Next - a plague of frogs?
First snow, then water - what next? A friend suggested to me we must be in for a plague of frogs.
Today's Irish News reckons the NI Water Chief Executive Laurence McKenzie won't last the week. Certainly when I was hanging around outside Stormont Castle after last Thursday's Executive meeting, there seemed precious little evidence of ministerial support for the Chief Executive (even though earlier in the day Conor Murphy had told the Nolan Show he had confidence in Mr McKenzie). The signs are that things may be moving fast on this score, with the Northern Ireland Water board meeting again this afternoon.
The Regional Development Department is meant to be forwarding the terms of reference for its investigation into the water crisis to the First and Deputy First Ministers today. That doesn't mean they will be published, as OFMDFM will have to approve them first, but an announcement is expected sooner rather than later. Stormont's Regional Development Committee is due to hold a hearing on the debacle on Thursday morning.
There's little doubt that serious errors were made by Northern Ireland Water's senior management. But there's also the question of how much responsibility Minister Murphy should take himself.The Minister can't hire and fire the Chief Executive. However, as he proved during the saga over NI Water's procurement practices, he can get rid of the Chairman and the board. So did the minister use his power too readily in the face of irregularities in the company's internal procedures regarding multi million pound contracts, and has it come back to haunt him in the shape of what ordinary consumers might regard as a graver crisis?
The TUV's Jim Allister was the first to call for Minister Murphy to go. He has since been joined by the Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott and the DUP Finance Minister Sammy Wilson. Is this the least that should be expected, or, as Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd claims, 'pathetic politicking at a time when ordinary people are suffering'?
Beyond the question of which heads should roll rises the debate about how investment can be generated to update NI water's infrastructure. Alliance was a lone voice at Stormont in advocating water charges, and the UUP deputy leader John McAllister came in for a battering when he talked about the possibility on the radio. But will the water crisis change the nature of the debate?
Last week Martin McGuinness dismissed the introduction of charges, suggesting that "well heeled economists" who advocate that should consider making their own voluntary contributions to Stormont. An effective bit of rhetoric, but not a long term answer to the scrabble for much needed capital funding.
Although Owen Paterson offered UK help when it came to emergency assistance with the water crisis, there was no sign of any movement on fresh capital to make up for historic under investment in the water system here during the direct rule era. Instead the Secretary of State defended George Osborne's allocation to Stormont as "very fair".
If there's one thing less popular with voters than paying for water, then it has to be not having any water at all. By the time the Assembly election comes in May, the memories of the winter water crisis may have receded. But the Stormont parties will still face a major challenge proving devolution can deliver something rather better than the confusion and delay over the provision of basic amenities we have all witnessed in recent days.
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