The political situation in Northern Ireland: 5 things you need to know.
- We’re record holders! As of the 17th of December 2018, Northern Ireland has gone 690 days without a functioning government, beating the previous record holders Belgium. However, we won’t get a Guinness World Record, as technically Northern Ireland is not an independent country, but part of the UK.
- We’re fine. Apart from the fact that our Primark just burned down, things in NI are going okay. I don’t know why or how, but the bins are still being collected, and the leisure centre is still open. The NI secretary, Conservative MP Karen Bradley, seems to be in charge, and the day to day running of government is carried out by civil servants.
- Things have been going badly in NI for ages. The two largest parties, the DUP (28/90 seats)* and Sinn Fein (27/90 seats)* have been bickering for years over, well, everything. Firstly, Sinn Fein want an Irish Language Act, giving official status to Irish language in NI, but the DUP will not agree to this demand. DUP leader Arlene Foster was responsible for wasting 480 million pounds of taxpayer money on a renewable energy scheme which didn’t work. (Search for “the RHI scandal” for more info). Sinn Fein (and other parties) have called for Foster to resign, but so far, she has refused. The DUP and Sinn Fein also disagree on issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, abortion laws, grammar schools, Brexit, and of course, whether NI should be in the UK or Ireland. Under the NI power-sharing system, both parties are entitled to be in government. However, these major disagreements between the two parties eventually led their government (and the Stormont legislature) to collapse, as both refused to compromise or work with the other.
- Politicians are still being paid. However, they have just received a pay cut – from £49,500 to £35,888. Despite the cut, MLAs (the law makers in Stormont) have collectively been paid over 9 million pounds since the suspension of Stormont, even though they have passed zero laws.
- Not much is happening. It doesn’t look like the power sharing government or the Stormont Assembly (our devolved legislature) will be up and running any time soon. Recently there has been a campaign, #WeDeserveBetter, which called for Northern Irish politicians to return to work. However, despite gaining a large social media following, it seems to have had no impact.
*2017 NI Assembly Election Results
The Green Anorak 