Stormont powersharing arrangements “no longer reflect the diversity and progress of our society”, an Alliance MP has told ministers.
Sorcha Eastwood said powersharing continues to define Northern Ireland politics in “purely binary terms” at the expense of “stability and progress”.
The Northern Ireland Executive that governs Stormont is a powersharing executive whereby nationalist and unionist MLAs are required to govern in coalition.
Following an election, the largest party nominates the first minister and the largest party in the second largest community nominates the deputy first minister. A system, called “d’Hondt” is then used to appoint the other ministers on the executive.
Some motions will require a cross-community vote whereby in addition to requiring the support of an overall majority of members, they must also be supported by a majority within both communities in order to pass.
As a party that does not designate as either unionist or nationalist, Alliance has long campaigned for reform to the political institutions.
During a Westminster Hall debate on the effectiveness of Northern Ireland’s political institutions, the MP for Lagan Valley said it “could not be further from the truth” to say that reform to powersharing undermines 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 census found that in 2021, 31.86% of Northern Ireland residents declared their national identity as British only; 29.13% selected Irish only; and 19.78% stated Northern Irish only.
Since 2011, those declaring themselves as British only and Northern Irish only has declined by around eight percentage points.
Ms Eastwood said: “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.”
Alliance’s proposed reforms of the institutions relayed by Ms Eastwood include changes to the electoral process of the first and deputy first minister roles and reform of the petition of concern mechanism.
The petition of concern is a notice signed by at least 30 MLAs and presented to the speaker of the assembly, requiring a motion to have cross-community support.
Ms Eastwood said the mechanism was “originally designed to protect minority rights; it has been weaponised to block progressive legislation time and again”, adding it has been used “not to protect but to prevent”.
As a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, Ms Eastwood said the UK Government has “both a legal and moral duty to ensure effective governance in Northern Ireland”, highlighting instances where Westminster has “stepped in” to enact legislation in devolved areas such as with marriage equality and organ donation.
Ms Eastwood insisted that her motivations in calling for reform were not “party political”.
She said: “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 was recently resurrected after a two-year collapse following the resignation of DUP former first minister Paul Givan over his party’s opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Prior to that, Sinn Fein collapsed devolved government for almost 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.
“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 said that ensuring “stable political institutions and a devolution settlement that works for all the people of Northern Ireland” remains a priority for the Government.
Intervening, DUP MP Jim Shannon said there can be “no effectiveness of the institutions when hampered by EU interference”, referring to his party’s continued protestations against post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland.
Ms Anderson replied: “It’s the Windsor Framework that enables the UK internal market to be protected post-Brexit.”
On Stormont reform, the Northern Ireland minister said parties are “still some way from agreeing what those kind of changes would be”.
She said: “If anything, what we need now is to focus on delivering for public services.
“A measure of effectiveness is stability.
“It’s true that the institutions have not always proved as stable as the people of Northern Ireland have a right to expect.
“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.”
