Ford says Programme for Government will be 'make or break time'

2.00.00pm GMT Wed 24th Oct 2007

Alliance Leader David Ford has said that tomorrow's Programme for Government will make or break public confidence in the Executive. He said that the Executive has been in total turmoil for over a week and has to prove to local people that it is capable of governing Northern Ireland effectively. The Programme for Government, which is the cornerstone of the Executive's plans and budget for the next year, will be unveiled at a special meeting of the Assembly tomorrow.

Opposition Leader David Ford said: "It's make or break time for the Executive as regards public confidence. The pressure is on them to start delivering improvements to people's everyday lives. They must clearly demonstrate how they will do this within tomorrow's Programme for Government. The Executive has been in total turmoil for over a week now, and they must convince the public that they are capable of governing effectively and collectively.

"There are a range of matters that require urgent attention, but the key issue for the Executive is the need for effective and united work on promoting a shared future and ending the human and financial cost of segregation.

"For the Executive to be effective we need to stop damaging power carve-ups like we saw last week. The public wants to see an end to the stalemates and delays that occur every time an important decision has to be made.

"It's simply not good enough just having the Assembly up and running - The Executive must show that it can deliver good value for money by producing fresh ideas and coherent plans. Given the current turmoil, they will have to produce something very special tomorrow to win over the public."