Editorial: Stormont's big achievement? Seeking popularity by spending on pay, reducing what is available for services

​The deputy first minister of Northern Ireland spoke yesterday about the triumphs of Stormont’s first year.

Emma Little-Pengelly said a telling thing when trying to justify that claim. She said “… if you look at some of the huge delivery points, particularly ... public sector pay being settled basically on day one …”

In other words, the first triumph she mentions is settling major pay rises for one sector of the population, a small minority of the working public, funded by taxpayers. Even in Northern Ireland, with its much higher numbers of public sector workers than in Great Britain pro rata to the population, 70%+ of employees are private sector.

This pay settlement was often granted without any reform or improvement to working practices, it rewarded strikes that were in many instances inappropriate and even on occasion irresponsible, and it took no account of the staggeringly generous and expensive pension provision enjoyed by public sector workers. The pay rises have also greatly reduced the funds available for infrastructure spending and services, which are often in chaos.

Yet this highly dubious political decision is hailed by Ms Little-Pengelly. In fairness to her, though, the DUP is – due to the appalling system of mandatory coalition – in the tricky situation of having to be in power at all times with a party, Sinn Fein, that wants NI to fail and wants to be able to say that public services are better in the Republic.

It is significant thus that Hilary Benn will, when speaking about Stormont one year later, today say that “UK government lack of funding is not the impediment to public service transformation”. He will add: “The real impediment has been the failure to reform the system.”

How very true. And since Sinn Fein will not reform, unionists should try to get Alliance on board for it, for the sake of services for the Northern Ireland public.