The Executive is formed… again
By Annelise Brady
After two years of stasis in Northern Ireland following the collapse of the executive in February 2022, the DUP have ended their boycott of Stormont. The DUP boycotted the executive in protest over the arrangements regarding trade following BREXIT. The UK government was going to impose checks on goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, the DUP took this as a threat to NI’s place in the UK. However, following a deal with the British government to ease the checks on goods coming from NI the DUP have agreed to come back into the executive and resume proceedings.
Michelle O’Neill appointment as First Minister groundbreakingly assigns her as the first Nationalist and Republican to become First Minister since the executive was established in 1998. In the May 2022 election, Sinn Féin also won the most seats in the NI assembly for the first time. Emma Little-Pengelly was co-opted to take Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s position as Deputy First Minister alongside O’Neill. The DUP held the position of first minister post from 2007 until 2022. Although the roles of Deputy First Minister and First minister hold equal weight, the principle of a nationalist First Minister in Northern Ireland is significant. This is because in 1921 Northern Ireland was created by partition to establish and protect a protestant majority in the north. With the use of gerrymandering to ensure protestant majorities in constituencies. In recent years the census in Northern Ireland has shown in increase in an Irish identifying population as the British population appears to be decreasing. O’Neill claims she will be a “first minister for all” however some unionists are sceptical.
Plan of the new executive
The first thing on the executive’s long to-do list after a long time of political paralysis is to raise the public sector pay which have been the cause for recent strikes. At the minute Northern Ireland’s health and social care staff remain the lowest paid in the UK, this is to be changed by the new government. Additionally, hospital waiting times, good quality and accessible childcare for working families are prominent issues at the forefront of O’ Neill and Little-Pengelly’s agenda.
What comes hand-in-hand with a nationalist and republican majority in the assembly is the question of whether a united Ireland is on the horizon. Sinn Féin leader in the Republic of Ireland, Mary Lou McDonald declared that Irish Unification “is within touching distance” after O’Neill’s election. A Sunday Times survey from last October showed that 57% of people aged 18-24 would vote ‘yes’ to the reunification. Despite O’Neill and McDonald’s optimism that a united Ireland is tangible within the next ten years, the Unionist parties and supporters will undoubtedly pose as an obstacle to any attempt to unify Ireland. Under the Good Friday Agreement 1998, the NI secretary of state, currently Chris Heaton-Harris must call for a border poll If there appears to be a majority in favour of reunification. However, with the recent development of a 76-page agreement between the DUP and the British government, named “safeguarding the union” and Heaton-Harris claiming that there is “no realistic prospect of a border poll” this optimism might be too pre-emptive.
Fact-checkNI calculated that the executive has been suspended for 40% of its time since the GFA. The system of power-sharing in theory allows for all sides of the community to ensure consent is given in major political changes. However, it also allows for one party to unilaterally prevent the formation and operation of the executive. These prolonged periods of inertia in NI create political apathy among the voters. Many young people do not vote or feel that voting is pointless, as shown by the 38% non-voters on the registers. After the election in February 2022, it took two years for Sinn Féin and the DUP to form the executive voted. This left a two-year democratic deficit in NI. The DUPs boycott paralysed the operation of the NI government and delayed necessary funding from the British government of £3bn. The delay of this funding worsened the cost-of-living crisis and resulted in 24 hour strikes across the country showing discontent. Although the executive is reformed, for now, many believe that the instability which has ensued from 1998 will continue as the population lose faith in their electees.
Edited by Fleur Howe
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-the-union
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