COUNTRY music star Nathan Carter has apologised after around 60 people attended his birthday party at his Co Fermanagh home in breach of Covid-19 regulations.
The Irish News revealed yesterday how officers arrived the Liverpool-born performer’s rural homestead near Lisbellaw on Friday night after receiving a report of a house party at around 10.30pm.
Police said 14 £200 fines and a single £1,000 fine were initially handed out along with a prohibition notice.
But with at least 50 people present, the PSNI said it expected to take further enforcement action.
The PSNI has not yet officially confirmed the final tally of penalties, but The Irish News understands that the number is likely to be in the region of 60, totalling around £13,000 in fines.
Despite the recent relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions in Northern Ireland, the current health regulations restrict indoor gatherings at private dwellings to six people from two different households. Children under 12 do not count toward the total.
Up to 15 people from three households can gather outside in a garden.
Mr Carter’s management initially denied knowledge of the incident when contracted on Sunday. Further attempts to get a response went unanswered for three days.
A statement was finally issued to RTÉ yesterday morning following the publication of The Irish News story, in which the country music star confirmed that police had attended his birthday party.
In the statement, Nathan Carter said his family visiting from Liverpool had organised a barbecue for his 31st birthday.
“They believed that this gathering was within the current Covid 19 restrictions in the North, however it transpires that it was not,” he said.
The singer said “the organiser” had already paid a fine.
“Given the restrictions, I realise how irresponsible these actions were and I fully apologise."
Mr Carter has achieved notable success as a live performer. But with live music events restricted during the pandemic, he has turned his attention to presenting for the BBC.
Stints for Hugo Duncan’s BBC Radio Ulster programme were followed by a new six-part radio series commissioned by the BBC.
The third episode of Nathan Carter’s Country Themes is due to be broadcast on Radio Ulster on Sunday night.
BBC Northern Ireland said yesterday that Mr Carter was not an employee and declined to comment on the incident, describing it as “a personal matter.”
Although born and raised in Liverpool, the country star’s parents are originally from Newry.
He made Co Fermanagh his home in 2012, relocating to a six-bedroom house near Lisbellaw in 2020.
He welcomed the cameras into his newly purchased home for last year’s BBC series Keepin’ ‘er Country, At Home.
