Analysis of mobile devices used by former Stormont ministers and special advisers during the coronavirus pandemic over the deletion of messages is ongoing, Michelle O’Neill has said. It emerged at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry in London in December that some WhatsApp messages during the pandemic appear to be lost after government-issued electronic devices were wiped. Asked about the matter during her first First Minister’s questions at Stormont, Ms O’Neill said an investigation into the matter is ongoing. “The group head of NICS internal audit service was commissioned to undertake a fact-finding investigation into how some mobile devices returned by ministers and spads came to be reset. “The analysis of devices is ongoing and the Covid inquiry will be advised of the final outcome of that exercise.”

Source: Irish Examiner February 19, 2024 17:09 UTC