Public confidence in Stormont’s handling of pandemic at low ebb

Belfast hasn’t seen protests against coronavirus restrictions of anything like the extent seen in some other cities.

For instance, Dublin city centre has hosted high numbers of people venting their frustrations at what they call an infringement of their civil liberties, while thousands have been taking to the streets of London for months now.

Before yesterday, Belfast had seen several protests, but numbers were modest and they all passed off peacefully and without incident. However, yesterday at Stormont was different. The numbers, around 300, were believed to be greater than on previous occasions and the PSNI intervened over an alleged failure of people to adhere to social distancing regulations.

It should be emphasised that protests should always remain peaceful and those attending should stick to the regulations. However, it is important in a democracy that people are given the platform to protest and to express their feelings peacefully, especially at a time when restrictions into everyday lives are at an almost unprecedented level.

Criticism of the police’s handling of Sunday’s protest has been prominent on social media, with the arrests and fines handed out contrasting with the lack of PSNI action over clear breaches of restrictions at republican funerals.

There is also increasing public unease at the Executive’s handling of the pandemic. People largely accepted the first lockdown as a necessary evil but the dynamic has changed, partly because the public saw the rules being flouted by public figures at the Bobby Storey funeral and later at GAA matches.

There is also a growing perception of an Executive divided, as encapsulated by Edwin Poots’s public show of dissension on Friday. This was apparently not a solo run by a minister, but a deliberate tactic by the DUP to let business, and the general public, know that they were outvoted around the Executive table over the extent of the restrictions.

Later on Friday, we saw Sinn Fein Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín contradicted by Arlene Foster over whether fans can attend elite sport. Public confidence in the administration is ebbing away at a vital time.