Do our politicians want to be remembered as strong and effective leaders who made a real and meaningful difference or are they just journeymen and women?
We’ve all heard the words and the promises over many decades and from many quarters but when are we ever going to see the action to back it up.
What other signals do we need to emphasise the urgency for a backlog of critically important decisions?
Our planet that sustains us is crying out for help. Our health system which we supposedly prize above all else is crumbling around us.
Our economy is at best flatlining because we can’t even deliver the basic infrastructure like water, waste management or public transport links that underpin any modern, progressive economy.
Meanwhile more and more of our brightest and best are leaving this place for opportunities elsewhere.
As much as I try my best to champion this place, I am increasingly struggling to argue with them as to why.
The reality is strong leadership isn’t a popularity contest – even though some democracies have courted that idea for too long, driven by short-termism and populism.
It’s about delivering results and positive change and by earning respect over time.
The sooner our politicians accept that the better or we risk even more despair and hopelessness.
- Newton Emerson: Why not let the ‘money follow the patient’ to help our failing NHS?Opens in new window
- John Manley: Five years ago Stormont parties agreed to change culture and tackle our problems, but New Decade New Approach amounted to nothingOpens in new window
- Deirdre Heenan: More money won’t fix our broken health system - no matter how often our politicians tell us otherwiseOpens in new window
Think about the most impactful and memorable leaders throughout history. They didn’t become great by making decisions everyone agreed with.
They instead chose to live in the real world and made the tough calls, stood firm on their strategic long-term vision, and were guided by evidence and facts as well as their core values.
That’s where their legacies emerged from, not the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ populism that abounds today.
Unpopular decisions often separate leaders from followers. They show strength, conviction, and the ability to prioritize long-term success over short-term public approval.
Here in NI, we have strategies and plans for reform coming out our ears – so many the shelves are creaking with the dust never mind the plans themselves.
We know the problems and, in many cases, the obvious solutions, but we keep failing on delivery.
That is inexcusable and we must demand better from our political leaders. Yes, money is tight but there are creative ways to access finance and boy do we need to think outside the box if we are to move forward and realise the potential of this place and its people.
The reality is globally (and some might say despite ourselves) there is money available to invest in this place.
We need to make it a ‘warm house’ for such investment, rather than continually hinder would be investors as we currently do.
Let me give you an example. We have a longstanding and respected European waste management client who has been trying to invest over £250m to deliver a strategically identified public waste infrastructure project to meet the needs of six councils.
Yet almost 11 years later the project remains mired in the local planning system awaiting a robust and evidence-based decision.
Now call me cynical, but would that perhaps be anything to do with the perception that there is ‘no votes in waste’, as one local politician candidly told me once?
I sort of get that, but surely our politicians appreciate that its nonetheless crucial for any mature, modern economy to deal with its own waste responsibly and sustainably.
Rather than deliver modern integrated waste infrastructure which manages our own waste and maximises its value locally, instead, we are opting for the far more risky and environmentally unsustainable route of shipping our non-recyclable waste elsewhere across Europe where its true value is being realised.
All because a political decision to backup an agreed strategic imperative might be unpopular? Not good enough.
We have also known for decades the issues with underinvestment in our water/wastewater infrastructure and the implications are now staring us in the face. Again, it potentially demands an unpopular decision which our politicians seem incapable of taking.
We can’t continue to stick our heads in the sand and our political leaders need to make a new year resolution to take this period of relative political stability to be the leaders we need and want. Our young people will never forgive them if they don’t.
Kieran Donnelly is managing director at Morrow Communications, a creative consultancy based in Holywood.
