The election manifestos in Northern Ireland resemble a little bit the confetti of the election campaign.
They are launched with great fanfare and stay in the air for a short time, but as soon as they reach the ground they are quickly forgotten.
Like confetti, they have little value for voters.
The reason for this is that elections in Northern Ireland are never decided by who has the best policies in the areas of taxation, health and education – they are fought along constitutional lines.
On the one hand, there are the unionists who want to maintain the union with Great Britain; on the other, there are the nationalists who would prefer a merger of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.
And in the middle, so to speak, is the centrist Alliance Party, which does not take a position on the constitutional issue and defines itself as a cross-party party. It became the third largest party in the parliamentary elections.
The political landscape is very different from the rest of the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland’s 18 MPs have no real power in Westminster.
By comparison, London alone elects 73 MPs to the House of Commons.
In addition, one of the Northern Irish parties – Sinn Féin – is unable to win a seat in Westminster to which it was elected.
The party has always pursued a policy of abstention in the House of Commons.
There is a small exception to the rule that Northern Irish parties generally do not have much influence on politics in Westminster.
You may remember that the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) backed Theresa May’s government with a confidence and supply agreement seven years ago.
Do manifestos work in Northern Ireland?
In Northern Ireland, all the promises in the election manifesto always sound hollow.
Even promises in the legislature’s election manifestos carry little weight.
This is due to the local government system.
A mandatory four-party coalition means that no party can implement major changes without the consent of its political opponents.
Therefore, election promises can quickly fall apart when they encounter the harsh reality of a coalition government.
However, this does not stop local parties from publishing glossy manifestos full of political measures and promises.
This is because manifestos are an integral part of election campaigns.
And the day of their unveiling is the only day in the election campaign when the parties will receive attention.
Pass the analysis test
Each party is allocated airtime or storage space on online sites depending on its size.
This year, BBC News online provided a detailed analysis of the parties’ key promises, raising questions about how they will be implemented and, crucially, funded.
You can read this analysis of the five main party manifestos in the articles linked above.
Journalists from other countries also deconstructed the manifestos, revealing more weaknesses than strengths.
To quote a party source: “Passing the analysis test is crucial because we know that voters do not read manifestos.
“However, they will remember when a promise is broken by journalists.
“That’s why the parties always play it safe.”
An election promise from outside Northern Ireland can carry the greatest weight
But there was one election promise that had a huge impact on hundreds of families across Northern Ireland.
This was the Conservative Party’s election promise in 2019 to end prosecutions of military veterans related to the Troubles.
This led to the controversial Legacy Act, which was rejected by all parties here but nevertheless passed into law.
It also offered the suspects immunity from prosecution, although the victims’ families have since successfully challenged that immunity in court.
Nevertheless, it remains an example of how an election promise from a party with power across the United Kingdom can mean more for Northern Ireland than just words on paper.
