Stormont leaders ‘prioritising division over delivery’ two years in

Concern has been expressed that Northern Ireland’s leaders are “prioritising division over delivery” on the second anniversary of the restoration of devolved government.

Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole also contended that the Stormont Executive has failed to deliver on its own priorities, such as childcare, child poverty and social housing.

The Assembly was effectively suspended due to DUP protest action over post-Brexit trading arrangements for two years. It followed a three-year suspension after Sinn Fein collapsed the Assembly from 2017-2020.

Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill became the first nationalist First Minister upon the Assembly’s return on February 3, 2024, serving alongside deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP.

While the two leaders took part in joint media interviews on the first anniversary of restoration and defended their record on delivery, they did not on Tuesday.

SDLP leader Mr O’Toole told media: “I’m concerned about what it says about the culture of our politics that the two big parties are happy to prioritise division over delivery.

“They’re literally divided in the sense that they won’t even sit in the same room and do a joint interview to defend their record over the last two years.”

He also claimed the two leaders are defending delivery separately due to pressure from the official Opposition focusing the conversation on that.

He added: “The fact they won’t even do that in the same room is a shocking indictment of the failure to work together, but it does speak to a deeper need in our politics to change and reform how we do business here.”

Mr O’Toole said two years on from that historic day, the public has a right to expect a “serious government working for them”.

“On day one, childcare was supposed to be a priority, along with child poverty, building social houses, fixing the crumbling waste water infrastructure,” he said.

“Those are clear urgent priorities, the Executive has failed systematically to deal with them.

“This is an Executive which is good at occasional photo ops, at making nice once in a while, then one minute later when it suits they’ll turn round and have theatrical fallings out, tribal nonsense, that’s the oldest trick in the book, but Sinn Fein and the DUP are addicted to it.

“We as a constructive Opposition are going to make sure it gets called out. We have been pressing for reform of how this place works, reform so we can focus on delivery, focus on the public’s needs, not just stop this place collapsing but make it work better.”