This can't be usual Stormont political chess game... lives are at stake

Mark Bain

First Minister Arlene Foster

October 12 2020 08:00 PM

It wouldn't be Stormont without a difference in opinion between the two main parties.

For a brief period during the pandemic crisis, the First and Deputy First Ministers were singing from the same hymn sheet, but normal service looks to have been resumed despite the abnormal times.

That initial unity reaped rewards. The public was crying out for it and they delivered.

We all stand or fall by the decisions we make in life and what happens next in the battle to stem the tsunami of new Covid-19 cases rushing through the country has the ability to make or break political careers.

As revealed in the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, public support for the two leaders in the Assembly is damaged already.

And with 70% of the population admitting they are more concerned about their health than their wealth, the DUP leader is facing a precarious balancing act. Undercook any further restrictions and a raw reception will be on the horizon. The fractious nature of Northern Ireland politics is never far away and the cracks have started to appear. Unless there's a concerted effort, some serious tough talking and a fair helping of Sellotape to stick that hymn sheet together again, the country could fall into the widening chasm.

The stakes are getting higher. Lives and livelihoods are on the line. The big differences in how to proceed are clear. As the DUP argues against imposing further restrictive lockdown measures unless there is concrete evidence for their immediate introduction, Sinn Fein believes more stringent measures are needed urgently. Sinn Fein has previously criticised the DUP for putting economic concerns ahead of health.

True, there have been missteps along the way. Both sides can rightly point at the indiscretions of the other but now is the time to look forward, not wallow in recriminations of the past few months. First Minister Arlene Foster says "heavier restrictions are not inevitable".

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill says the situation is "deteriorating rapidly" while laying the ground work for a new lockdown by highlighting the need for "additional finances" with the Government during Monday's Cobra meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It's not just a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that.

This can't be the political game of chess that has been played out so any times before, for this time the dispensable pawns in the midst of the battle are the people growing more fearful of the Covid-19 threat and the businesses trying desperately to survive. One wrong move and people, or businesses, could die.

And if politicians start pointing fingers at each other, the electorate might finally start pointing fingers at them.