Opinion

Patrick Murphy: While the south has free elections, Stormont remains an election-free zone

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy is an Irish News columnist and former director of Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education.

Taioseach Leo Varadkar with President Michael D Higgins following the Fine Gael leader's request to dissolve the Dáil ahead of a February 8 election. Picture by Damien Eagers/PA Wire
Taioseach Leo Varadkar with President Michael D Higgins following the Fine Gael leader's request to dissolve the Dáil ahead of a February 8 election. Picture by Damien Eagers/PA Wire Taioseach Leo Varadkar with President Michael D Higgins following the Fine Gael leader's request to dissolve the Dáil ahead of a February 8 election. Picture by Damien Eagers/PA Wire

A significant difference between north and south is that whereas politicians in Dublin are preparing for an election, politicians in Stormont have done all in their power to avoid one.

Indeed the northern parties were so keen to by-pass the electorate that they accepted Boris Johnson's promise to fund their New Deal. (Would you trust Boris's word?)

So while the south has free elections, Stormont remains an election-free zone, even though almost one fifth of MLAs have not been elected. (Stormont's equivalent of the unelected House of Lords?) Like the two currencies, the value of democracy changes when you cross the border.

So how will it all work out, north and south? In Dublin, Leo Varadkar has called the election at least a year too late. His failed policies on health, housing and education have left his government looking wearied. He missed doing a Brexit deal with Theresa May and having spent the past two years bashing the Brits, he was surprised when the public mood (which he helped to create) opposed his proposed RIC commemoration.

Micheál Martin cleverly supported Leo in office, allowing him enough policy rope to hang himself. Martin is a more astute politician but he is the last surviving member of the Fianna Fáil government which collapsed the Irish economy in 2008. His support for abortion legislation will also damage him, but Varadkar's poor performance will certainly help Martin.

(You have probably noticed the southern electoral cycle, whereby one major party rules for a while and then the other takes its place. There is a different cycle in the north. There the parties regularly collapse Stormont and, while being paid, they wait until their appalling record is a dull memory. Then, without an apology, they return and pretend nothing happened.)

Not much has changed at Stormont. The New Decade document reads like an advert for washing powder: it will make everything whiter. But without a parliamentary opposition, only the media will hold ministers to account. (It was journalists, not MLAs, who exposed RHI.) The agreement ranges from the vague (the use of petitions of concern "should be reduced") to the contradictory (a pledge to tackle sectarianism by MLAs who must identify as Protestant or Catholic).

Produced by two governments, which have raised poverty to new levels in Ireland and Britain, the agreement offers a compassionate society. It is not clear how this compassion will manifest itself. (Perhaps ministers will regularly wring their hands in sympathy for the homeless and their special advisers will offer up prayers for the poor.)

But some in Sinn Féin see the assembly more as a beach-head (although presumably a compassionate beach-head). This is a military term to describe securing a beach during a sea-borne invasion. (It is not clear exactly where SF plans to invade.)

The main beneficiary of not holding a Stormont election was Sinn Féin. It could not afford to risk losing northern votes in the face of a southern poll. Instead it can now claim credit for a restored Stormont (although without a stand-alone Irish Language Act) before its inevitable failings become public.

Despite Stormont's fragility, three executive appointments offer hope. Conor Murphy is by far the most competent Sinn Féin representative in the north. He would fit more easily into the highly talented SF benches in the Dáil and it was a mistake to overlook his abilities in the recent past.

The SDLP's Nichola Mallon is one of the few politicians to offer genuine compassion about social deprivation and she represents the human face of northern politics. The UUP's Robin Swann comes across as sensible, fair and level-headed. He deserves support in what is by far the executive's most difficult job.

In a normal democracy all three would perform well. But Stormont is neither normal nor democratic. Of course, this can boost some political careers. If southern candidates had any sense, they would travel to Belfast, where they could become a minister without even standing for election. That's because, as the New Decade advert says, Stormont-style democracy washes whitest.