Criticism mounts over Stormont's Covid restrictions deadlock

Three members of one family in Northern Ireland have died with Covid-19 in the past week, it has emerged.

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Subscribe              Nov 12, 2020           Dear reader,   The criticism of Northern Ireland's political leaders has reached fever pitch during another day of dramatic developments at Stormont.    It emerged on Thursday that the Province's so-called 'circuit break' lockdown does not actually end until midnight on Friday, a full 24 hours than what was originally communicated to businesses and the general public.    The farcical development came as several leading hospitality venues in Belfast, including The National and Dirty Onion bars, announced on social media that they would be open again over the weekend.  A host of business owners also lined up to criticise the indecision of ministers.    This played out against a backdrop of continuing talks at Stormont, with the Executive thought to be discussing an Alliance proposal aimed at breaking the deadlock. The party's leader Naomi Long tabled a hybrid proposal that fused Health Minister Robin Swann's proposed one-week extension to the existing restrictions with measures to reopen hospitality being introduced gradually afterwards.    Meanwhile the Department of Health announced that another 15 deaths related to coronavirus had been recorded in Northern Ireland over the last 24 hours. The death toll related to Covid-19 here is now 825, according to the department's figures.    The department also recorded another 548 new Covid-19 infections over the last 24 hours.    Stay safe   Alistair Bushe, Editor Want total access to all of our online content? You can subscribe to our website, newsletter.co.uk for just £1 a month for 3 months - and it couldn't be easier. Signing up will get you faster-loading articles, fewer adverts and access to exclusive content and events when we run them. To learn more, visit our Subscriptions page here.           Three members of same family die with COVID-19 in last week - 'I cannot begin to imagine how the surviving members of the family come to terms with it'           Three members of one family in Northern Ireland have died with Covid-19 in the past week, it has emerged.                 Woman who lost both parents to Covid-19 launches online archive of grief   A woman whose parents died three days apart with Covid-19 has launched an online archive of stories of grief to encourage others to heed restrictions.           Carers at breaking point in NI feel 'abandonded' during pandemic   Hundreds of thousands of carers feel abandoned by the authorities during the coronavirus pandemic, with many now at breaking point, MLAs have been told.           Trust and patience in NI's politicians is 'running out', beauty salon owner warns   Trust and patience in Northern Ireland's divided politicians are running out, the owner of a beauty salon has warned.           Hotel owner Bill Wolsey warns 'morale' is on the floor in hospitality industry, and predicts a 'tsunami' of redundancies   Morale is on the floor across the hospitality industry, a Northern Ireland business owner has warned.           Former DUP MLA blasts politicians for deadlock over COVID-19 restrictions at Stormont - 'We need to listen to the experts at the Coal Face, because if you don't you are playing Russian Roulette with precious lives'   Former DUP MLA Jimmy Spratt has issued a heartfelt plea to politicians to "take the political grand standing out of all your decisions, and do the right thing and listen to the expert advice".           OPINION: Lockdown in Northern Ireland is not sustainable for too much longer   The stalemate at Stormont over the Covid-19 restrictions is a shambles.                 View more on Coronavirus

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