23 February 2026
SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole MLA has said evidence from former First Ministers is an opportunity to inject new momentum into Stormont reform.
He was speaking ahead of evidence from Arlene Foster and Mark Durkan to the Assembly and Executive Review Committee on Tuesday.
Mr O’Toole proposed that the committee seek evidence from former first ministers on improvements to the way Stormont works amid repeated collapses, failure to deliver and low levels of public trust.
Since entering Opposition, the SDLP has championed reform in order to resuscitate public trust in devolved politics.
South Belfast MLA Matthew O’Toole said:
“Tomorrow will be an important opportunity to hear from two former First Ministers about we can make politics work better for people here. It’s clear that the public are deeply frustrated with the stop-start government we have seen over the past decade and the failure of the Executive to deliver for people since Stormont’s return.
“We have crumbling public services, Executive Ministers and departments are overspending with no plan for how they will pay the money back, political parties at the top of our Executive are more focused on protecting their own interests than dealing with the challenges facing families across Northern Ireland.
“This AERC evidence session has the potential to inject new energy into the Stormont reform debate. The SDLP Opposition has been clear that fundamental change is necessary to fix our broken politics and we will continue working to hold the Executive accountable for its failures and drive progress on a better way forward.”