Investigation ordered into 'loss' of Stormont Executive minutes after Bobby Storey funeral

The head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service has said she has ordered an investigation into the fact minutes from a Stormont Executive meeting after the funeral of Bobby Storey were only provided to the UK coronavirus inquiry on Friday.

Counsel for the inquiry said on its opening day on Tuesday that notes of the meeting were ‘missing’ despite repeated attempts to recover them.

However, on Friday The Executive Office confirmed that it had submitted the ‘missing’ notes from the meeting to the inquiry.

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The meeting of the Executive took place after senior Sinn Féin figures, including Michelle O’Neill, had attended the funeral of the veteran republican while Covid restrictions were in place on public gatherings.

Appearing at the inquiry in Belfast on Friday, head of the NICS Jayne Brady said she had ordered the DSO (Departmental Solicitor’s Office) to conduct an investigation into why the materials were only handed over on Friday.

Brady said it was ‘inexplicable’ that minutes from the meeting were not provided to the inquiry when they were asked for.

“On that specific issue, for me there are three particular areas of concern. First is when the disclosure happened. Why were not all items not disclosed, not just the formal minutes but actually the handwritten minutes as well.

“Second piece which I guess is inexplicable, which is why was the full set of available notes not provided and there was some lost as part of those areas.

“And the third aspect is when that was found, why did it take so long for each of those steps that you outlined this morning, for that to become aware and when it was provided, why was it not correctly handled?

“Each of those are very significant issues and concerns for me. They are both inexplicable and I heard of those dates and correspondence today.

“I was unaware of the lack of disclosure of that item until you disclosed it on Tuesday.

“I have asked following this correspondence the head of DSO to undertake an investigation in terms of what has happened in that specific case.

“There will have to be many questions which will have to be asked about the late providing of that information, the rationale and why that was provided late.”

Presiding over the inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett requested that she be provided with the report of the investigation as part of the inquiry.

Earlier in Dr Brady’s evidence, she admitted that there were a number of repeated failings from the Civil Service which were discovered during the inquiry into the RHI scheme, which squandered hundreds of millions of pounds from the public purse.

The wiping of ministerial phones after Stormont ministers left office has been a recurring theme throughout the first week of the inquiry, with Brady admitting that there are issues which remain around openness and transparency within the civil service.

“I think what this has shown a light on is all the vulnerabilities in the system," Brady told the inquiry.

“You’ve identified many different reports and policies, but actually all of them have shown to have failed in this scenario to get the information.

“I think that is of deep regret for the service for Northern Ireland, but also for the bereaved families and for the information that they deserve and the learnings from that.

“It is a matter of deep regret.

“I think there is a bigger journey in terms of the cultural aspects that we need in terms of openness.

“These issues were identified in RHI, the guidance as you’ve stated, although complex, is also clear and we still have the same issues that we’re dealing with now which is a matter of regret.”

Module 2C of the UK Covid 19 inquiry, which looks at the Northern Ireland response to the pandemic, resumes on Tuesday 7 May.

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