Nomination of First Ministers

Speech by David Ford delivered to Assembly, 5 June 2008 on Thu 5th Jun 2008

I also congratulate the new First Minister and the recycled deputy First Minister on their nomination by their party nominating officers to the posts that they hold. However, it is a pity that the House did not have an opportunity to vote as it would have done under the 1998 Act.

We heard two positive speeches from both Ministers about their aspirations for the future. The question that we in the Chamber are entitled to ask today is: was that rhetoric, or does it reflect reality? Three weeks ago, Members from the DUP and Sinn Féin were telling all of us, and potential US investors, that Northern Ireland was open for business and that we had stability. Then, three days ago, the president of Sinn Féin rushed off to Downing Street to create the image of a crisis.

Today, Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness have taken the Pledge of Office, having been confirmed by their parties as First Minister and deputy First Minister, thereby creating the appearance of normality. However, tomorrow, they will rush back to Downing Street, depending on the Prime Minister to get them out of the hole into which their parties have dug themselves.

It really is time that those who have been charged with Government in this place took up their duties and stopped acting like squabbling children. A year on from the time when they told us that everything was resolved is long past the time for them to be continuing to act in that way. It is time that Ministers justified their appoint­ments and started to take the difficult decisions. It is time that they recognised that the problems of Northern Ireland should be addressed in this Building and in Stormont Castle, and not in Downing Street, Government Buildings or the White House. It really is time that they grew up.

The time for chuckling is clearly over with the change in personnel. Will that be replaced by an ongoing sham fight, or will the Executive start to take some collective action on the difficult issues that confront us, and not just individual action on the easy issues?

We have been told by Ministers that they have put the economy at the heart of the Programme for Government. However, experience throughout the world shows that one cannot have a successful, dynamic economy if one is part of a divided society. Investment in promoting good relations is not some soft, liberal response - it is absolutely fundamental if we are to have a society in which talent flourishes and public investment is maximised. That is the challenge for the incoming Administration. That is the challenge that the First Minister and the deputy First Minister have apparently responded to, yet it is the challenge on which the outgoing Administration - of which they were both part - totally failed to take action.

I listened carefully when the First Minister talked about the responsibilities of all in the Chamber, and specifically the responsibilities that he said applied to all those who were outside the Executive. I will respond to him and assure him that, if he is serious in that challenge, we on these Benches are quite prepared to engage in constructive discussion to improve the way in which the institutions work and the service that we deliver to the people of Northern Ireland - and to start to make a difference. That issue reflects back to the First Minister, because the lead must be given by the Executive, and, in particular, by the two top Ministers.

Reading the press, we see that the people of Northern Ireland demand leadership; they demand constructive action on a whole range of problems that face us. They want an end to the current shenanigans, the flip-flop from a photocall one day to angry exchange, begrudgery or sham fight the next. The question is: will the Executive now rise to the challenge to which the Ministers today said that they will rise?

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