Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer Sir Michael McBride was giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Michelle O’Neill told the Covid-19 inquiry she accepts her attendance at the funeral at a time of lockdown measures limiting gatherings caused harm.

A briefing document on an impasse between ministers was published on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry website on Thursday evening.

The inquiry’s hearings in Belfast begin on Tuesday and will run for three weeks.

It emerged at the Covid inquiry in December that some WhatsApp messages between Stormont ministers during the pandemic were wiped.

The report, published on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry website, sets out the scale of the differences in fatalities between the four UK regions.

Helen MacNamara, who served as deputy cabinet secretary, made the claim to the Covid inquiry.