SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MLA has said that the new First Minister Arlene Foster will have no honeymoon period as nine years of bad government catches up with the DUP and Sinn Féín.
The DUP MLA took over from Peter Robinson who stepped down yesterday and handed over the reins to Mrs Foster.
Said Mr Eastwood: “On behalf of the SDLP, I want to congratulate Arlene Foster and her family on her new role.
“There can be no doubt that she has helped break a glass ceiling upon her appointment as Northern Ireland’s first female First Minister.
“That’s something that we should all welcome and it should strengthen our resolve to enhance the role of women in political and public life.
“But Mrs Foster should be under no illusions – her party, together with Sinn Féin, has overseen nine years of clever politics but bad government.
“There will be no honeymoon period for a Minister who has been an integral part of those failures in government that have led to a collapse in confidence in our devolved institutions.
“The forthcoming elections will be a referendum on the record of Stormont’s current leadership.
“No amount of clever politicking can plaster over the failure to address the emigration of our young people, unfair pay conditions for our nurses and carers, the cutting of our university places and continued gaps in our road and rail infrastructure.
“Meeting those challenges and others is my objective in the time ahead. Other parties should join us in the task of transforming our politics and making the North work.”
