“The devastating impact that Covid had on so many families in Northern Ireland stays with me'
Not enough consideration was given to the impact of lockdown measures introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Baroness Arlene Foster has said.
“The devastating impact that Covid had on so many families in Northern Ireland stays with me because it was a devastating impact, many people lost loved ones in devastating circumstances that have been set out by the bereaved families’ statement.Much of the questioning focused on the civil contingency planning for emergency events in the years before the pandemic struck.
Lead counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith asked Baroness Foster if she agreed that the absence of a Stormont executive in those years had left Northern Ireland’s public services in a “state of decay and stagnation”.“I think when you look at the fact that the Northern Ireland Office took a policy decision not to intervene at that time but instead leave Northern Ireland without any ministerial cover was something that I feel I need to comment on.
The former first minister also said she had been proud of the response to the pandemic of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the health service to the pandemic.
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