This past year saw the restoration of the Assembly. As a party who rightly criticised the DUP for collapsing the institutions and Sinn Féin for doing likewise before, Alliance welcomed the return.
We are facing many challenges, including putting public finances on a more sustainable footing, delivering health transformation and stabilisation, tackling education underfunding, making our streets safer, ensuring we have a thriving economy and building a vibrant, inclusive and united community amongst others. Delivery depends on a functioning, stable Assembly and Executive with locally-accountable elected representatives.
On a personal level, I was proud to finally lead a 17-strong MLA team into a working Assembly, enabling them to finally do all of the job they were elected to do. They have continued to make me proud with sterling work on behalf on you every day.
I was also honoured to not only return as Justice Minister in the restored Executive, but to be joined at the table by my friend and colleague, Andrew Muir, as the DAERA Minister. Working together, we have been addressing challenges which lie ahead for everyone in our community.
In that Executive, I have introduced the first of my three planned pieces of legislation for this mandate, while working hard to stabilise policing and to speed up the justice system. I remain determined to ensure the system delivers more for victims and I’ve launched a programmes of reform of legal, to improve and simplify access to justice for those who need it.
Meanwhile, Andrew has fought hard to drive improvements in water quality including at Lough Neagh, while making strides to tackle climate change, protect the environment, defend our farmers and agri-food producers, and ensure improved animal welfare.
When reflecting on the past year, it would be remiss to not pay tribute to Stephen Farry, who stepped down after 30 years as an Alliance elected representative. Elections bring both highs and lows, and his loss was a low for Alliance and his constituents.
His knowledge and intellect, coupled with his commitment to and promotion of liberal values and public service, made him a formidable colleague and advocate for NI. Everyone in Alliance remains indebted to him for all he contributed to the party and particularly to North Down.
And there were also highs in that election: history was made in Lagan Valley when Sorcha Eastwood became the first non-unionist to represent the constituency, also becoming its first woman MP. It was a huge moment for Alliance and for Sorcha but most of all for the people of Lagan Valley, who have an MP who will represent everyone without fear or favour and with passion and determination. I am excited to see what she will do in the role. If the first few months are anything to go by, it will be impressive.
And Eóin Tennyson was elected as Deputy Leader, a role he has taken to with aplomb, bringing his energy and fresh perspective to the leadership team and helping the party as we write an exciting new chapter in our story.
But while the Assembly and Executive have returned, the need for reform of their structures remains pressing. Despite the progress we've made in the last 10 months, the institutions are as stable as they were the day before the last collapse.
That instability has caused immeasurable damage, not only to public confidence but also our public services, finances and across our society.
Stop-start government has underlined time and again the pressing need to remove the ability of any one party to hold us all to ransom and paralyse the entire system in the process.
Alliance ’s proposals for reform are simple: those who qualify and wish to form a government should be entitled to do so - if they chose to opt out, they go into Opposition. No-one is excluded unless they decide to exclude themselves, and no-one can exclude anyone else from making progress.
We also need to change how votes are counted in the Assembly and Executive to ensure all MLAs count equally, including those who, like Alliance, don't designate as unionist or nationalist. Both of those changes are more consistent with the principles and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement than stop-go government or inequality of votes.
That Agreement offered us hope of transformation, beyond a managed division and absence of violence, towards a united community at peace with itself and its neighbours. However, the institutional failures and instability has prevented us realising that full potential. Its architecture continues to give additional privileges to those who remain wedded to binary politics, at the expense of stability and progress.
Our society has been transformed in so many positive ways. With new governments in London and Dublin and functioning government here, let's grasp the opportunity in 2025 to reflect and reform, to end ransom politics for good.
The people of Northern Ireland deserve nothing less.
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