Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has apologised for any hurt caused by the large crowds at Bobby Storey’s funeral earlier this week.

Hundreds of people lined the streets after the funeral of 64-year-old former IRA member on Tuesday.

In an interview on air this morning she said:

"I am acutely conscious of everyone who has lost a loved one and buried them in the most difficult and heart-breaking and lonely of circumstances at the heart of the pandemic," 

"The very fact that people could not have church services if that is what they wished or even enter cemeteries or crematoriums was incredibly, incredibly hard.

"Can I also say that I do understand that looking at the images of very busy pathways in west Belfast and taking all of that in obviously has jolted and has caused some hurt among some of those families, and for that I am very sorry.

"That certainly would never have been my intention or Michelle's (O'Neill) intention or the intention of the Storey family as they laid Bobby to rest."

Pic: Damien Storan