Deirdre Heenan: Where is the change Labour promised us? Time to hit the reset button
Who could have guessed the drugging of unemployed people and coaching those with mental illnesses would be policy priorities?
Deirdre Heenan: Time to face up to hard truths of broken promises on health reform
Visit of Prof Rafael Bengoa was excruciating reminder of how little has been achieved
Keir Starmer is no Tony Blair - Deirdre Heenan
Just months after securing a crushing majority, it already feels like the wheels are coming off Labour’s wagon
Stormont’s programme for government is just more of the same thin gruel we’ve been served for decades - Deirdre Heenan
The draft programme for government is not a practical plan for dealing with the deep malaise in the public sector
Deirdre Heenan: Claire Hanna is energetic and relatable – but can she make the SDLP relevant too?
The SDLP are not dead, but they have stagnated. Claire Hanna now has the opportunity to put her imprimatur on the party
There’s a blueprint to transform mental health services. Why won’t the Department of Health fund it? - Deirdre Heenan
Mental health services are being left to fail with patients and services users struggling to access both routine and urgent care
Deirdre Heenan: Labour is simply playing Tories at their own game
End of universal winter fuel payments paves way for further erosion of the welfare state
No-one wins in our system of dealing with medical negligence - Deirdre Heenan
A better way is needed, for healthcare professionals as well as patients
Deirdre Heenan: The concept of ‘unionist seats’ has been consigned to history
Blinded by arrogance and old grievances, the DUP appears unable to read the room
Dull as dishwater election campaign reflects Stormont’s lack of energy and delivery - Deirdre Heenan
Politics has been famously described as showbusiness for ugly people - a phrase that still implies that an element of entertainment is required
Dear Mike, here’s the three things you need to do to fix the health service - Deirdre Heenan
Forget ‘show me the money’ - new health minister Mike Nesbitt needs to show us the plan
We need our politicians rowing in the same direction but too many are paddling their own canoes - Deirdre Heenan
The snail’s pace around the programme for government betrays the executive’s lack of collective responsibility
We won’t be at the top of a Labour government’s agenda - Deirdre Heenan
Sue Gray’s role in Keir Starmer’s inner-circle will keep Northern Ireland on Labour’s radar but our problems are second-order compared to other challenges
Our only choice is no government or bad government - Deirdre Heenan
The Covid Inquiry exposed a lamentable lack of leadership from both Michelle O’Neill and Arlene Foster
Covid Inquiry: The pandemic brought care homes into the spotlight, let’s not forget them now - Deirdre Heenan
The Covid Inquiry is about more than the pandemic - it’s about how we’re governed and what the people running the country are up to