funeral and have engaged with the celebrant and service organisers to highlight both the public health advice and risks around Covid-19, and the requirement for those attending to adhere to social distancing.
“We had assurances that those attending would observe the health guidelines and that marshals would be in place to encourage those lining the cortege route to observe social distancing.
“We will now review footage gathered during the funeral and will consider any suspected breaches of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations NI 2020.”
‘Concerned’
Following the events today, Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister insisted Ms O’Neill’s position was no longer tenable, while DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley raised a point of order in the Assembly questioning whether she had broken the members’ code of conduct.
Swann’s weekly Covid-19 media conference was later dominated by the issue, with the health minister challenged on whether the executive’s credibility had been undermined.
He was asked if the incident could lead the public to question the point of abiding by the rules – the way some people did after the Prime Minister’s top adviser Cummings was accused of breaching regulations during a trip to the north west of England during lockdown.
“I’m concerned with what I saw this morning in west Belfast,” he said.
“What we are seeing today was a breach of the guidance that has been issued and has been worked on by the executive and has been supported by the executive.”
He added: “I sincerely hope that this isn’t the Dominic Cummings effect in Northern Ireland because in our health service we can’t afford it to be.
“We are in a position in Northern Ireland where we had zero deaths today, with zero people in our intensive care units because of the actions of the people of Northern Ireland.
“So I have a very clear ask – please don’t let this weaken your resolve or your ability to follow the guidance that have gotten us to the position where we are today.”
Swann urged people to continue to comply with the guidance, making clear that “two wrongs don’t make a right”.
“There’s no person, no position or there’s no point of privilege that is above the guidance and the regulations that we have laid down in how we combat Covid-19 in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“Because there’s no one immune from it and that is the guidance we still have to keep reiterating, and I do hope that what we saw today does not undermine the public message that has worked so well in Northern Ireland, that has actually got us to the position where we are today.”
Swann used the west Belfast incident to warn that regional lockdowns could be introduced in Northern Ireland if an upsurge in the virus, similar to that witnessed in Leicester, was to occur locally.
Sinn Fein finance minister Conor Murphy, who also attended, insisted organisers had done their best to ensure the guidelines were observed.
He said numbers in the cortege that followed the coffin were limited to 30 and that only a small number of people attended the church service. He said Sinn Fein had also live streamed the event in an effort to encourage people to watch it online.
“This clearly is a very, very popular figure within republicanism, it was clearly going to be a very significant funeral and all efforts were made to try to manage that in line with the guidance,” he told UTV.
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It’s a joke of an industry,
Many of the people I know who worked in it have left because creches want them to have degrees but they’ll pay them barely over min wage with next to no chance of any increases.
The money is made by the creche owners and certainly not the staff, the staff work crazy long hours with feck all pay.
The industry badly needs to be taken under the department of education
@Barry Somers: A lot of industries in Ireland operate that way. I know people working in manufacturing jobs taking home 329 euro for a 40 hour week. No pension, no benefits and no hope.
@Barry Somers: with it being 1800/1900 for two kids in Dublin then you know it’s not going to the workers
@David Corrigan: do they also have degrees to work in that industry though?
Even call centres pay more then child care and you don’t need a degree to get the call centre job.
@Barry Somers: No they would not have degrees to be honest with you Barry. 40 hour week working in an engineering environment.
Yet we are up there with the highest child care costs in Europe.
@Derek Durkin: on account of the insurance costs. The creches have to pay the ever increasing insurance premiums and then the government comes up with another new standard they have to adhere to which costs more again. While the fees are high, the creches aren’t exactly sitting on mounds of money.
@Derek Durkin: Yep, it’s only about 120 euro per child per month in Sweden. But we prefer to cut income taxes which makes services private at high cost to the individual, marvellous capitalism that destroys the family unit and only benefits the rich. https://sweden.se/society/10-things-that-make-sweden-family-friendly/
@Niall O’Neill: hey, the powers that be in this country have been trying to destroy the family unit for hundreds of years.
Remember our leader is of the opinion that you can get your rich parents to pay for it, or if you don’t have them you can leave.
Why does it come as a surprise to childcare workers that it is poorly paid? I have no kids and know nothing about kids, but I know it is and always has been a poorly paid job.
@John Horan: But it shouldn’t be so low that those working full time cannot make ends meet. If you work full time you should be able to afford to live, no matter what your job is.
@Chris Judge: I agree 100%.
@Chris Judge: Whether it should be or not isn’t really the issue. On a personal level why would you go into an industry knowing it is badly paid. As for no matter what job it should be a wage that you can live on is a new concept. Many jobs were only ever supplementary incomes worked part time. To change that whole nature will take a long time
@Craic_a_tower: Who cares what the reasons are – someone has to do it, so why question those who do?
It’s looking after kids, which is a very hard job and I respect them for it. They should be paid a decent salary.
I’d assume the main issue is the insurance costs for running a nursery/creche drive prices up, so very little of the money they make goes to the workers.
@Chris Judge: it seems fair to question people who complain about poor wages in a sector where everyone else knows it is poorly paid. There are people doing it on those wages.
Do you worry about landlords getting a decent return? Did you run to their defence when renting at a loss?
@Chris Judge: then don’t sign up for the job. The market will soon adjust when there is nobody willing to do the job
@Craic_a_tower: I assume people go into childcare because they see it as a rewarding job that they like and think they would be good at. Isn’t this what everyone should be doing? Pay is a seperate issue.
The answer is to go on strike and then see what happen they could bring the country to a standstill
Where is the money going? The creche fees in this country are outrageous.
A sure fire way of not retaining and attracting quality staff,
@David Walsh: and you have to jump through hoops to get the job to be paid peanuts..qualifications, Garda vetting, first aid training etc forget it, sure it not even a living wage and a lot of them end up going on the dole during summer if creches/montessoris and they become seasonally unemployed. It’s a mug’s game.
As a preschool teacher I can say how undervalued the industry is in this country which is why I’m currently emigrating to Australia where it is valued and recognised in wages! I do it for the love of the job but it’s getting ridiculous here. I’m at the top of the scale in this country (plus the pay cut we had to take in the recession due to cut in funding) and it’s a joke!
@Siobh: “I do it for the love of the job”
“So I’m going to Australia because they pay more”
Helicopter parents don’t help litigating when their kid falls over or bumps into something. Insurance companies will use that as justification to increase the premiums.
Childcare is a good career in the uk
Bring in a sectoral employment order
Time for the Department of Education to wake up !! This is Early Years Education…not a babysitting service. Some of my friends are teachers, I have more qualifications and training than they do. As pointed out above we also, cook, clean, advise etc…
It’s the same in a lot of jobs in Ireland, workers are struggling to make ends meet. I work in a multinational and several people in my area head to a second job after work. This is what FF/FG have done to our country. Cost of living WAY too high – people are no longer ‘living’, they’re merely existing.
have your say