Opinion

Noah’s Ark politics and incompetent governance has to end

‘Noah’s Ark politics’ where we end up having two of everything, has resulted in us being a very inefficient place to do business
‘Noah’s Ark politics’ where we end up having two of everything, has resulted in us being a very inefficient place to do business ‘Noah’s Ark politics’ where we end up having two of everything, has resulted in us being a very inefficient place to do business

When I read the news that the Stormont Executive was to continue its £3m state aid subsidy of the United Airlines flight it was difficult to know whether to laugh or cry at the announcement.

Our politicians have proven once again that they are more obsessed with short-term fixes and bickering than the strategic planning required to create the conditions that will enable the NI economy to flourish.

In the world of globalisation that our politicians tell us that they are keen to embrace we are light years behind our competitor states who we compete against for this inward investment.

Instead of taking the difficult decisions that will deliver leading world-class facilities and infrastructure that will take our economy to the next level and us having lean efficient central and local government departments that function, our politicians and civil service continue to side step any meaningful form of strategic decision making and continue to waste hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ cash.

The United Airlines state aid subsidy is not something to be celebrated as a success as it is in fact a symptom of our failed aviation and inward investment strategies. Instead of having a single world-class strategically located airport that can compete directly with Dublin and Europe, we continue to make do with two poor airports neither of which are fit for purpose.

It is a form of ‘Noah’s Ark politics’ where we end up having two of everything, which has resulted in us being a very inefficient place to do business. The £3m subsidy equates to the rates paid by 2,500 homeowners which gives a sense of the scale of the waste we are talking about here.

Our failure to strategically plan for the future combined with our legendary bureaucracy and poor infrastructure has resulted in the Republic and the rest of the UK looking like even more attractive places to locate a business and no amount of state aid subsidy will ever paper over these cracks in the Northern Ireland economy.

The saddest part in all this is, Stormont continues to destroy the one beacon of hope which we have here – the indigenous SME economy – through even greater levels of business rates and even more red tape which has resulted in Northern Ireland having the lowest rate of business start-ups in the UK as our brightest and best continue to emigrate overseas to find work.

We as the electorate need to start demanding more from our politicians or we will continue to be left behind as our economy continues to flounder especially in this post Brexit world that will soon be upon us.

PATRICK MURDOCK


Newry, Co Down

Tom’s article an important resource to writers of Irish history

Nothing could be more rewarding on the Feast of the Assumption than to read the article contributed by Tom Kelly ‘Mallon’s values ring as true today as ever’ (August 15). 

This article is an important resource to the writers of Irish history in the future because it is accurate, honest and gives readers an opportunity to learn more about one of the greatest Irish men who ever lived and thankfully is still with us to celebrate his 80th birthday. May he live for ever.

Sadly, to use his own term in a moment of anger with Mo Mowlam, Seamus Mallon was ‘shafted’ by opportunists in London and elsewhere who are long forgotten or disgraced for their lack of principles which Seamus Mallon held and, if adhered to, would have meant all of us, nationalist and unionists would be in a better place today.

That being said, and taking into account the need not to harp back to the past, it is still critical, as the title of Tom Kelly’s excellent article claims, to accept that the values of Seamus Mallon ring as true today as ever and will continue to do so until the principles of decent politics is rediscovered.

Seamus Mallon was, as Tom Kelly writes, an extraordinary politician and more, much more. From a privileged place in the first SDLP Assembly Group following the Good Friday Agreement I have cherished memories of a man I would have trusted my life with and anyone who attempts to rewrite that part of history is only fooling themselves and no-one else.

Seamus Mallon’s contribution to Irish history has been recognised by the SDLP and many others in recent times and hopefully his wisdom and advice will continue to be available to those who now lead the party because his values and assessment of the continuing instability of the north is as true today as it was when he battled it out with prime ministers and secretaries of state who foolishly pandered to paramilitaries rather than embrace decency, honesty and principled politics.

The reality, regrettably, is that we are still in the grip of paramilitaries, informers and opportunists that would sell their grannies and couldn’t lace the boots of an incredible man who can celebrate his birthday in the knowledge that he did his best and it is our loss that his wisdom and honesty was ignored and we continue to pay the price for that.

JOHN DALLAT


Kilrea, Co Derry

PSNI policy failure is evident

Brian Feeney (August 17) cuts almost to the quick when he suggests the current policy of the PSNI when dealing with the criminality, racketeering, prostitution, drug dealing, robberies, fraudulent representation rife within loyalism has ‘failed’. Such failure is evident in the statement from the PSNI concerning the murder of a man in north Belfast ‘the reality of policing’, a statement clearly contradicting its terms of reference making obsolete the phrase ‘in a post conflict society’. 

While the gun appeared once again on the streets of Belfast and different loyalist hooligans square up to ‘do each other in’ with ever increasing violence the PSNI respond with “challenging conversations need to take place as police engage constructively to keep people safe”. This suggests the police have turned the page as far as loyalist violence is concerned and are apathetic to the continued threat.

A further indication of this unenthusiastic approach is the response from the same impartial PSNI in Dungannon who reacted ‘constructively’ as one of its inspectors asserted after banners glorifying sectarian murderers appeared dangling from lampposts, “the banner would be offensive to some but not to others”.


This insensitive comment displays an obdurate indifference to victims of loyalist violence. 

KEVIN McCANN


Belfast BT1

Integrated education mantra

Leona O Neill (‘From segregation to integration’, August 16) repeats the mantra that amounts to – integrated good, Catholic bad, when it comes to the education of our children. Given that she states her education was Catholic, this amounts to nothing more than a ‘thanks, but no thanks’ attitude to the very system which gave her to tools to earn a living as a journalist.

Such ingratitude is confirmed with her quoting the UN, which views Catholic education as a divisive ethos.

To educate a child with a Catholic education is to encounter the truth manifested in a 2,000-year command of Christ to teach all nations and is by his words and later apostolic witnessing that assures that truth. She seems, sadly with others ‘nominal Catholics’ to fail to grasp the seriousness of the promises couples make to educate their children in that same truth, which is taken before and during the Nuptial Mass.

Catholic education is a means whereby the student is also given the start towards sanctity in eternity, the goal which is the reason why we exist. True integration, is to be integrated ever closely to Christ, but what Leona’s article shows is that reality does really cut.

It seems that Leona is in full agreement with the sentiments of Man Booker Prize winner, Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall) that “respectable people just don’t do Catholicism”.

JDP McALLION


Clonoe, Co Tyrone