The Workers Party not in the least impressed by the latest Stormont Programme for Government
When you skip past the smiling photo opportunity and the glossy brochure, the publication of the latest Stormont Programme is all show and no real substance. Yet they called it a landmark moment and expected us all to applaud.
By Nicola Grant
Homelessness
What was and is a landmark moment is another 5,500 children since January 2025 in households living in temporary accommodation. With no emergency plan for dealing with the tens of thousands already scattered across Northern Ireland away from friends and families and communities they were a settled part of.
Health
The announcement on tackling the waiting lists in the NHS is ambiguous to say the least. The Health Minister who is part of the Executive has had to write to the Finance Minister seeking clarification on the amount of funding available to deliver on this initiative. The Workers Party would also like to know when, where, and how the money will be distributed across Northern Ireland's NHS or will it be another gift to the private sector?
Issues Ignored
All of the issues that affect the working-class people across Northern Ireland have been largely ignored. Poverty, multiple deprivations, health inequalities, housing, unemployment and the benefits system are all disregarded by those elected to represent our interests. Shame and humility is not something they possess, though they should: this was only the second programme for government they have come up with in as many decades and it contains woolly sentiments and no measurable outcomes. This is a shameful indictment of the model of government operating in Northern Ireland since 1998, which is and never was fit for purpose. It was built on sectarian carve ups and continues to operate on that principle. It is time for a root and branch change to our political institutions
People deserve better
The citizens of Northern Ireland deserve much more from their elected representatives across all levels of government including local councils. Our politicians only seem to get angry or excited in political chambers about their own sectarian interests. These people use flags, emblems, language, and competing nationalisms to whip up support at various times of year and in the run-up to elections.
Meanwhile, beyond the noisy rhetoric with occassional conciliatory smiles, nothing of substance improves, and handouts and allowances to big business and finance groups are quietly and routinely passed by a cross-sectarian alliance of these same deeply conservative politicians. This is not good governance or government: this is right-wing tribal sectarian politics.