Recommendation 11

While the design of the institutions—primarily through the use of vetoes and a system of mandatory coalition—stymies the effectiveness of government in Northern Ireland, we also recognise that the success of the institutions in turn depends on the political will of the actors who inhabit them and the working relationships between those actors. Structural weaknesses do not make the institutions inherently ineffective, but when compounded with political realities in Northern Ireland, a poor and highly unsatisfactory record is likely. The achievement of good government in Northern Ireland is a process rather than an event, and too often successor agreements have been seen merely as a means to end impasses and not as binding obligations to deliver on promised outcomes. (Paragraph 71) Strand One - options for reform