A “lack of delivery” for the people from Stormont is “toxic”, the leader of the Opposition has said.
Matthew O’Toole argued that both the reform of the institutions as well as a cultural shift in the Executive are needed.
The SDLP representative made the points to Westminster’s Northern Ireland Affairs Committee which is looking at potential Stormont reform.
It comes after decades of instability in devolved government in Northern Ireland with periods of collapse between 2017 and 2020, and from 2022 to 2024.
Mr O’Toole argued that while reform of the institutions is needed, a cultural shift is also required, as well as a demonstration leadership.
He told MPs that the people of Northern Ireland “can’t really see the benefit of devolved government”.
“It’s very, very difficult in Northern Ireland for people to see what meaningful improvement Stormont makes to their lives, and that’s really pernicious, particularly in a society where democracy, where basic governance has been so challenged for so much of our history,” he said.
“For people to just not believe that there’s really much point, or it’s achieving very much, is really, really toxic, whatever your preference on the constitution.”
Mr O’Toole highlighted the fact that a Stormont budget for this financial year is still not agreed, warning that civil servants can only authorise 95% of last year’s budget, delivering an effective 5% budget cut.
“There’s a very specific frustration that people rightly have, which is the dysfunctionality and the repeated collapses at Stormont… it self-evidently cannot go on like this indefinitely, because the public have completely lost faith in devolution, which is a tragedy when you think of a society that came out of conflict when so much hope was invested in those institutions,” he said.
He added: “The blunt truth is Sinn Féin and the DUP have a structural political interest in permanent opposition to one another, while being in permanent government with one another, that structurally is challenging.
“So structural changes are important, and they can move you in that direction, but you do need a cultural shift too, and you need people to want to lead, and to want to lead people in the right direction.”
Alliance deputy leader Eoin Tennyson, UUP leader Jon Burrows and DUP leader Gavin Robinson are also set to give evidence to the committee on Wednesday.
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