Shona Morrison: Direct rule will bring us nowhere

No more last-minute shouts of “Mum, I need a shirt for tomorrow” or rooting through schoolbags to make sure there are no letters from school that the youngsters haven’t deemed important enough to share.

No worries this week except for sorting out a Hallowe’en costume and scoping out a few holiday appropriate films to watch as the evenings darken. After nearly two months, everyone needs a bit of downtime.

Of course, this isn’t something that our politicians will be able to relate to. It’s now been more than ten months since Stormont collapsed and we seem even further from a resolution than when everything first came to a head. In that time, we’ve had elections and so-called deadlines galore for all the good that they’ve done.

It’s getting to the point where the Oxford Dictionary is going to have to redefine the word deadline and people are going to start having to make concessions for all those who come from Northern Ireland because we’re being taught from those at the highest level in our country that you can miss a deadline and just keep petering on at your own pace without consequence. If politicians can get away with it, why can’t we?

However, it does seem that this week actually holds a deadline with the definition that we’re all more familiar with. If a deal is not reached this week, then something serious is going to have to happen.

Northern Ireland is running out of money and needs a budget put in place as a matter of urgency and it has to come no matter what. Our politicians have the power to decide how that budget is brought about.

They can let the Secretary of State, James Brokenshire bring in legislation to implement a budget for Northern Ireland or, they can get their act together and reach an agreement of some sort to go back into Stormont.

However, it would seem that Mr Brokenshire is getting a little tired of this whole process as he wanted some kind of “written agreement” to be in place before he allowed Northern Ireland to sort itself out. I can’t blame him if I’m honest – we’ve had so many false starts and dashed hopes that it does unfortunately come down to having an agreement in black and white. Each of the two parties that are stalling matters have said that we could easily have an Executive back up and running tomorrow, but they’ve been saying that for months and it still is yet to materialise.

We’re at a point where we can’t believe a word that they’re saying. That’s a dire situation for any country to be in. We elect these people because we trust them and believe that they are the best people to better the place that we live but now the trust has all but gone.

Individuals and small groups within each party are willing to plunge Northern Ireland into crisis simply to proceed with their own agenda.

Whatever happened to working for the greater good? Sometimes we all have to make sacrifices.

It’s a bit like sitting at that new road layout at the junction of the Tempo and Dublin Roads going out of town. Two lanes that can both be equally used to go in the same direction. Cars in each can move but there comes a point where the two lanes become one and someone is going to have to give way to the other to keep traffic flowing.

Giving way to someone seemingly forcing their way in may cause a short delay and some anger, but eventually everyone will get where they’re going. Some will speed in order to get ahead and another has to slow down to prevent an accident. If neither give in, the two will crash and stop everyone from continuing on and risking the safety of those around them.

Stormont is very much cruising in that last position and the crash that is coming in this case is the implementation of direct rule in some form.

The deadline of Monday came and ended with parties leaving and promising to take up talks again the next morning. They’re on borrowed time that no-one gave them permission to take. The agreement needed to be done by Monday to make sure that there were no steps towards legislation in Westminster concerning our ruling.

But then came a statement late on Monday night. Mr Brokenshire stated that the parties had made “further progress during the course of today” and as a result he was willing to extend the deadline and reassess the situation on Tuesday night.

It’s exhausting just trying to keep up with all these non-deadline deadlines. I’m writing this on Monday night because my deadline is Tuesday morning and unlike our MLAs, I’m able to stick to that. I never thought I’d be suggesting that certain politicians should learn from a professional procrastinator like me, but here you go. I’m the queen of last minute solutions that work out most of the time, so come find me if you actually want to work things out.

Because I don’t want to see direct rule coming back to us in any form, be it labelled hard or soft. It’s still Westminster legislating over a region that they have very little knowledge of. Surely, we, those that live here every day and have intimate knowledge of the issues that face us, are better placed to decide what we do and do not need. Westminster isn’t going to listen to the wee voices of the most westerly constituency.

They’ll simply implement what they think that we need without actually consulting. They’ll look to Belfast and Londonderry and see highly populated areas and decide that health spending should be prioritised there, rather than considering the human impact that travelling for healthcare has.

They’ll pay for the main roads to be fixed but not those roads we use as shortcuts regularly. They’re based in London, not Northern Ireland, so they’re unaware of the real problems that we face.

The big problem is that once any form of direct rule is implemented, it’s seriously difficult to get out of it. This won’t be a temporary punishment such as the two instances in 2001 but a more long-term decree such as what we saw prior to the Good Friday Agreement. There cannot be many people who see direct rule as a preference to devolution. Any rational person would rather local people deciding on local matters rather than handing over the reins to London and leaving Northern Ireland with little democratic sway over the governance of their own place.

Nobody wins with direct rule. If it comes now, it simply shows the rest of the UK that we cannot be trusted to look after ourselves: that we’re so backwards enough that our politicians refuse to leave their petty battles at the door to do what is right for the majority of the people that they actually represent.

I doubt the majority of our politicians know of Enniskillen, but we know how to give concessions to our fellows to make for an easier life. It may cause us some kind of issue in the short term, but in the long run, letting someone cut in front makes for an easier life. Perhaps the main players of the DUP and Sinn Fein need to come up here and look at how we deal with one another. One person being selfish impacts on us all. We show consideration because we all reach for the common goal of reaching our ultimate destination.

Direct rule will bring us nowhere and I seriously hope that those with the power to do so reach a mutually acceptable conclusion before the week is out because it’s what we all need to see. Otherwise, our constant work on the ground means very little on the daily basis.

And yet it’s what keeps Fermanagh going. That’s what works for us and maybe it’s something the rest should learn from. We’re consistent and friendly and we’re rightfully proud.

Direct rule has no place here. Give us that All Hallows Eve Agreement and get on with it. We’re tired of your showboating. Restore Northern Ireland to the respectful place it once tenuously had.