THE STORMONT administration rarely demonstrates the art of compromise and more often than not excels at can-kicking and buck-passing. Nothing illustrates this more starkly than the decades-old row over legacy. Yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling is the latest chapter in a shameful saga of political expediency and self-preservation.
The DUP and Sinn Féin have managed to avoid taking collective responsibility for this emotive issue, while the British government has invariably stirred the pot and shirked its obligations.
It’s hoped the court ruling will create some urgency – the executive has been given four weeks to resolve the matter – but don’t hold your breath.
The past approach to the past clearly hasn’t worked and we are now 27 years on from the 1994 ceasefires, a longer period than the conflict itself. We’ve had countless agreements on paper but none that has followed through on commitments given.
New thinking is required that genuinely prioritises victims over political point-scoring. It seems appropriate that London should burden much of the estimated £800 million cost of victims’ payments but the executive too needs to demonstrate a shared will to confront this difficult problem.
In a merry-go-round of recrimination, the DUP blames republicans for refusing to accept its rather narrow definition of a victim, while Sinn Féin blames the British government for failing to acknowledge its part in the conflict. In the background are ageing victims whose heads are turned by an endless cycle of political bickering.
It’s time Stormont got creative and mastered the art of compromise.
