David Ford stated: “In St Andrews we made good progress on the issue of the rule of law, but we are at risk of going backwards on shared governance, and therefore on a shared future.
“We must copper-fasten shared responsibility in the Executive. If we do not, we might see a ludicrous situation where the DUP First Minister and Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister supposedly run a government together, but never speak a single word to each other. Are we to be satisfied with this? How can any government survive when the DUP and Sinn Fein can only communicate through an army of go-betweens and messengers?
“In the Assembly, power must be shared not divided. Alliance is working to end the sectarian carve-up.
“A shared future must be applied across the board, from the Assembly chamber right down to primary schools across Northern Ireland.
“The emphasis must be firmly placed upon shared responsibility within any Executive. Only then can government get serious about shared and integrated public services.”
ENDS