2.1.3 – Devolution
There is likely to be a motion of no confidence debate held in the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday 10 November. The motion is not in the Executive as a whole, but rather in the Education Minister, Paul Givan. As such, even if it were to pass it would have no effect.
Paul Givan was part of a delegation of unionist representatives who visited Israel on a six-day trip as guests of the Israeli government. Givan’s presence has caused outrage amongst nationalist politicians because photos of the trip were then shared by the Department of Education. As a deeply divided society, Northern Ireland tends to view the Israel-Palestine situation in a comparable way, with nationalists (those in favour of a united Ireland) generally sympathetic towards the Palestinian cause, and unionists (those in favour of maintaining the union with Great Britain) generally supportive of the Israel. As such, those who object to what Paul Givan has done argue that his department should remain neutral and should not be seen to be promoting one side of the conflict over another.
One MLA, Gerry Carroll (the sole member of the left-wing People Before Profit Party), has put down a motion of no confidence in Paul Givan. It has since been announced that Sinn Féin and the SDLP will both back the motion, thereby getting it over the 30-MLA threshold it requires for the debate to take place.
The announcement that Sinn Féin will back the motion is interesting, as they sit around the Executive table with Paul Givan and his DUP colleagues. In normal circumstances, it would be unthinkable for a governing party to back a motion of no confidence in one of their colleagues in government. However, Northern Ireland is highly unusual in this respect. As a consociational democracy, the coalitions that run the NI Executive do not do so because they have voluntarily agreed to do so (as was the case with the Conservatives and Lib Dems in 2010), they are present because the Good Friday Agreement entitles them to take part by virtue of the seats they won at the last Assembly election. This means that whilst a party may opt not to take part in the Executive, a party cannot be excluded from participating by others on the grounds of ideological or personal differences.
At the last election, four parties won sufficient seats in the Assembly elections to be eligible for seats around the Executive table – Sinn Féin (who won 27 seats), DUP (25), Alliance (17) , and UUP (9). This means that 78 out of the 90 MLAs elected were for parties inside the executive. As such, there are only 12 MLAs who are part of the ‘opposition’ at Stormont. Of those 12, eight are SDLP MLAs, one each from TUV and PBP. Two MLAs are independents. Without a significant opposition bloc, it is unsurprising that the Executive effectively opposes itself on occasion, especially where the divisions are over issues that are linked to the unionist-nationalist divide in Northern Ireland. The First Minister, Michelle O’Neill (Sinn Féin) and the deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly (DUP), share what is effectively a joint office, and yet have already publicly come out on different sides of this debate on social media.
Had Gerry Carroll not put down the motion of no confidence in Givan, it is likely that Sinn Féin would have settled for public criticism in him rather than taking it to the Assembly. In putting down the motion, Carroll has forced Sinn Féin’s hand. Whilst Carroll’s PBP are classed as an ‘other’ party in the Assembly (meaning they are not recognised as a nationalist party), their strongest areas of support are in nationalist areas. Sinn Féin will not wish to lose ground to them or the SDLP in future elections, as they will be determined to retain the title as the largest party in the Assembly, thereby entitling them to nominate the First Minister.
The DUP party leader, Gavin Robinson, has already said that Paul Givan will not be leaving the Executive. Even though unionists can use the Assembly’s unique voting system to block the motion (despite them being in a minority), they are not required to, as the motion will not have any effect. The debate, if it occurs, will therefore be a purely performative one, which is likely to focus more on the Middle East than Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, it helps to draw attention to the unique governing arrangements that pertain to Northern Ireland. It is also a reminder of why making comparisons to Northern Ireland when examining devolution, minor parties, or electoral systems, must always be done so with the caveat that, as a deeply divided and post-conflict society, its constitutional arrangements are unique amongst the devolved regions.