Stormont’s Minister for the Economy, Conor Murphy, is one of Sinn Féin’s six nominees for the Seanad, where his election is effectively guaranteed. This unexpected announcement is causing some head-scratching, North and South.
The party says Murphy will use his new position to advance “the Irish unity debate in the Oireachtas”, yet he has vastly more scope to do so as a Stormont Minister. Among the Department of the Economy’s responsibilities are universities, tourism, the labour market and inward investment. Murphy has been developing cross-Border polices in all these areas.
No doubt his successor will pick up where he left off, but there is no meaningful way to assist from the Seanad backbenches – at least, not one that justifies moving a senior figure from Northern prominence to relative Southern obscurity.
Sinn Féin’s claims would make sense if Murphy planned to remain at Stormont after his election to the Seanad. This is permitted by law in Northern Ireland, provided the senator does not chair an Oireachtas committee.
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Attempting such a move would cause a sensation and be enormously popular with Northern nationalists. Murphy has ruled it out, however, saying he sees the Seanad as a full-time role and will resign his Executive and Assembly seats.
Murphy had a minor stroke last year. He says this has played no role in his decision, but it is fair to suspect the Seanad is a step towards lighter duties. Sinn Féin may simply be claiming the move advances a united Ireland because it makes this claim about everything.
Amid the speculation on motives, the impact of Murphy’s departure on Stormont has been overlooked. It crystallises a sense the Executive is unsettled, even if there is no apparent risk of a collapse.
Sinn Féin had a strong team of Ministers and a cohesive set of policies on finance, the economy and infrastructure – the three departments it chose when devolution was restored last February. The puzzling loss of its most experienced Minister suggests a degree of disorganisation behind the scenes. It follows growing complaints that Sinn Féin’s Executive performance is more spin than substance.
At the notoriously unmanageable Department for Infrastructure, veteran Minister John O’Dowd has been under fire over traffic chaos, planning delays and underinvestment in the sewage system. He has devised an innovative policy to fund investment through a levy on housing developers, avoiding the politically untouchable topic of domestic water charges. But his proposal is still contentious and Sinn Féin is mysteriously reluctant to promote it.
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At finance, first-time Minister Caoimhe Archibald made an impressive start, but criticism from the SDLP that she kicks decisions into the long grass looks increasingly warranted. The Opposition party has mocked Archibald for a much-heralded reform of property taxes that will increase revenue by less than 1 per cent.
Sinn Féin’s cohesive policy platform is more impromptu than widely realised. The DUP had been expected to take finance under the back room deal that usually precedes the formal allocation of departments, with Sinn Féin taking education.
The unionist party reneged on this at the final moment, presumably having baulked at the budgetary challenges involved. It chose education and bounced Sinn Féin into taking finance, leaving the republican party with two economy-focused departments – a narrower remit than it wanted. Any mistrust this caused was glossed over, but the Executive got off to an awkward start.
Sinn Féin was polling at about 30 per cent in the Republic when Stormont was restored. It will have made plans in the hope of imminent office in the Republic, choosing departments with potential for all-Ireland policies, while pushing contentious decisions back until after the election. Stormont’s lengthy process to agree a programme for government provided cover for inaction.
Within days of restoration, the party’s polling went into decline. North-South harmonisation plans have now been delayed by years. Ultimately, Sinn Féin’s electoral setback in the Republic makes it more dependent on Stormont, but it appears a little stunned by the sudden requirement to deliver in the North if it is to deliver anywhere.
The DUP also looks uncomfortable. It controls education and communities, the latter a catch-all department with responsibilities from arts to welfare. Having fallen to second place at Stormont, the party is trying to find more popular positions on social and economic issues. Its two departments are not bringing much clarity to this already-confused endeavour.
Sinn Féin and the DUP both declined to take health, Stormont’s largest department and greatest challenge. It was dumped once again on the UUP, which has so far used it mostly for Westminster electioneering and grandstanding against Archibald’s budget. The smaller unionist party’s boast of taking on a job other parties feared rings ever more hollow.
Replacing Murphy will give Sinn Féin a chance for a mini relaunch of the Executive. It could do with one.