Alliance Leader tells Lib Dem conference that Executive is 'directionless'

5.08.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 19th Sep 2007

Alliance leader David Ford MLA

Alliance Leader David Ford in a speech at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton today launched a stinging attack on the Executive, saying it was 'directionless' and that it was struggling with its own contradictions.

The South Antrim MLA said:" The Executive is struggling with its own internal contradictions, led by a populist right-wing DUP and a Sinn Féin that has barely moved out of revolutionary Marxism. To avoid a breakdown in the fragile consensus between the DUP and Sinn Féin, they seem prepared to go to any lengths to avoid making any difficult decisions. Our Executive's watchword seems to be consult, consult and then consult some more, lest you be forced into actually making a decision.

"With the other four parties all in government, Alliance is the only party capable of challenging a directionless Executive. While we are passionately committed to shared government and a shared society, that doesn't mean we have to defend bad Ministerial decisions just because they've been made by a cross-community Executive.

"And beyond the leadership, the bulk of both the DUP and Sinn Féin distrust one another profoundly. In council chambers across Northern Ireland they still prefer to squabble over non-issues rather than getting down to delivering better services together.

"People from outside Northern Ireland may think it's wonderful that Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness are sharing power. On one level, it is of course good that these tired old warmongers are working together, rather than stoking the fires of hatred. But beyond the rhetoric and photo ops, there is little in the way of delivery.

Anna Lo MLA, who also took part in the Alliance presentation at the Lib Dem Conference, added: "Our public finances are in a mess. Half our public spending comes from subsidies from Great Britain and 71% of our GDP is generated by the public sector. We must grow our economy and learn to stand on our own feet.

"We want to see serious steps taken to tackle division and segregation. In Greater Belfast there are just a handful of mixed public-sector housing estates. The state must meet the demand of people who don't have the means to buy their way into a mixed community free from paramilitary influence."

ENDS