If Stormont politicians act like children then people on the street will act like children

Barton Creeth (@bartoncreeth) wrote in an article for the Queen's blog Compromise after Conflict here:

"The patterns of conversation and conflict management modeled by our political leaders matter because they filter through to all levels of society. How our politicians treat each other up in the Assembly and on television directly impacts those in interface areas, as these patterns manifest themselves in the relationships between our differing communities."

Alex Kane said something to the same effect: "The divisions at executive level mirror the divisions at street level." He added: "This isn't a peace process as such, but rather the management of stalemate. Politicians may lob words rather than bricks but the damage is similar." Barton Creeth mooted a solution: "Good relationships, at all levels of society, are the lynchpin of political stability."

Northern Ireland needs responsible, imaginative, courageous and transformative leadership, not perfunctory and tokenistic managerialism. As was written on the blog previously here, politicians needs to behave as the rest of civil society is expected to. Balanced. Well-tempered. Courteous. Not capricious, mean and wilful as so often is the case. Obama said in his inaugural speech that "the time has come to set aside childish things." Northern Ireland needs the same. Northern Ireland politicians need to set the example.