The Secretary for the Covid-19 Public Inquiry has said that one of the reasons the Every Story Matters listening project visited Enniskillen as part of the inquiry was due to the proximity to the Border.

The project is calling on people from across the UK to share their experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it changed their lives in a bid to understand how Covid-19 affected people on a personal level and the experiences shared will assist the development of recommendations that could help future generations to come in the event of another pandemic.

Explaining how the Border may have impacted people during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ben Connah said: “One of the many aspects of our terms of reference that set the scope of the inquiry is travelling and borders. And of course, that continues to be an incredibly important issue in Northern Ireland. I'm hoping that issues like that will be raised today in Enniskillen because one of the reasons we've come to Enniskillen is its proximity to the border and the fact that we're keen to hear from people in every part of the UK.”

While not wishing to pre-empt the responses of those contributing to the project, Mr. Connah said: “Covid affected so many different people in different ways. And of course, in different parts of the country. There were there were different impacts, and I dare say that the border is a bigger issue in some parts than in others and certainly in Fermanagh. I don't know how big an issue it will turn out to be. A lot of that will depend on the stories that are shared with us through every story matters.”

The Inquiry began on June 28, 2022. Its investigations are organised into modules. Throughout each of these modules, the Inquiry hears evidence from witnesses, experts and core participants through a series of corresponding hearings.

Explaining the value of the Every Story Matters project, Mr. Connah said: “This is our nationwide listening exercise to give everybody a chance to contribute to the work of the UK COVID-19 inquiry. This the best way we have to build a full picture of the impact that COVID had on the whole population of the United Kingdom in every corner of the country.

“Baroness Hallett, who's the Chair of the inquiry has been clear from day one that she wants, the human impact of the pandemic to inform our work. Every single story that is shared with us will be analysed and will form evidence by way of reports that are fed into each of the investigations that the inquiry undertakes.”

It is hoped that the listening project will also inform the inquiry as it continues to be heard across the UK.

“Every single module [of the inquiry] that opens from now on will set its lines of inquiry quite early on, but then we'll reset those once it sees the early findings from Every Story Matters. So we're aiming in most cases to make sure that investigations see an interim report of the kinds of issues that are coming up through Every Story Matters so that they can change their lines of inquiry and reflect on what they're hearing from people up and down the UK [when the Covid-19 inquiry is published].”

Every Story Matters has already heard from 30,000 people including those who visited Fermanagh House this week, to share your story of the pandemic, please visit https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/every-story-matters/.