Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood has voiced her concerns to ministers that Stormont's powersharing arrangements "no longer reflect the diversity and progress of our society".
She criticised the current system for defining Northern Ireland politics in "purely binary terms", which she believes hinders "stability and progress".
The Northern Ireland Executive, which governs Stormont, operates on a powersharing basis, requiring nationalist and unionist MLAs to form a coalition government. Post-election, the largest party nominates the first minister, while the deputy first minister is nominated by the largest party from the second largest community.
Other ministers are then appointed using the d’Hondt system. Certain motions necessitate a cross-community vote, needing not only the support of an overall majority of members but also a majority within both communities to pass.
As a party that does not identify as either unionist or nationalist, Alliance has been advocating for reform to these political institutions for some time. During a Westminster Hall debate on the effectiveness of Northern Ireland’s political institutions, the Lagan Valley MP argued that it was far from accurate to suggest that reforming powersharing would undermine the Good Friday Agreement.
She told members: "More than 25 years later, the political structures born out of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements no longer reflect the diversity and progress of our society."
The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland's census revealed that in 2021, 31.86% of residents identified solely as British, while 29.13% chose Irish only, and 19.78% considered themselves exclusively Northern Irish. Since 2011, the proportion of people identifying as British only and Northern Irish only has dropped by about eight percentage points.
Ms Eastwood commented: "The days of defining Northern Ireland’s politics in purely binary terms is over. I indeed am proof of that, and yet our powersharing arrangements continue to do so at the expense of stability and progress."
The Alliance Party's proposed reforms, as outlined by Ms Eastwood, include changes to how the first and deputy first minister roles are elected and an overhaul of the petition of concern mechanism. This mechanism, which requires a motion to have cross-community support, is triggered by a notice signed by at least 30 MLAs and presented to the assembly speaker.
Ms Eastwood criticised its misuse, stating it was "originally designed to protect minority rights; it has been weaponised to block progressive legislation time and again", and lamented its use "not to protect but to prevent".
Furthermore, as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, Ms Eastwood reminded that the UK Government holds "both a legal and moral duty to ensure effective governance in Northern Ireland". She also pointed to occasions where Westminster has intervened to pass laws in devolved areas, such as marriage equality and organ donation.
Ms Eastwood has made it clear that her calls for reform are not driven by "party political" interests. She emphasised: "Every single political viewpoint must be regarded as equal, not just because it makes my party up to a level that it should be at, but because it is simply unconscionable to have a system that collapses time and time and time again and then turn around and ask why our public services, why our economy and everything else is not working."
The Stormont Executive and Assembly recently came back into action after a two-year hiatus following the resignation of DUP former first minister Paul Givan due to his party’s stance against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Before this, Sinn Féin collapsed the devolved instituations for nearly three years from 2017 to 2020. Ms Eastwood told MPs: "Since its inception, Stormont has been held to ransom multiple times. Prolonged collapses in 2000, 2002, 2007, 2017-2020 and most recently from 2022-2024."
She added: "These collapses have left our institutions in a cycle of dysfunction and our public services and finances in a state of decay."
Northern Ireland minister Fleur Anderson stated that the Government's priority remains to ensure "stable political institutions and a devolution settlement that works for all the people of Northern Ireland".
Meanwhile, DUP MP Jim Shannon intervened, asserting that there can be "no effectiveness of the institutions when hampered by EU interference", highlighting his party’s ongoing objections to the post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland.
Ms Anderson replied firmly: "It’s the Windsor Framework that enables the UK internal market to be protected post-Brexit."
Moving on to Stormont reform, the Northern Ireland minister acknowledged that there's still a significant gap in reaching a consensus, saying, "Parties are still some way from agreeing what those kind of changes would be."
She underscored the importance of being service-oriented at this juncture: "If anything, what we need now is to focus on delivering for public services."
Ms Anderson went on to highlight the necessity of reliability in governance: "A measure of effectiveness is stability."
Reflecting on past performance and future potential, she noted, "It’s true that the institutions have not always proved as stable as the people of Northern Ireland have a right to expect."
However, she mentioned a positive precedent, stating, "There has been a period of 10 years of stability from 2007-2017, which shows that it can be done."
She added: "Despite these challenges, the people in Northern Ireland agree that powersharing remains the best basis for government in Northern Ireland."
Speaking in Belfast as the debate got underway, First Minister Michelle O'Neill pointed to what the Executive have achieved since Stormont was reestablished and said that she has always been up for a conversation on reforming the institutions.
"We are just a few weeks away from the first anniversary. I think we've got a lot to celebrate," she said.
"It's not without its challenges. Emma and I know that. We are tasked with leading the Executive every day, but we have made strides forward. Today we're talking about ending violence against women and girls. This is something that we're both very proud of in terms of making it a commitment from day one, delivering the strategy, delivering the plan, and actually now backing it up with funding, and there's an energy about that."
The First Minister reiterated her commitment to the Executive and said that Ministers are there "to work everyday".
"When it comes to the issue of reform, I have said that we're up for that conversation in the Executive Reform and Review Committee, that's the forum in which we should have that debate. All of our parties are represented there, so let's have it. I'm up for it. I've always said I'm up for it we're not shy away for it, but the most important thing for political stability is actually partners that actually want to make it work, and I believe that the four parties of the Executive want to make the Executive work."
Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly added: "I think there's commitment across all of the parties and the executive to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. We have had that determination in this office as well, of course there are challenges, there will always be challenges, but the best way to stability is by creating that intention to deliver that commitment, and that working together on a consensus basis to try to drive things forward. We have delivered thus far. Of course, deliver in Northern Ireland is never quick. We do have a system and at times that can be frustrating.
"I was just watching this morning as people were signing off things very, very quickly, and we could only hope to have such an ability to be able to do that quickly, but we have to have our processes fit for purpose, and that means transformation within the civil service, within the system, but it also means that political commitment, that clear prioritisation, as I indicated before, if we try to do everything, if we try to prioritise everything, we will not be able to make progress on anything and that is why our Programme for Government will be critical.
"We are determined to focus on a small number of key issues, facilitating ministers to get on with the business within their departments and the other business of government, we will focus on those key things to drive forward that positive change, and today we're ending violence against women and girls in this key stage, and that is another example of how that focus I think is producing results already."
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