SDLP makes fresh pitch for Stormont reform - ahead of return of former first ministers

The SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole wants “improvements” to the way Stormont works amid “repeated collapses, failure to deliver and low levels of public trust”.

The powersharing system of government is a result of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, and amendments in subsequent deals. It provides cross-community protections, which mean unionists or nationalists can block certain decisions.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson has previously criticised attempts to “undermine the very foundations of devolution” – saying cross-community consent “is not an inconvenience to be brushed aside when it becomes awkward”.

But Alliance boss Naomi Long has said 2026 “must be the last year dysfunctional government is allowed to continue” – and said “institutional reform remains a priority” for her party.

Stormont’s Assembly and Executive Review Committee is currently undertaking a review of institutional reform – and will hear on Tuesday from former DUP first minister Baroness Arlene Foster, and former SDLP deputy first minister Mark Durkan. Mr O’Toole says it is an opportunity to “inject new momentum” into Stormont reform.

The South Belfast MLA said Tuesday “will be an important opportunity to hear from two former First Ministers about we can make politics work better for people here. It’s clear that the public are deeply frustrated with the stop-start government we have seen over the past decade and the failure of the Executive to deliver for people since Stormont’s return.

“We have crumbling public services, Executive Ministers and departments are overspending with no plan for how they will pay the money back, political parties at the top of our Executive are more focused on protecting their own interests than dealing with the challenges facing families across Northern Ireland”.

He said “fundamental change is necessary to fix our broken politics” and the SDLP will hold the Executive “accountable for its failures” and seek a “better way forward.”