Responding to revelations from the BBC about the cost of the Storey funeral to Belfast ratepayers – almost £100,000 that we are now aware of – and the continued refusal of City Council to disclose if any compensation was paid TUV Court Councillor Ron McDowell said:
“One would think a sign of remorse on behalf of the council would be a willingness to try and make things right. Three years down the line we still see no attempts of amends from BCC but rather more stalling, vagueness and a failure to honour their word in revealing information. Without a sincere effort to atone for an abhorrent lack of judgement one must only assume that the Council are sorry for having being caught and not sorry for their actions around this issue.
“The response of the council to this issue falls well below that which one would consider acceptable. The Bobby Storey funeral cause great hurt to people across Northern Ireland who had buried their loved ones in accordance with the law at the time. Having treated Mr Storey’s family differently they should at the very least be upfront about what actually transpired. Instead, years later they continue to cover up and conceal what the true cost of the scandal was to ratepayers.
“This is not council money. It is ratepayer money and transparency about how it is spent is key. Just a few months ago all councillors went before the electorate seeking endorsement and not a single one of them received a mandate to not be upfront about what money is spent on.
“The spurious attempts of the council to hide behind get out clauses in the legislation are, in my view, entirely without merit. No one is seeking personal information about anyone. The compensation, if there was any, paid to families should be in the public domain. Everyone knows that this whole debacle cost the council, the Executive and the PSNI their credibility. It’s long past time we knew the total financial cost as well.”