Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Ms O’Neill’s extremely belated comments on the Bobby Storey funeral are far from the apology once demanded by Mrs Foster. The demand for the deputy First Minister to step aside seems to be long forgotten. Michelle O’Neill has previously said that she will “never apologise” for attending the funeral. Has that changed? Do you apologise for attending the funeral?
“If the DUP accept this it will once again be a case of them shifting their ground and climbing down to Sinn Fein.
“O’Neill has merely expressed regret for undermining the public health message. This from the same party which has expressed regret people died in The Troubles yet continues to argue that their campaign of terror was not only justified but something which should be celebrated!
“Furthermore, for Ms O’Neill to expect us to believe that it wasn’t Sinn Fein’s intention that the funeral would undermine the public health messaging stretches the bounds of credibility well beyond breaking point.
“Posting the details of the funeral and wake online by Sinn Fein elected officials was not something done unintentionally.
“The marshals which lined the route of the funeral and fell in behind the coffin of IRA terrorist Bobby Storey didn’t do so unintentionally.
“The macabre Republican theatre at Miltown attended by thousands when Storey wasn’t even buried wasn’t unintentional.
“The selfies which O’Neill posed for in Miltown were not something which happened without thought.
“The successful pressure applied on Belfast City Council to ignore the rules relating to Roselawn crematorium was not unintentional.
“The two month gap between the funeral and this limited and qualified expression of regret was not unintentional.
“The whole saga around the Storey funeral underscores the reality that for Sinn Fein it’s a case of do as I say, not do as I do. Others had to forego funerals for their loved ones but Republicans were different. They thumbed their nose at grieving families the length of Northern Ireland and still haven’t apologised for their flagrant breaking of the law in full view of the media. Indeed, there is nothing in anything said by Sinn Fein which acknowledges the indisputable fact that what took place at the Storey funeral was illegal!
“The coming days will show if this non-apology is good enough for Mrs Foster. I have no doubt that as far as much of the public is concerned, particularly those who lost loved ones when funerals were heavily curtailed, it is not.”