JUST seven months on from New Decade New Approach the misnomer is increasingly apparent. The coronavirus crisis has provided some cover but it appears the institutions continue to lurch from one crisis to the next. January’s hubris has dissipated and the time since has typically been peppered with misjudgements and bickering, all conducted with the usual aloofness. The numerous pledges outlined in the ambitious agreement remain ignored and unfulfilled.
At the heart of this all-too familiar inertia is the DUP-Sinn Féin relationship, a marriage of convenience where fleeting harmony exists only when trade-offs are agreed and each side can claim advantage. One slavishly takes its lead from Whitehall, the other from shadowy backroom figures. The sustainability of this arrangement is questionable.
Divergence over the response to Covid-19, Bobby Storey’s funeral, the mess around the Executive Committee (Functions) Bill, the Chinese consulate row, and the exam results fiasco with the subsequent U-turn are all symptomatic of the administration’s inherent dysfunction.
There’s no deeper division between Stormont’s big two than on the issue of a Troubles pension, a can that’s been kicked down the road for a decade at the expense of those who’ve suffered most. They couldn’t apply the usual carve-up solution in this case and don’t know how to compromise so now it’s ended up in the courts.
New Decade New Approach’s promise to “support reconciliation, meeting the legitimate needs and expectations of victims and survivors” counts for nothing. You may as well add healthcare and civil service reform, climate change legislation, and tackling paramilitarism and sectarianism to the list.
The longer the charade continues the more the smaller executive parties will be seen as complicit in sustaining it. They justifiably sought to be in power to change things but beyond minor tweaks their input has so far proved ineffectual. With less than two years to the next assembly election they will need to begin differentiating themselves or risk being tarred with the same busted brush.
New Decade... same tired approach.
