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Three weeks of testimony are expected to be heard during the UK Covid-19 Inquiry which is opening today in Belfast, with families of those who died during the pandemic walking to this morning’s inquiries.
The inquiry is set to hear from Northern Ireland’s top politicians and health advisors about decision-making during the pandemic and what kind of response it resulted in.
The current round of the inquiry will examine the initial pandemic response, as well as central government decision making and political and civil service performance.
Episodes such as the funeral of ex-IRA leader Bobby Storey, which was attended by senior Sinn Féin figures, and when the DUP’s Edwin Poots said that covid was more common in nationalist areas provoked outrage at the time and raised questions about the ways in which the unique political situation in Northern Ireland was having an effect on pandemic management.
The hearings began this morning with the Covid-19 Bereaved Families and Disability Action group, and will hear testimony from former first ministers Arlene Foster and Paul Givan, along with current first minister, Michelle O’Neill, who was deputy first minister during the pandemic.
Senior representatives from the departments of health, finance, the Executive Office and the civil service will also be questioned.
Whether a different approach to the pandemic was possible and whether delays in healthcare provision as a result of Covid-19 prioritisation resulted in people dying of otherwise curable illnesses will be eagerly-sought answers for those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.
Inquiry chair, former Judge Baroness Heather Hallett, who led the inquests into the July 7 London Bombings, met eight bereaved families in Belfast last night ahead of the proceedings.
One of the first groups she will hear from – Northern Ireland Covid Bereaved Families for Justice – represents around 150 families.
While Northern Ireland fared better than the rest of the UK in terms of Covid deaths, over 4,000 people died within the pandemic’s first two years.
The UK’s Covid inquiry began in June 2022, but the Belfast-based stage will see Northern Ireland’s politicians and officials specifically scrutinised as the evidence they provide to the inquiry, including WhatsApp messages and emails, is questioned and shared publicly.
Baroness Hallett said that she intends to publish the report for the first area of work by early summer 2024, with the inquiry itself not expected to conclude until 2026.
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