Secretary of State, Hilary Benn. File photo by Jonathan Porter, Press Eye
THE British parliamentarian, the late Tony Benn, developed the five questions we should pose to those in power: “What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?”
There is some irony that his son, Hilary Benn is now Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Minister of a government party which does not directly stand for election in the north, Mr Benn has responsibility for key matters including security, policing, prisons, criminal justice, public order and elections.
Northern Ireland may have a few MPs at Westminster, there may be consultation, but following his father’s tests there is no real accountability for the decisions Mr Benn makes.
This is not a personal criticism of him; he seems to be a decent man and certainly not the worst Secretary of State… admittedly faint praise.
Rather, it is the system of government here that gives rise to doubts about the accountability of those making decisions about many aspects of public life.
This is budget month in both the Dáil and at Westminster.
But the difference between the two governments is striking.
The debate in Dublin is how the government should spend a surplus amounting to billions of euro, while London is warning of a multi-billion pound black hole in its finances.
As far as Northern Ireland is concerned, the common factor is that Dublin and London will be making decisions about spending money here and the electorate has little or no direct say in where the funds go.
Dublin has shown willingness to invest in the north, including contributions to the notorious A5 road from Derry to Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, close to the border.
A recent Irish Association Conference at Queen’s University Belfast spent a day considering the real benefits of North-South co-operation a generation on from its formalisation as Strand 2 of the Good Friday Agreement.
The journalist Newton Emerson referenced the Irish government’s 10 million euro investment in 50 new medical student places at Queen’s, as well as a multi-million investment for Ulster University’s Magee campus in Derry as examples of the Republic helping Northern Ireland.
Ireland and Britain Editor of the The Irish Times, Mark Hennessy, who has been furthering North-South understanding with his paper’s “Common Ground” project, advocated for a shift in focus from constitutional debates to practical co-operation, noting that the North-South ministerial work is about “helping people in their day-to-day lives” and should not be seen as a threat.
If the public understood the pragmatic benefits, he argued, they would be more open to North-South co-operation.
Since its establishment more than a century ago, Northern Ireland has always relied on external financial help.
However, there is an onus on local politicians - the one group that we can actually get rid of via the ballot box - to focus more on raising revenue.
The publication of a new draft Programme for Government a few weeks ago, seven months after devolution was restored, was hailed as an achievement in itself.
A think tank, Pivotal, has given the Executive credit for producing a programme.
But it said the jury’s out on whether the draft’s “ambitious but realistic” nine priorities will achieve their expressed aim of bringing about “real change in people’s lives”.
While Pivotal has recognised that not every social issue can be prioritised, “there will however be concerns about other issues that have not been included, with three leading examples being poverty, wastewater infrastructure and social care”.
One of the greatest concerns is that the Executive has admitted that it is not possible to reduce the length of health waiting lists within the current funding levels.
In Pivotal’s view, this emphasis on getting additional funding is in danger of raising false expectations and deflecting attention from the Executive’s responsibility for managing its own budget.
The Executive would be better to recognise this reality and start making choices about spending their current funding differently and/or raising more revenue locally.
Pivotal has highlighted that while the draft programme has stated that “financial sustainability will require brave decisions”, it includes nothing about revenue raising.
A public consultation on the draft programme is open until November 4.
And it’s vital that the people of Northern Ireland give their response to the plan.
Local politicians should be sensitive to the needs of the people and address them.
If they can’t deliver, we can get rid of them.