Interesting piece from David Gordon which amplifies that point about political indolence in Northern Ireland in the last post. David Ford is complaining that despite assurances from the Deputy First Minister on the floor of the Assembly:
“If you are looking for a sign of what I hope will be real progress, you should take heart from the fact that, in the meetings that the First Minister and I conducted with party leaders in the aftermath of the re-establishment of these institutions, there was common cause, in that we all needed to work together.
I think the fact that we have appointed representatives from each of the parties to try to achieve a consensus leads us to believe that we can come out at the other end with a CSI strategy that is acceptable to all the main parties in the Assembly.”
Erm, but as David notes, neither of the current incumbents of Stormont Castle could find the time or head space to nominate for this as yet still not working working party:
A spokesman for the Office of First and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) said they had “formally requested nominations in May and repeated the request in June at a meeting of party leaders. Responses have only been received from SDLP and UUP in recent days. It is hoped that a meeting of the group will be convened as soon as possible”.
However both the SDLP and UUP said they had responded to the requests in June.
As with much else in Stormont Politics, it seems perfectly acceptable to say one thing in public and do (or rather not do) something entirely different in reality… So if you are expecting resolute action any time soon (beyond the sacking a few politically disposable victims, if and when available), just don’t hold your breath…
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
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