Editorial: A new sense of unreality from Stormont MLAs, this time on fracking

​It is always so easy when it comes to politics at Stormont. ​If something means more funding then MLAs are for it, usually on a cross-party basis.

They want to avoid the reforms to the winter fuel payments, with not even a proper debate about whether or not there might be an issue with giving money to more affluent pensioners when so many other sectors of society are in need of funding.

They want to avoid welfare reforms and have just endorsed welfare mitigations for another few years.

They want more money for hospitals, with no proper action to reform NHS expenditure to make it more efficient, as suggested by expert report after expert report for almost 25 years.

They want more money for education, with no serious debate about whether there might be elementary efficiencies that can be made in the provision of schooling, and whether or not it is wise in a divided society to be increasingly one of the most divided sectors of all in the province, that of Irish schools (which are expanding while larger schools are being forced to close).

At the same time as demanding ever more money, with unionists as scathing about the alleged shortfalls from London (ie as ungrateful) as republicans, who want for political reasons to imply that the UK is miserly as a way of increasing support for an all Ireland, they will not countenance significant revenue raising.

Now we have the Enterprise minister Conor Murphy saying he has executive support for banning fracking, and high mindedly reiterating support for an utterly ridiculous Net Zero target, which will not be met.

And this, from a society that will not accept nuclear power, as France has done (helping it keep down harmful emissions) and when America is in an economic boom, partly due to fracking.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​