Earlier this year, I published a review of the draft Programme for Government 2024–2027. My aim was to encourage a more adaptive, systemic and citizen-centric approach—one that recognised Northern Ireland as a complex system facing unprecedented disruption.
Having now reviewed the final Programme, I’m pleased to see that many of the points raised have been reflected in the finished document. Whilst I did submit my review, I am not suggesting that the subsequent changes were triggered by my comments.
The framing around long-term Missions (People, Planet, Prosperity) alongside urgent Priorities is elegant and the use of a Wellbeing Dashboard suggests an appreciation that traditional performance metrics may be insufficient. There is also growing recognition that cross-departmental challenges require cross-departmental solutions.
Encouragingly, the Plan now contains stronger language around trauma, innovation, collaboration and transformation. The establishment of a Delivery Unit and the Office of AI and Digital are steps in the right direction.
But we are not there yet.
The Plan still leans toward traditional delivery logic—linear, deterministic and risk-averse. In doing so, it risks failing to meet the needs of a population grappling with complex, evolving issues. What’s still missing is a clear articulation that uncertainty is the norm and that experimentation, not control, must become the default mode of governance.
We need to move from managing programmes to managing portfolios of experiments. A single "solution" for health waiting lists, paramilitary influence, or educational inequality is unlikely to exist. What’s needed is a more transparent, iterative approach—where stakeholders are part of the process, failure is reframed as learning and success is measured in wellbeing, not throughput.
Additionally, we need to see deeper engagement with the actors who make society work: citizens, businesses, academia, local authorities, and yes—even the hard-to-reach parts of society affected by organised crime or intergenerational trauma. They cannot simply be recipients of policy—they must be designers, co-creators and delivery partners. Local authorities must be partners to central government and not simply executors of central policy. They must work together so that the Government as a whole can adapt responsively to societal change.
Northern Ireland has a unique opportunity to show what government looks like when it’s designed for disruption. That will require leadership that is open, humble and willing to learn in public. It will also require citizens who are prepared to move from being governed to becoming co-creators of their future.
The final Programme for Government is a solid foundation. But it must now evolve from a promise into a platform for adaptive action. That means making experimentation a feature, not a risk.
Let’s not miss this chance.
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