If Democrats had held on to a bit more power, maybe these anti-teacher bills would never have come to pass.

FORBES: The Impotence of the Democratic Base

Either way it looks like both the UUP and the SDLP will take the single ministries on offer - power it seems is a drug neither party can give up, even if being being bit part players in the executive will make it harder for them to pose as a viable opposition in the future.

BBC: First day of new assembly term