The news from Belfast is incredibly disappointing and whilst most of the responsibility for this must lie with the leaders of Northern Ireland, whose leadership was being tested, the Prime Minister and Taoiseach must accept that they too have failed to achieve what their predecessors achieved. John Major and Tony Blair both achieved great things in their time in office. The close working between Blair and the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern both in public and behind the scenes which help secure peace in the province and the signing of the good Friday agreement in 1998 has not been reflected in the relationship between Enda Kenny and David Cameron. Their visit to Northern Ireland a few weeks ago appears to have had the opposite effect to that which was intended. As we approach the General Election in 2015 with so much focus on our economy and the austerity measures which will certainly change the face of public services in the UK it would be easy to overlook the need to address issues such as flags and marches. However we need a new Government that is prepared to apply its attention to these matters too!