The first seven months of the restored Northern Ireland Executive

The Northern Ireland Executive returned in February 2024 following a two–year collapse. While the institutions were down, struggling public services deteriorated further and budgetary problems grew because of the absence of political leadership.

The return of local decision–making in the Executive and Assembly was welcomed, with some optimism, as a fresh opportunity to take on these problems.

The Covid–19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the cost–of–living crisis and increasing challenges in public services are problems governments across the world have recently faced. For two years, Northern Ireland tried to take on those issues without a functioning government. The result was struggles with over–stretched budgets, public sector strikes, deteriorating public services, and an ecological crisis in Lough Neagh. Ministers and MLAs returned to high expectations – but also a large backlog of difficult problems.

This new iteration of Stormont is a historic one, with Sinn Féin the biggest party in the Assembly for the first time, and a new official opposition led by the SDLP. With Michelle O’Neill as First Minister, and the Democratic Unionist Party’s Emma Little–Pengelly as deputy First Minister, the Executive has appeared more united than some previous coalitions, marked by positive public engagements and a seemingly friendly relationship between the First Ministers.

However, many have suggested that the Executive needs more substance than this. Having the institutions in place is a big step forward, but the business of government is about more than just operating without collapse. The lack of a Programme for Government (PfG) and strategic vision has been criticised. In many areas of policy, Northern Ireland needs a complete transformation to reverse recent declines and be ready for the future. There is not much evidence yet that the Executive grasps the level of joint vision, ambition and change needed.

This paper considers:

How well the Executive has functioned as a government over the last seven months
Five cross–cutting issues where the Executive needs to make urgent progress
Actions taken by each Department since February and suggested priorities ahead

The report concludes with an annex of some headline data.

As a politically independent think tank, Pivotal aims to help inform and enhance policy–making in Northern Ireland. We offer this analysis on that basis.

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