Interesting snippet from Mark Devenport which says an awful lot…
The layman might think that the obvious big gesture for Stormont to make would be to publish the long delayed Cohesion Sharing and Integration strategy, a draft of which the BBC obtained back in January.
However, publishing the whole document might be fraught with difficulties.
As the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness explained at a Stormont Castle news conference at lunchtime, the parties are still nowhere near resolving their differences on major issues like flags, parades and the past.
If a document was published with yawning gaps on these key issues, then it might just invite a wave of criticism.
[The lord forbid there might be criticism! – Ed] Instead Mark notes that “in tandem with any Westminster financial deal, Stormont ministers might try to implement some less contentious community relations initiatives”…
Whatever you’re having yourselves lads. Just so long as you get around to doing something relevant, even something that doesn’t work at the first go…
Otherwise people might begin to ask what’s the point of ye?
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
