Stormont must learn from Covid failures

WE may be more than four years on from the start of the Covid pandemic, but the hurt is still very real for the families who lost loved ones.

What the inquiry has been hearing from ministers in the NI Executive at the time will, sadly, not be surprising.

At a time when unity of purpose was required, Stormont floundered in a landscape of petty political rivalries, struggled to reach decisions, rallied against advice from medical and scientific experts in some cases and was pulled one way by the response to the pandemic in London and another by what was happening in the Republic of Ireland.

In the early days the whole ‘we’re in this together’ front before the media, coupled with the shock of the unknown approaching being felt by the population, helped. Lockdowns were largely observed by all. All got behind the health service as they faced the pandemic headon. But just when we needed the government of the country to stand firm, the cracks were developing beneath that united front for the cameras.

The Covid Inquiry in Belfast heard how Executive meetings were ‘chaotic and frankly embarrassing’ from Justice Minister Naomi Long.

Words too from Sinn Fein ministers that they knew attending the funeral of prominent republican Bobby Storey would undermine the Covid effort. They attended anyway while so many families watched from afar as loved ones were buried alone. A short-term gain in the standing of their own community is judged more important than the long-term pain of thousands of families.

It’s again not surprising that has been pinpointed as the moment when all the early signs of cohesion started to drift away.

We should have all expected better from leadership, but as is the case in Northern Ireland, we have learned to expect less.

It is in times of crisis that we expect leaders to pull together. A government which made clear decisions and, even if there was disagreement, a strong sense of togetherness to take decisive and proportionate actions in the best interests, remembering that this was a situation no-one had ever experienced before. That was, it’s now clear, too much to hope for, even in a crisis of the magnitude that was being faced. Instead, they pulled apart.

There can be no turning back of the clock. Those impacted by Covid in the harshest way know that only too well. But there must be a resetting of the dial.

Hindsight is wonderful. Using it as a tool to do better in the future is even better.