Stormont’s priorities - Pivotal report echoes Countryside Alliance Ireland

Since the Northern Ireland Executive was reformed again in 2023, Countryside Alliance Ireland has been calling on the Assembly to focus on priorities and deliver real change. In our piece 40 Days and 40 Nights, we highlighted the needs of those living here.

Echoing our calls, the recent report from Pivotal Public Policy Forum, Time to Deliver: The Northern Ireland Executive Needs to Step Up and Make a Difference in 2025, underscores the urgent need for the Executive to address longstanding structural issues in both social and economic infrastructures. The report recommends a practical approach: for the Executive to jointly agree on a limited number of priority areas where meaningful progress can be achieved within the current mandate.

John Blair, serving as the Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2024 and MLA for South Antrim since 2018, has been actively engaged in advancing his own divisive and self-indulgent Private Members' Bill against those who hunt with dogs. Despite its rejection by the NI Assembly in the last mandate, Blair continues to pursue this legislation, prioritizing personal ideological battles over pressing public concerns.

The full report can be viewed here, but let us look at just one of the many areas mentioned in the report: health.

With over half a million patients waiting for their first outpatient appointment with a consultant, health waiting lists continue to be a major issue for many of Northern Ireland’s population. There must be a funded plan to address this. The recent Hospital Reconfiguration Framework is a milestone along the road to transforming Health and Social Care, but it needs to be progressed to set out what specific changes will be made to how and where services are delivered. This is one of the leading examples of where the Executive needs to be prepared to make difficult and unpopular choices.

At a time when Northern Ireland faces profound structural challenges—exacerbated by years of inaction—it is imperative that elected officials focus on delivering meaningful change rather than reviving failed, polarising initiatives. Given his role and obligation to serve the broader interests of the public, not just niche agendas, a meeting between Mr. Blair and Ann Watt, Director of Pivotal, to understand what the priorities of the people of Northern Ireland really are, could be beneficial. Such a discussion would provide an opportunity to examine the report's findings and align on actionable strategies that reflect the needs and aspirations of the people of Northern Ireland.

Pivotal, as an independent public policy think tank, is dedicated to evidence-based policymaking aimed at improving society, the economy, and public services. Their recent report highlights critical areas requiring urgent attention and proposes pragmatic solutions to address these pressing concerns.

The time for distraction and ideological pet projects has passed. The Executive must now focus on delivering tangible benefits for the people of Northern Ireland. Considering the report, Blair needs to ask himself the question of whether he continues to pursue a pet project that will eat up a huge amount of time and legislative resources that the Assembly is in very short supply of (not to mention the cost to the taxpayer and detriment to every citizen), or if he will get on and start helping address the real issues affecting our everyday lives, working towards implementing strategies that tackle structural challenges, ultimately leading to improved outcomes for everyone throughout Northern Ireland.