Opinion

Former Irish News political correspondent William Graham laments the lack of a functioning Northern Ireland government

William Graham
William Graham William Graham

William Graham, who was Irish News political correspondent for almost three decades, laments the lack of a functioning Northern Ireland government.

This is Christmas time in Northern Ireland and our members of the Stormont legislative Assembly are still receiving salaries of £49,500.

We were told during the summer that the politicians were "working hard''.

In return for this so-called 'hard work'' and the collapse of devolution and the political manouvering over borders... we witness flags of different colours as usual being waved in the faces of the working class who have to work for a living.

We are told that democratically elected politicians are 'working hard'' in their constituences even though they are doing precious little work at Stormont as the civil servants now have their hands on the purse strings.

No-one would deny that it takes courage to stand for election in Northern Ireland and that there are many politicians and indeed councillors who do much valuable work.

Yet the public's patience is now in a thin ice place in terms of 'a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.''

Previously I had always taken the view that the politicians should be paid a fair wage and fair expenses at Stormont.

I had often mentioned to former Secretaries of State that this was good economics, cheap at the price, because the politics of the street and trouble inevitably ends up costing so much more not only in sterling or euros but more importantly in lives lost or a peace process torn apart.

Now at this Christmas I question my judgement as to whether politicians not working together in devolved government, whatever the reasons, represent value for money.

Since retiring from full-time political journalism some years ago I have devoted my time almost exclusively to community work.

What I have discovered fairly recently is that there is a growing disconnect between politicians and the citizens they purport to represent.

An example: I volunteer in a community book corner in Rostrevor, County Down every Saturday. Recently, an elderly man who needs an eye operation spoke to me with tears in his eyes. He has been told by the health authorities that he will have to wait five years for this operation. He is working class and unable to go private.

The question I pose to all local politicians and to the British and Irish governments who signed up for the Good Friday agreement … what can be done?

We have to live in the now, not in the past or in the future, to deal with the real political issues facing our society including health care, education, the homeless, and a common trade area north/south.

I recall as a journalist covering the troubles and all the negotiations leading up to the Good Friday agreement

I remember the words of Senator George Mitchell who said the Good Friday Agreement was for him the "realisation of a dream.''

That dream included returning to Northern Ireland in a few years with his young son, Andrew.

Mitchell wrote in his book Making Peace' …. `"We will roam the countryside, taking in the sights and smells and sounds of one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. Then, on a rainy afternoon (there are many in Northern Ireland) we will drive to Stormont and sit quietly in the visitors gallery of the Northern Ireland Assembly. There we will watch and listen as members of the Assembly debate the ordinary issues of life in a peaceful democratic society: education, health care, agriculture, tourism, fisheries, trade. There will be no talk of war, for the war will have been long over. There will be no talk of peace, for peace will by then be taken for granted.''

Senator Mitchell, one of the heroes of the peace process, did return a number of years ago to see the Assembly and the peace working.

Yet now the Assembly has fallen. Can we take anything for granted?