Opinion

Editorial: Flags report delay speaks to deep dysfunction

EVEN by the standards of Stormont, the delay in publishing the findings of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition has been entirely unacceptable.

It is now more than five years since the body was set up in an effort to reach consensus on a range of contested issues which have plagued politics and wider community relations long after the Good Friday Agreement.

The commission, which included members appointed by the main parties, was initially to report back within 18 months. However, as with so many important issues on the executive table, its work was disrupted by the collapse of the devolved institutions.

Its findings, running to 45 recommendations, were finally submitted to the first and deputy first ministers in July last year. A working group was tasked with submitting an implementation plan by May.

But six months on, and with storm clouds again gathering over the executive, the report remains sitting on a Stormont shelf.

This is despite the assembly passing an Alliance motion in March demanding that it be published, as well as an SDLP amendment to honour New Decade, New Approach commitments to establish an Office of Identity and Cultural Expression.

Writing in The Irish News this week, junior minister Declan Kearney laid the blame firmly at the door of the DUP.

With first minister Paul Givan having claimed he is not blocking publication, it appears the impasse centres on releasing the implementation plan along with the report.

The situation is highly unsatisfactory, to say the least, and speaks to a deep dysfunction at the heart of the power-sharing government and the relationship between the DUP and other parties in particular.

Time and again over the years, contentious issues have been dodged or disappeared into a black hole in the joint office of the first and deputy first ministers.

Another example emerged yesterday when Sinn Féin accused the DUP of blocking a bill of rights for Northern Ireland - a commitment dating back to 1998. The row led to a meeting of an assembly committee being suspended.

The response to the Covid crisis, too, has often been characterised by division and delay rather than true partnership for the benefit of the people.

With an election looming, the prospects of a politically sensitive report on flags and culture being published any time soon appear remote.

Politicians need not be surprised that public confidence in the devolved institutions is so low.