Letter: We have an unsustainable system of governance at Stormont - how long it limps on is anyone's guess
A letter from Ciaran McClean:
Mr Justice McAlinden in the High court recently despaired at the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and the Department of the Environment And Rural Affairs (DEARA) over the case of the controversial 58-mile A5 road upgrade (A5 ruling: Judge hits out at Stormont, March 12).
He blasted the Stormont departments for “gaslighting” him personally and putting political aspirations above the law.
When politicians are publicly dressed down in such a manner by the judicial system – on the A5 or any other case - it would seem that good governance and a progressive society are not on the horizon in Northern Ireland anytime soon.
When such behaviour is exposed via the courts by ordinary citizens because no genuine opposition exists to the Northern Ireland Executive it's clear that politics at its most basic level has failed every citizen.
To reward members of the Northern Ireland Assembly for such failure with a 27% uplift in pay during a cost of living crisis is but another example of an unsustainable system of governance.
How long Stormont limps on is anyone's guess.
Ciaran McClean, Omagh