I absolutely get what the DUP and Sinn Fein are stretching for with this latest effort to beef up the power invested in Stormont Castle (official residence of OFMDFM). But even the smartest elites get stupid sooner or later. By making themselves the singular font of executive power in the local administration (and neutering any possible points of parliamentary AND departmental resistance), they could well be sowing the seeds of their own future downfall. De Tocqueville, courtesy of the Mild Colonial Boy:
It may easily be foreseen that almost all the able and ambitious members of a democratic community will labor unceasingly to extend the powers of government, because they all hope at some time or other to wield those powers themselves. It would be a waste of time to attempt to prove to them that extreme centralization may be injurious to the state, since they are centralizing it for their own benefit. [Emphasis added]
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty