In the early stages of the Covid crisis, we were told the Stormont Executive would rise above politics and present a united front against the virus. This came after a period when cracks were already showing over what advice to follow in relation to closing schools and other measures needed to combat the virus.
The story which unfolds is illuminating on a number of levels, but is perhaps most revealing with regard to the close relationship between the Stormont politicians – particularly the DUP – and big business.
Almost exactly three years after its collapse in the wake of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal, the Northern Ireland Assembly reconvened on Saturday 11th January and elected a new Executive. This followed an agreement between the DUP, Sinn Féin and the British and Irish governments, entitled ‘New Decade, New Approach’.
The DUP and Sinn Féin’s whipping up of sectarian tensions, the debacle of the talks process, and the inability of the main parties to provide any solutions to the myriad of economic and social problems that blight our society are an indictment of the Orange and Green establishment. They offer nothing positive for working-class people, only more fear, division and
austerity.
