When the Covid inquiry eventually delivers its findings on how the pandemic was handled in Northern Ireland, it is unlikely to be able to sum up the situation as succinctly as Brenda Doherty.
Brenda’s mother Ruth Burke (82) was the first woman in the region to die with coronavirus in March 2020 after becoming infected in hospital.
Speaking at the end of three weeks of public hearings in Belfast, she said victims’ families had heard evidence of “delay, dysfunction and dereliction of duty by the political representatives who we relied on most during a time of crisis”.
“When our elected representatives placed political ideology above the health of citizens by repeatedly, repeatedly collapsing the executive, the system is not fit for purpose.”
It is difficult to think of a more grave responsibility to be placed in the hands of our politicians – the lives of thousands of citizens, particularly the most vulnerable in our society, dependent on delicate judgments about imposing restrictions and managing medical resources during an unprecedented public health emergency.
However, it was obvious during the course of Covid that the dysfunction and divisions endemic at Stormont fatally undermined the executive’s response. This was evident in preparedness for a pandemic, the initial response to the deadly virus, and the reckless attitudes of some individual politicians.
- Families bereaved during pandemic speak of ‘horrific’ memories dredged up as Covid Inquiry concludes in BelfastOpens in new window
- Michelle O’Neill ‘accepts’ she should have kept WhatsApp data for Covid inquiryOpens in new window
- Covid Inquiry: Without proper accountability we are doomed to dysfunction - The Irish News viewOpens in new window
What have we learned from the last three weeks, from documentary evidence as well as answers elicited through the deft probing of inquiry counsel Clair Dobbin, is just how badly served we were by our system of government.
It is also an alarming story of evidence that was not documented, due to phones being wiped, minutes going missing or computer equipment lost. Given that similar failings were exposed by the RHI Inquiry, the case for fundamental reform of the civil service is surely now unarguable.
Among appearances by politicians, the inquiry drew very belated apologies from Michelle O’Neill and Caral Ní Chuilín for attending the Bobby Storey funeral in clear contradiction of rules they had set themselves. It beggars belief that this was not blindingly obvious to senior Sinn Féin figures at the time.
A similarly unqualified apology was sadly not forthcoming from the DUP for its shameful abuse of a cross-community veto during four days of executive wrangling over extending Covid restrictions.
Haunting the entire inquiry process has been the question of how many lives could have been saved if the crisis had been handled differently.
The dysfunction and divisions endemic at Stormont fatally undermined the executive’s response to Covid. This was evident in preparedness for a pandemic, the initial response to the deadly virus, and the reckless attitudes of some individual politicians
And as the hearings moved on from Belfast, it was appropriate that it was the voice of families of the bereaved that had the final say.
In closing submissions, their barrister, Brenda Campbell, said the last three weeks had been “littered with oversights, omissions and failings”.
No-one could disagree with her conclusion that while the inquiry continues, Northern Ireland’s administrative and political leaders must not delay in putting right the wrongs it has exposed.
