Opinion

Allison Morris: It may have been a shotgun wedding but the executive has to make this marriage work

First Minister Arlene Foster with Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill
First Minister Arlene Foster with Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill First Minister Arlene Foster with Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill

If this is the honeymoon period the luggage got lost at the airport and the newly married couple are currently standing in a marble lobby wondering how they can survive the duration in just the clothes they’re wearing.

This has been a drama packed week.

Since last Thursday evening, when Julian Smith and Simon Coveney stood side by side on a freezing January night to deliver the optimistically named New Decade, New Approach deal there’s barely been a moment to draw breath.

After three years without government, all of a sudden the politicians were even working weekends, with ministers appointed during a Saturday sitting.

I truly believe it was the power of the people, the might of those angels of the wards, the striking nurses that pushed the politicians towards a deal.

Unable to agree for three years, the deal laid out a roadmap to solve the current NHS crisis.

The alternative to accepting it was an assembly election.

What canvasser would want to knock the door of a voter on a hospital waiting list and explain to them why their party rejected a deal?

Regardless of what the politicians told us they had their ears warmed at many a doorstep in December by an increasingly angry electorate.

All roads could only lead one place and that was back to work at Stormont.

Given the main pressure came from healthcare staff it was disappointing that the two main parties dodged the health portfolio.

Robin Swan of the UUP has a job few would envy as the new health minister.

He has a to do list piled so high, he’d need a ladder to reach the top.

It will require not just a lot of work from him and his team, but the support of the other executive members to fix the mess caused by years of neglect.

He doesn’t have a magic wand, nor a pot of gold but so far – and it's still early days – he brings a sense of honesty, empathy and genuine will to sort out this shambles.

Journalists are often accused of being too negative but it’s not our job to cheer lead or do public relations for politicians.

On this occasion though it is right that he be allowed some space to show whether or not he has what it takes for the toughest job in the executive.

I was up at Stormont this week for the arrival of Boris Johnson, he was predictable in his evasiveness.

It became very obvious, very quickly that he hadn’t flown in to sign cheques.

The politicians seemed to think that a document produced by the two governments meant that the money for the pledges contained in it had already been secured.

Rule one of political negotiations – never assume.

Boris the baggage handler who lost the honeymoon luggage, blustered around, using eccentricity as a deflection mechanism.

I was one of five journalists permitted to ask a question. I asked about legacy and how the introduction of the Stormont House Agreement would work alongside his government’s pledges to former soldiers.

Did he answer me?

Well he answered a question, just not the one I asked.

And the day wasn’t over yet.

Unionist objections that the close working relationship between Tánaiste Simon Coveney and Secretary of State Julian Smith was starting to appear like some sort of joint authority, meant the arrival of the taoiseach was downplayed.

No Great Hall reception for Leo Varadkar but rather a press conference in a cramped upstairs corridor.

The real test of this new administration is if they can deliver with the now limited budget on offer.

That may well mean making difficult decisions regarding schools and hospital estate.

As a security journalist I’ll be paying particular attention to the new Justice Minister Naomi Long and how she deals with improving the grindingly slow money pit that is our current judicial system.

There are tough weeks ahead but it’s too late to back down now. They’ve said ‘I do’ and need to make it work, with or without the dowry.