Opinion

Foster and O'Neill: A stronger leadership forged from crisis?

With the coronavirus crisis testing the mettle of all political leaders, Allison Morris asks whether it has also helped Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill build a more stable platform for power-sharing

Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill being interviewed by Sky News reporter David Blevins at the weekend.
Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill being interviewed by Sky News reporter David Blevins at the weekend. Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill being interviewed by Sky News reporter David Blevins at the weekend.

IT was an executive brought together by public outrage at waiting lists but very quickly found itself dealing with a very different kind of health crisis.

Coronavirus will be the biggest story of this decade, not just in terms of those who have tragically died in the pandemic but because of the long-term global ramifications.

When the assembly returned in January there were already those taking bets as to how long power-sharing - forced rather than forged - could last.

Many commentators said another crisis on the scale of RHI could topple devolution for at least a generation.

And then along came a crisis that no-one could have predicted.

If a resilience test was needed, it would be hard to design one more demanding than coronavirus.

On a political front it was sink or swim for ministers fresh into the job.

But two people who have risen to the challenge are Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill.

The crisis has forced these two politicians, who it was often said there was no love lost between, to work together in way that they never have before.

David McCann of the Slugger O'Toole political website said this week: "The two have been able to disagree with one another and keep the show on the road, but more importantly keep it functioning."

Tommy Gorman of RTÉ called the pair "Sisters in Arms", adding that the "Michelle-Arlene partnership is exploring new ground. On this island, south or north, this is the first time that two women are leading an administration".

Social distancing has changed how the two leaders operate in terms of media engagement.

Not having the 'donut' of party members, usually all male, standing behind them as they speak has helped them look more like leaders with real clout.

They seem to have found a common ground and more importantly a relationship that didn't exist before the crisis.

A joint interview given to Sky News at the weekend appeared to show both displaying this new-found confidence.

Politics is often a patriarchal world where female leaders face harsher scrutiny, from both the public and other politicians.

The First and Deputy First Ministers have managed to combine leadership with compassion and both have emerged from this period with a different attitude - and public perception - than they had going in.

There have been failings, initially over PPE supply and then an inability to prevent the spread of Covid-19 to care homes, all of which require further scrutiny.

Down the line, saving jobs will be crucial as the working poor now reliant on food banks for survival struggle to rebuild their lives.

The NHS waiting lists also haven't gone away and the mental health crisis has been exasperated greatly by lockdown.

But any bets that this assembly would collapse at the first hurdle are now beaten dockets in a rapidly changing political landscape with very different priorities.