Stormont Back Up And Running - But What Difference Will It Make To The Lives Of Ordinary People?
Hard on the heels of a political side deal cut between the British government and Jeffrey Donaldson, the Sinn Féin-DUP joint partnership is once again back up and running.
Stormont was revived last week with the presentation of the so-called ‘Safeguarding The Union’ command paper, a document agreed to by the British government and the DUP.
A virtual sop to unionism, the command paper states that it will cement the Six Counties’ “integral place in the UK’s internal market” and that the British government “will legislate to affirm Northern Ireland’s place in the Union”. The document contains no mention of ‘equality of citizenship’ or the other old catch phrase, ‘parity of esteem’.
Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill and British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak shake hands on the opening of Stormont, with DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly overlooking.
In November 2003, at the launch of a Sinn Féin manifesto for an upcoming Stormont election, the late Martin McGuinness stated that there would be a united Ireland by 2016. But the objective reality is that neither the Good Friday Agreement, nor those other Stormont-centred deals agreed to since then, have advanced the Irish republican cause one bit - a fact which becomes clearer with each passing year.
Now, with all the Stormont parties back in their ‘workplace’, the burning question is . . . what difference will it make to the lives of those in the Six Counties? The answer will not surprise you.
The main indicators of the well-being of any community can be demonstrated by examining four key sectors - housing, health, education and employment. A quick study of those sectors reveals a very depressing picture of life in the Six Counties.
Housing
The Six Counties is in the grip of a housing crisis, which many community and voluntary organisations have warned of for years, only to be ignored by those in power. Two decades ago, around 26,000 people were on social housing waiting lists, that figure has now almost doubled to over 45,000.
The numbers of those considered to be living in housing stress due to unsuitable or unfit accommodation, in addition to being forced to pay extortionate rents, has also increased with nearly 33,000 people reported as living in housing stress in 2023.
At the same time the private rental sector has grown dramatically, with increased demand and competition for rental properties allowing unscrupulous landlords to charge tenants extortionate rents, with these tenants then left with only two choices - pay the extortionate rents or be homeless.
In addition to this, there are over 22,000 homes across the Six Counties that lie vacant, and all in the middle of a housing crisis. This reality was only made possible by those in Stormont choosing to abandon their responsibility to directly provide housing to the people.
Housing is a fundamental human right, and the state has a duty to directly provide to the people. The right to housing can only be vindicated through the creation of an entirely new form of housing called Universal Public Housing, or UP Housing for short.
Health
The health service in the Six Counties is currently undergoing one of the most difficult periods in its history, with every one of its sectors struggling.
An analysis of statistics published by the Department of Health at the end of last year shows that -
49% of patients (around 197,000) waiting over a year for an initial outpatient appointment.
54% of patients (around 64,000) waiting over a year for inpatient treatment.
27% of patients (around 46,500) waiting over six months for a diagnostic test.
A staggering 378,400 patients still waiting to see a consultant for the first time.
Doctors say that waits of five years or more for initial outpatient appointments are not uncommon, with any patient unlucky enough to be in this situation then languishing for the same time again on a waiting list for actual treatment. Many die before they are even able to avail of treatment.
Those willing to pay for treatment in the private sector do so, while others simply have no choice but to remain waiting for treatment in the public sector - treatment that may never come.
Last year, there were over 3,000 nursing positions vacant, with the Department of Health increasingly relying on private sector agency staff to fill the gap.
This current two-tier healthcare system is simply not fit for purpose, it has created numerous anomalies, inefficiencies and inequalities. Only a new single-tier properly-funded, all-Ireland public healthcare system has the potential to provide all of our people with the high-quality healthcare they are entitled to.
Education
Over the last ten years, schools and colleges in the Six Counties have suffered chronic underfunding. Parents, staff and trade unions have all each expressed their concerns about the long-term impact these financial pressures are having on educational institutes, staff, and the students themselves.
This is especially true for the increasing numbers of children with special educational needs (SEN).
A report published last year highlighted the following: “The challenges facing children with SEN are therefore immense, and so it is deeply disappointing and short-sighted to hear that funding for the Education Authority’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Transformation Programme (as earmarked funds) has also been cut by 50% in 2023/24.”
There has been a cut of over £300 million in the overall budget allocated to the education sector in the current financial year (2023/24). Overall spending per-school aged child in the Six Counties has fallen behind that of the Twenty-Six Counties and in Britain. This is before any account is taken of the inflationary pressures facing education providers in the Six Counties.
This is happening at a time when there have already been repeated years of inadequate funding to cover staffing costs and to maintain the upkeep of educational buildings.
Only the creation of a new secular, single-tier public education system will provide all students with an education that is best suited to their abilities regardless of their religion, skin colour or class. The creation of such an education system is one of the key building blocks that will be needed to build a new and better society within a New Republic.
Employment
At first glance it appears that the Six Counties has a high level of employment, but just this is a facade, a quick examination of figures released by the authorities shows that this is far from the reality.
Working-age adults make up approximately 60% of the population of the Six Counties, meaning that changes in income within this group can have a significant societal impact. For quite a number of years the Six Counties has been a low-wage economy, with many people being employed part-time. Even those in full-time employment find it difficult to make ends meet!
Public sector workers on strike in Belfast.
The net result of this has forced a significant number of households in the Six Counties to claim ‘top-up’ social security benefits such as Universal Credit, with these figures increasing to over 120,000 last year. Meanwhile, ruthless bosses take advantage of this situation to keep workers’ wages low.
The current economic model concentrates an ever-greater amount of wealth, and subsequent concentration of influence and power, into the hands of an ever-decreasing number of people. Through the planned development of a democratic economy and the proper application of mechanisation and technology, the citizens of the New Republic will be able to work less hours for better wages and improved conditions.
“He who pays the piper calls the tune”
"He who pays the piper calls the tune”, and in this case the one calling the tune is of course the British government who have offered the Stormont parties £3.3 billion pounds “to get back to work” - a staggering amount at first glance, but just look a little deeper and we see that this sum is not all it is hyped up to be.
For starters, £1 billion pounds was cut from Stormont’s budget in 2023 by that British government - cut at a time when there was already a remaining shortfall of another £1 billion pounds. In total £2 billion pounds have been cut from Stormont over the last number of years, leaving just £1.3 billion pounds from that promised sum of £3.3 billion pounds.
Since Stormont collapsed in February 2022, the cost of living has grown at a rapid pace, at the same time public sector wages have remained stagnant, leading to a series of coordinated strike actions across the Six Counties.
“The world needs more hugs” - Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill quoted after hugging British Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak, in 10 Downing Street, with Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald looking on.
The past fifteen years have proven to be very challenging for ordinary people in the Six Counties, but this has not been due to the on-off nature of Stormont.
Even when Stormont was operating, ordinary working people were consistently forced to endure austerity measures, a consequence of the state bailing out the banks. Added to this, ordinary working people now have to contend with rising food costs, rising energy costs, rising rents and rising mortgage costs.
In return for having to put up with austerity measures and a cost-of-living crisis, ordinary working people in the Six Counties have have been ‘gifted’ declining living standards, reduced public services and falling wages in real terms.
Yes, the Stormont parties will dance to the tune of the British government, but it is ordinary working people - the ill, the infirm on lengthy hospital waiting lists, the low-paid, families with young people in education - who will have to pay the bill.