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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

NI government failed to be proactive in Covid pandemic, Sue Gray tells inquiry

Sue Gray glances to the left as she arrives at the Covid inquiry hearing
Gray, who was the top official in Stormont’s Department of Finance at the pandemic’s outset, arrives for the last day of hearings in Belfast. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Northern Ireland’s government lacked cohesion and failed to be proactive during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Sue Gray, the former senior civil servant who investigated the Downing Street Partygate scandal.

Gray, who is now Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, said the power-sharing executive at Stormont was prone to “silo working” and leaks that would have been a “terrible thing” if replicated at Westminster.

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