Northern Ireland power-sharing system not fit for purpose, says Irish PM
Ireland’s prime minister has said the unique system of sharing power between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland is no longer fit for purpose and should be reviewed.
The system, which imposes a mandatory coalition of representation from the two communities, was devised 24 years ago as part of the Good Friday agreement under which paramilitaries on both sides swapped the bullet for the ballot box.
Recently, there have been complaints that it does not give equal power to all political parties.
The taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said that after more than two decades it may no longer reflect the needs of the community, as other parties – including the neutral Alliance party, now the third biggest in the country – have gained ground.
“There’s a reason why all this [power-sharing] came in, in the early years,” Martin said in an interview with the Financial Times. “There is room for the parties to look at changing the system. The system does polarise and it is not fit for purpose … The electoral system should not be one that constantly reinforces polarisation.”
The 1998 peace deal established a power-sharing system based on a consociationalmodel of democracy designed by the political scientist Arend Lijphartfor societies emerging from conflict. Under the rules, key decisions must have the backing of unionist and nationalist parties, with no explicit support required from an emerging third party.
The Alliance leader, Naomi Long, said earlier this year that the party’s emergence as one of the largest in Northern Ireland had raised questions over power-sharing structures.
Martin’s remarks come as Northern Ireland faces another hiatus in the power-sharing system owing to a boycott by the Democratic Unionist party in a row over the Northern Ireland protocol.
After the DUP failed to agree to return to the assembly’s executive by a deadline of last Friday, the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, announced there would be fresh elections. But he declined to name a date, fuelling speculation that Rishi Sunak may yet sanction emergency legislation to delay an election.
None of the political parties support an election, fearing campaigning will do little to change the result of May’s election and will further polarise communities at a time of a national cost of living crisis.
On Monday, the Belfast Telegraph reported that a loyalist attack on a government target in the Irish republic was allegedly called off a the last minute. It said that paramilitary leaders stood down the plan after the Northern Ireland Office confirmed in a statement on Friday there were no plans for Dublin to take joint authority with London to run Northern Ireland during the Stormont suspension.
Heaton-Harris will be in Belfast on Tuesday to hold talks with Stormont party leaders to discuss how public services can continue to run, and again hinting at pay cuts for absent members of the legislative assembly. He will meet the Irish foreign affairs minister, Simon Coveney, later in the week.
High-level talks between the EU and the UK aimed at solving issues over the protocol continue with hopes of a settlement before next Easter, the 25th anniversary of the peace deal and a prospective visit by the US president, Joe Biden.
Under the power-sharing rules, the first and deputy first minister have equal powers and one cannot be in position without the other – a rule that resulted in the Stormont executive or cabinet collapsing in February when the DUP withdrew its first minister.