BEREAVED relatives of people who died with Covid-19 are being urged to join a group seeking core participant status in the coming public inquiry.
Core participants will be able to share experiences, obtain disclosure of relevant documentation, attend public hearings, suggest lines of questioning and potentially question key witnesses.
Baroness Heather Hallett, heading what is expected to be the largest public inquiry in the history of the UK, is encouraging individuals to join groups to more easily gain such access.
Brenda Doherty, part of NI Covid Bereaved Families for Justice, echoed that view and urged people to join forces if they lost a loved one over the course of the pandemic.
The deadline for applying for core participant status for the module specifically covering Northern Ireland is September 23. Solicitors PA Duffy and Company is representing the group.
Details of the module were released at the end of August, but no definite timetable for public hearings here has been drawn up. It could be 2024 before the first are held.
While Bereaved Families for Justice represents relatives of those who died, others seriously impacted are also banding together to seek representation.
Ms Doherty lost her mother, Ruth Burke, on March 24 2020, one of the first victims of the virus as it began to sweep across the islands.
The 82-year-old had been admitted to hospital the previous week suffering from issues relating to blood thinning and was expected to remain for only a short time before release.
“Up until then there was no restrictions, then it was reduced to one and on St Patrick’s Day they made it you cannot come in. They let me in that night,” said Ms Doherty. It was the last night she saw her mother.
On the Saturday, the family got the call she had tested positive for Covid but was doing well. On the Monday, Ms Doherty was asked to agree that doctors not unnecessarily intervene as she was close to death.
Three days later she died, believed to be the fourth known victim in the north.
Module 2C will investigate decisions made by the Northern Ireland Executive along with key individuals within government and among advisers.
The review will examine 'non-pharmaceutical interventions’ such as lockdowns, local restrictions, social distancing, the use of face coverings, border controls and the differences between here and London's approach.
Other relevant matters will be the impact of the absence of ministers from the NI Executive from early 2017 until January 2020 and how the response was informed by decisions made by the Dublin government.
Ms Doherty said her group is also pushing for a separate inquiry led by Stormont, arguing the region is unique, particularly given the interconnections on the island.
It can be contacted at northernireland@covidfamiliesforjustice.org or covidinquiry@paduffy.com and a members' event is being held in Belfast's Europa Hotel on Saturday October 22, with speakers including Professor Phil Scraton.