Bobby Storey funeral: Michelle O'Neill 'will not step aside'
Michelle O'Neill will not step aside as deputy first minister "under any circumstances" following the funeral of Bobby Storey, Sinn Féin has said.
It comes after DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson called on her to "step aside" while police investigate if there were social distancing breaches.
Sinn Féin said the funeral on Tuesday was organised in accordance with the "grieving family's wishes".
Ms O'Neill said her actions were in line with social distancing.
She also accused her critics of political point-scoring.
"The organisers did everything they could to ensure regulations were met and if it was not for the plan that organisers put in place with the PSNI to limit numbers then there would have been even bigger numbers in attendance," a Sinn Féin spokesperson added.
Current coronavirus regulations state a maximum of 30 people are allowed to gather together outdoors.
About 120 mourners were inside St Agnes's Church in Belfast for Mr Storey's funeral, BBC News NI understands.
Sir Jeffrey told The Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster that he did not want Stormont to collapse again but that the behaviour of some people at the funeral sent out a "bad message".
He also said First Minister Arlene Foster had written to Ms O'Neill.
Previously, we had a situation where First Minister Arlene Foster was holding the line by asking Michelle O'Neill to only apologise for her attendance at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey - but things have drastically moved on.
It now appears Mrs Foster can no longer hold that line and things have moved politically up a notch, which has resulted in the joint press conference this afternoon being cancelled.
Throughout the course of this pandemic Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill have stood side-by-side, putting their differences away and working together for the common good in the battle against coronavirus.
That image of both the first minister and deputy first minister standing together was how the executive approached their joint public health message.
The Sinn Féin vice president has accused her critics of political point-scoring and said her actions were in line with social distancing.
It seems unlikely Michelle O'Neill will step aside or temporarily step aside, which was suggested by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, but will Sinn Féin decide on some form of contrition?
"We will also be asking the PSNI to specifically investigate any potential regulatory breaches by executive ministers, including the deputy first minister."
Mr Donaldson said Ms O'Neill "failed to realise the public mood on this and the deep concern that people are taking this personally".
"I think now is the time to step up and demonstrate respect, integrity and that much talked of word, equality," he said.
"That means equality for all under the law and the law on these matters is clear. What happened at that funeral has sent out a very bad message to the people of Northern Ireland."
The DUP has called for a meeting of party leaders at Stormont.
SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood also told the programme that Ms O'Neill should "absolutely step aside" following the funeral of republican Bobby Storey.
Mr Eastwood said Sinn Féin was "putting themselves ahead of the people".
"People buried children during this (lockdown) and weren't able to have a proper send-off," he said.
"I think it is reprehensible," he added.
The political fallout from Bobby Storey's funeral is likely to dominate an executive meeting about lockdown-easing measures later.
All of the other parties which make up Northern Ireland's devolved government along with Sinn Féin - the DUP, UUP, SDLP and Alliance - have now called on the deputy first minister to step aside or to resign.
Speaking on BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster programme, UUP MLA Doug Beattie said the deputy first minster "is in absolute denial if she thinks she adhered to the advice she has given".
"The images show the absolute opposite, she did not adhere to the advice she told the rest of the public to adhere to and many people did adhere to," he said.
Mr Beattie said Ms O'Neill has "lost credibility, integrity, and she's lost moral authority".
On Wednesday, Mrs Foster called on Ms O'Neill to apologise for her attendance at the funeral.
Mrs Foster said: "It is quite intolerable now that people think there are some people to whom the law doesn't apply and that indeed there are some politicians who are saying: 'Do as I say but not as I do.'"
Criticism of the crowd
Mr Storey was considered the head of intelligence of the IRA for a period from the mid-1990s.
The deputy first minister, who attended the funeral with other senior Sinn Féin figures - including its leader, Mary Lou McDonald, and former leader Gerry Adams - said she was "satisfied that my actions are within the regulations and the public health guidance".
"It is unfortunate that a lot of the charges being levelled towards me are political point-scoring, as opposed to actually being about the rules," she said.
Tuesday's funeral was the latest in a number of events that have been criticised for attracting crowds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In May, a senior police officer said there had been social-distancing breaches at funerals in both the unionist and nationalist communities.
Earlier in June, protestors at Black Lives Matter rallies in Belfast and Londonderry were fined, while several hundred people took part in a "save our statues" rally at Belfast City Hall.