Opinion

Alex Kane: Stormont nightmare needs to end - for George's sake

Alex Kane

Alex Kane

Alex Kane is an Irish News columnist and political commentator and a former director of communications for the Ulster Unionist Party.

Senator George Mitchell was in Belfast again this week. His engagements included speaking at the Ulster University's Belfast campus at a conference on ending sectarianism. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Senator George Mitchell was in Belfast again this week. His engagements included speaking at the Ulster University's Belfast campus at a conference on ending sectarianism. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire Senator George Mitchell was in Belfast again this week. His engagements included speaking at the Ulster University's Belfast campus at a conference on ending sectarianism. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire

I have huge regard for Senator George Mitchell, but sometimes I wonder why he keeps coming back to Northern Ireland. Each visit must be more heartbreaking for him than the last one.

Writing in the April 1999 issue of the Fordham International Law Journal (Essays and Analysis of the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement) he dared to dream: "It is to return to NI in a few years with my young son.

"We will roam the country, taking in the sights and sounds of that lovely land.

"Then, on a rainy afternoon, we will drive to Stormont and sit quietly in the visitors' gallery in the Northern Assembly.

"There we will watch and listen as the members debate the ordinary issues of life in a democratic society: education, health care, tourism, and agriculture.

"There will be no talk of war, for the war will have long been over. There will be no talk of peace, for peace will be taken for granted."

He was here in April last year, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Agreement he brokered.

It was the worst party ever. No balloons, no bunting, no cake and no rendition of Happy Birthday.

That's because the Assembly had collapsed. He was here again a few days ago and there was still nothing to celebrate.

Worse, the Secretary of State (go on, you know the routine by now; Google her name and find out what she does) invited him to meet the party leaders during the new talks process and then issued a photograph which made it look as if he were participating in a séance.

He may as well have been. He would have had more chance of contacting Abraham Lincoln and asking what he thought of the play before the fatal bullet was fired in Ford's Theatre, than he would have of detecting the ether of compromise around the table.

I presume the SoS - who in the same photograph looked as though she had no idea who he was - thought that the mere presence of this person in the room would have galvanised the politicians into action.

How stupid is she? (No postcards required by the way, I'm being rhetorical.) 50,000 volts of electricity shot through their chairs every five minutes wouldn't galvanise that lot.

They were there because they were too embarrassed to refuse the invitation. And as soon as he had finished his pep talk they simply upped sticks and wandered off again. She probably sought out an adviser to find out who she'd been sitting beside.

Mind you, they had probably been worn into a stupor by an earlier visit from the Church leaders.

I'm sure they're all very well meaning and sincere but I genuinely don't know why they needed to be there.

The party leaders need to be talking to each other, rather than a delegation from the great and good.

But if they are up for meeting groups of people then why not meet people who will surprise them with some home truths about everyday life in Northern Ireland. A group of doctors; a group of hospital workers; a group of teachers; a group of community workers; a group of people from the arts; a group of sixth formers; a group of farmers.

In other words, groups of ordinary people telling the party leaders about the challenges they face.

They know exactly what to expect from Mitchell and the Church leaders; so maybe it's time they heard the unexpected.

Set aside a week for briefings from the actual people - not their union reps or official spokespeople - who are affected by the absence of an assembly and executive.

The actual people who have to take the brunt of criticism for not being able to do the jobs they want to do, because there isn't a government to agree funding and decide priorities.

I still find it an almost surreal experience to hear the parties talk about the agenda for the talks process.

Get the bloody institutions up and running again: that's it in a nutshell. Make sure that government departments get on with the task of governing. Provide certainty. Release funds. Sign off on essential decisions. Look after the people. Restore hope and confidence.

Make sure that when George Mitchell comes back again - as I hope he will - he will have something worth showing to his son Andrew, who is now 22.

I remember writing a piece about 12 years ago, just after the DUP/SF deal in 2007, suggesting that if the parties kept making progress on the small, but essential stuff, it would make it easier for them to built up the reservoir of trust and success they would require to tackle the bigger, much more difficult stuff.

That remains my view. The 'nothing is agreed until everything is agreed' approach won't work; but it will kill off this latest talks process.