A fresh storm is brewing over Northern Ireland. Literally. Its name is Barney, and is forecast to bring severe gales and rain. In this part of the world, of course, we are also prone to a disproportionate number of metaphorical storms, aptly originating from Stormont. Thankfully, the most recent political storm at Stormont appears to have displaced by some sense of calm. But it’s too early to say how long this forecast extends.

Like the low-pressure weather systems that cross the Atlantic like items on a conveyor belt, high-pressure political crises have struck Northern Ireland in routine succession. Any sense of goodwill in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement was beset by a lack of progress on paramilitary decommissioning, a complete absence of trust among executive parties, and several outright suspensions.

If there was any real gap in the clouds it came in mid-2007 when Stormont was successfully resurrected following the St Andrews Agreement of the previous year. It had stood dormant for five long years; its restoration was only possible after IRA decommissioning, some key revisions to the Good Friday Agreement, and an effective truce between the DUP and Sinn Féin.

When the sun shone, it brought out the smiles from the ‘chuckle brothers’. Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley enjoyed a much better working relationship than David Trimble and Seamus Mallon ever managed. The sensitive powers of policing and justice were devolved to Assembly to complete its jigsaw of powers (after the Hillsborough Agreement of 2010), and the Executive was able to implement its own home grown policies, from free prescription charges to staving off water charges.

Storm clouds were already looming large on the horizon, however. Stormont’s majestic hilltop position creates the impression of its strength and resilience. In reality, its own foundations proved far from watertight. Too many glaring holes had been left unfixed in the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements, namely the dual problems of how to deal with our contested past and how to deal with our contested present. With continued outrage over injustices from the Troubles, annual clashes over parades, and fury over flags, the flood of ‘legacy’ issues proved too much to allow Stormont to operate ‘business-as-usual’ – if it ever meaningfully did.

Northern Ireland’s divided leaders tried outsourcing the problem. In 2013 Dr Richard Haass and Professor Meghan O’Sullivan duly spent months chairing negotiations, drafting resolutions, and ultimately getting nowhere. In the meantime, deep disagreement over welfare reform entered the increasingly complex web of crises. Our leaders then tried a more modest approach, culminating in the partially successful Stormont House Agreement of December 2014. That Agreement, of course, broke down in March of this year after Sinn Féin withdrew its support over the issue of welfare reform.

And now we have the latest product of high-stakes negotiations: the Stormont Agreement of 2015. It is dubbed a ‘fresh start’ by the British and Irish governments, and is given an ambitious strapline: “an agreement to consolidate the peace, secure stability, enable progress and offer hope.”

That’s a lot for a single agreement to deliver. Quite frankly, however, we are in desperate need all of everything it promises: peace, stability, progress and, perhaps above all, hope. We haven’t just been running out of places to lend their names to agreements; we have been rapidly losing faith in the ability of our political system to work in pursuit of our best interests.

It is telling that after ten weeks of talks, there has been little jubilation at today’s agreement. Expect no street dancing or tears of joy, just a few sighs of relief. Many remain sceptical, others are cautiously optimistic, and most probably couldn’t care less.

As Northern Ireland’s political leaders move away from talks and back to the business of governing, they first need to realise that protracted paralysis in government has come at a very heavy price. Apathy and alienation were already alarmingly high before the latest rounds of crises. They will continue to grow if people continue to see Stormont less as a seat of government and more as a crisis-ridden mess.

Progress has at least been made. Disagreements over welfare reform have now been settled, Northern Ireland’s finances are slightly less precarious for the foreseeable future, and there is now a firm commitment to tackle the shameful remnants of paramilitarism and organised crime.

It is where progress hasn’t been made that is the greatest cause for concern. Unless we can find an agreed way to handle our troubled past, it always has the potential to cast a threatening shadow over Northern Ireland’s ability to govern itself in the present – and future. Meanwhile, issues over flags, identity, culture, and tradition have been delegated to a commission. It remains to be seen whether or not this will be enough to keep our politicians focused on issues of public policy and not on issues of division, particularly in the run up to an Assembly election in May.

Today’s Agreement has been optimistically called a ‘fresh start’. I certainly hope that it will prove to be just that. But if a much-needed sense of hope is truly to be restored to the citizens of Northern Ireland, our politicians need to realise that the time for negotiation is over. The storm clouds have hung over Stormont for too long. They may not have moved too far away, but they must no longer be allowed to cripple our institutions and erode any sense of hope in a brighter future. Rain or shine, it’s now time to govern.