On November 24, 2025, the long-awaited Covid-19 inquiry report for Northern Ireland landed with a thud, and its reverberations are still being felt across the region’s political landscape. Chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, the report did not mince words: decision-making during the pandemic was, in her view, "marred" by disputes between the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin ministers. The inquiry found that these political clashes, along with the inappropriate use of cross-community voting mechanisms, led to confusion, incoherence, and a damaging lack of public trust when it was needed most.
The inquiry’s findings have sparked a storm of debate at Stormont, Northern Ireland’s seat of government. DUP leader Gavin Robinson, speaking to reporters and assembly members on the day of the report’s publication, offered a sharply critical take on Baroness Hallett’s conclusions. According to the BBC, Robinson argued that the report failed to give enough consideration to the unique, mandatory power-sharing coalition that governs Northern Ireland. "Baroness Hallett does not live in Northern Ireland," Robinson said, adding, "Baroness Hallett did not give enough credence to the fact that in NI parties are forced to work together... in a way no other devolved or national government in the UK has to do."
Robinson’s frustration was palpable. He insisted that the cross-community voting system—criticized in the report for being used inappropriately by the DUP—was an essential tool for encouraging consensus in a divided society. "Nobody wants to be in a situation where one party blocks the aspiration of another community on either side, but it is an important mechanism that is there to encourage people to work together," he explained, as reported by Press Association. He also dismissed the report as largely a rehash of well-known controversies, particularly the uproar over then-Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill’s attendance at the funeral of veteran republican Bobby Storey in June 2020, an event held during strict Covid restrictions. "There was nothing new in that for me. I don’t agree with her," Robinson stated.
Baroness Hallett’s report had pointed to O’Neill’s presence at the funeral—and her initial refusal to apologize—as a flashpoint that "contributed to tensions in the Northern Ireland Executive Committee." The inquiry found that the event, which was televised and widely publicized, fueled public perceptions of hypocrisy and undermined health messaging at a critical time. The report also singled out former DUP First Minister Arlene Foster for the "inappropriate instigation of cross-community votes to make political points," a move that, according to Hallett, further entrenched divisions and hampered effective decision-making.
The fallout from the report’s publication was immediate. Assembly members spent much of November 24 debating its findings, with sharp exchanges across party lines. Timothy Gaston, an MLA representing the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), did not hold back in his criticism of Sinn Féin. According to the BBC, Gaston accused some Sinn Féin members of breaching restrictions, calling them "rule-makers who in full view of TV cameras became rule-breakers." The charge echoed widespread public frustration at the time, when many felt that those in power were not following the rules they imposed on everyone else.
Sinn Féin’s Philip McGuigan, for his part, took a more conciliatory tone. He acknowledged that the report provided "further lessons from an extraordinary time" and expressed hope that it would help the executive and all politicians be better informed in the future. Michelle O’Neill, now First Minister, faced direct questioning from SDLP leader Matthew O’Toole about whether she accepted the inquiry’s damning assessment that ministers "put party politics ahead of the public good during the biggest public health emergency in our lifetime." O’Toole went further, accusing the Executive of abusing its powers and undermining public health messaging, not just through the funeral incident but also through failures to coordinate with other UK jurisdictions.
O’Neill responded with a promise to learn from the report and to implement changes. "I don’t think any of us have anything to gain from dissecting or going over ground we have gone over before. I will take on board the learning from the report. We have already put some of those things in train and we will do much more in the time ahead," she told the Assembly, as reported by Press Association.
Calls for reform have grown louder in the wake of the report. Both the Alliance Party and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) have called for changes to the institutions that govern Northern Ireland, particularly the use of cross-community voting at executive meetings. Paula Bradshaw, chair of Stormont’s executive office committee, was especially blunt about the stakes. "Confusion in messaging, blurred lines between guidance and law, and the spectacle of leaks and political point-scoring damaged confidence at a time people needed it most," she said. Bradshaw emphasized that rebuilding public trust must be a priority if the region is to move forward.
For the SDLP, the report’s findings were a painful reminder of the human cost of political dysfunction. Mark H Durkan, speaking on behalf of the party, said the report would make "painful" reading for families who lost loved ones to Covid-19. He lamented what he described as a "clear absence of leadership" during the pandemic and renewed the party’s call for "serious institutional reform." "The SDLP has consistently called for serious institutional reform... parties must accept responsibility and commit to change if we are to honour those who were lost," Durkan told the Assembly.
Behind the political wrangling lies a deeper question: can Northern Ireland’s unique system of government—designed to balance deeply held communal identities and avoid a return to conflict—deliver decisive leadership in a crisis? The cross-community voting mechanism, intended as a safeguard, has become a lightning rod for criticism, with some arguing it enables gridlock and others insisting it is essential for peace.
The Covid-19 pandemic was, by any measure, an unprecedented challenge. Northern Ireland’s government, like many others, struggled to respond to rapidly changing circumstances, conflicting scientific advice, and the immense social and economic pressures of lockdowns. Yet, as Baroness Hallett’s report makes clear, the additional burden of political division and mistrust made the task even harder—and the consequences, according to many, were felt most acutely by ordinary people.
As the dust settles on the inquiry’s findings, the region’s leaders face a choice. Will they heed the calls for reform and work to rebuild public trust, or will old patterns persist? For families who lost loved ones, and for a public still grappling with the aftermath of the pandemic, the answer can’t come soon enough.
