Lack of reform 'condemning devolution to death by a thousand collapses', says Naomi Long

Alliance Leader Naomi Long says reform of Northern Ireland's political institutions is needed to end the "current system of stop-go, up-down, ransom politics".

She was speaking at the party's annual conference in Belfast on Saturday.

Ms Long said the lack of reform to the current system of power-sharing at Stormont is "condemning devolution to death by a thousand collapses".

She said: "Failure to act is ruining people’s lives and jeopardising the Good Friday Agreement itself.

"By responding to those who up-end the institutions by pandering to their demands time after time, rather than ending their ability to do so, they are condemning devolution to death by a thousand collapses.

"Our proposals for reform are consistent with the principles of the Good Friday Agreement - principles of power-sharing, inclusion, interdependence and respect - but they also acknowledge the inherent instability of the structures created to implement it."

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement saw the creation of a system that requires the biggest political bloc of unionists to share power with the biggest bloc of nationalists in a mandatory coalition.

However the institutions are currently not operating, after the DUP refused to elect speaker or a First and deputy First Minister as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The cross-community Alliance Party grew from being the fifth-largest to the third-largest party in the Assembly following last year's election.

"The case for reform may be undisputable, but it will be resisted because it privileges the two main designations and because it provides the two main parties with vetoes and blocks that they can abuse," continued Naomi Long.

"However, with the announcement of the Windsor Framework this week and the 'Stormont Brake' it is even more crucial to ensure that, whatever mechanism is used to give MLAs a say over the EU laws that will apply in Northern Ireland, will not create more instability and further opportunities for stand-offs and walk outs."

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