‘Chaotic”, “deeply divided”, “incoherent”, “poor relationships”, “inappropriate instigation of cross-community votes”, “tensions in the executive”, inability “to set aside political and sectarian divisions”, “seriously undermined public trust”, “detrimental impact on the quality of decision-making”… and ”failed to put the common interest of all people in Northern Ireland above their party political interests”.

If this was a school report, it would have failure with a capital F written all over it.

But this isn’t a school report: these are the words of Baroness Hallett, the distinguished retired jurist and chair of the Covid-19 public inquiry, about the leadership (more precisely, the lack of leadership) of the Northern Ireland Executive during the crisis.

It should embarrass the current first minister, Michelle O’Neill, and the former first minister, now Baroness Foster.

Michael Kelly: How can we remain silent when people are still persecuted for their religion?