Stormont Must Go. That is the Republican demand undiluted by the exigencies of political compromise.

What we have witnessed over the past ten years is recurring crisis due to the failure of the two major political parties to play by the rules as they were set out in the Good Friday Agreement almost twenty years ago now.

The complex framework for power sharing depended ultimately on the willingness of the political representatives of two divided communities to engage with one another as equal partners in government.

Until now the DUP has refused to embrace the concept of equality and this, more than anything else, has led to the current state of affairs. There is a well founded school of thought that the ‘Christian Democrats’ are genetically incapable of treating the natives as equals in a mandatory coalition. For too long they were accustomed to being top dog in a small kennel.

An ill conceived policy for encouraging a switch to renewable energy by small and medium sized businesses, and the cancellation of the Liofa bursaries, was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. The RHI scandal which stands to cost the public purse a half billion over the next twenty years could have been avoided by proper scrutiny and attention to detail. And though the buck stops with Arlene Foster who was the minister at the time, in terms of responsibility all the parties share some of the blame.

Clearly, the proceedures for ensuring that the decisions of ministers are throughly considered before becoming policy failed to identify major flaws in the proposed scheme. For this reason it is not enough to lay the blame at the doorstep of one individual albeit that she occupied the relevant post when this policy was adopted. A plague on all their houses would be a fairer way to approach this situation.

Failing to impose a cap on the amount of money that could be claimed for burning renewable energy exposed the scheme to abuse by those willing and able to make the changeover. Stories of empty sheds being used to burn energy continously is only the worst example of how irresponsible business took advantage of the loophole in the scheme. ‘Cash for ash’ aptly describes the nature of the scam. But let’s be clear about one thing , the RHI scheme materially benefited the small and medium business sectors at the expense of the general population. Working class people were not positioned to take advantage of this particular gift horse. Yet it is the workers and other hard pressed sections of our society that will pick up the tab for this disastrous policy. Ultimately, the cost of this incompetency will be further cuts to public services, the unreported story behind the headlines. Once again the most vulnerable will suffer for the greed of others who care little for the commonwealth. Such is the nature of a system that puts profit before people.

Stormont has failed us. Power sharing has shown itself to be problematic in a society riven with Sectarianism. What the Good Friday Agreement did was to create a framework of interlocking relationships that both reflected and acknowledged the sectarian divisions in society. In order to manage these contradictions various checks and balances were put in place in order to ensure equal representation and parity of esteem.

No doubt the architects of the GFA thought they had found the answer to all our problems. But what they did not appreciate was the corrosive effects of sectarianism leading to conflict and discord. All of their efforts have floundered on the very cancer that was introduced via British colonial policy for the express purpose of protecting imperial interests. Therefore, the method used to ‘divide and conquer’ is the very thing that corrupts the body politic.

How many more failed initatives must we endure? British solutions to Irish problems have produced successive failures throughout our long and troubled history. Our experience of Colonialism, and it’s legacy, has largely contributed to the contradictions that plague our society today.

There is only one solution yet to be tried and that is an Irish national democracy.

It is now time for an Irish solution to Irish problems.