“It doesn’t get any more serious than this": Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride

Dec 18, 2020

Good morning

News summary:

The Northern Ireland Executive has for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic issued guidance banning outdoor gatherings between the hours of 8.00pm and 6.00am from December 26, 2020 to January 2, 2021. Eighty-six people died with suspected Covid-19 in Northern Ireland in the latest week subjected to statistical analysis.

A Co Cavan man whose sister was murdered in a loyalist bomb attack in 1972 is calling for answers on who was behind the attack and their motives. Geraldine O’Reilly, 15, and Paddy Stanley, 16, were killed in the no-warning car bomb in Belturbet in December 1972.

With the police investigation into events around the Bobby Storey now complete, DUP MP Gregory Campbell said the PPS must now demonstrate that “no one is above the law”. The funeral sparked a major political row, with the Sinn Fein leadership and members accused of ignoring Covid rules by attending the event.

And writing in the News Letter Peter Robinson says 'We must make Northern Ireland function as best we can while winning support for the Union'.

Keep safe

Michael Cousins
Deputy digital editor

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