sdlp
“it is important that other schemes that may be in a position to be progressed ahead of the A5 are given full consideration by the Executive”
Tweet As the BBC report, the Northern Ireland Regional Development Minister, the UUP’s Danny Kennedy, has announced that his department will not be appealing the Belfast High Court ruling quashing the decision to go ahead with the controversial A5 £330m dual carriageway project. A “costly mistake [not appealing] but will not be the end of this project“, according to [...] more »
How the Civil Service (Special Advisers) Bill divides the interests of NI’s two Irish national parties
Tweet Whatever you think of it as a bill, the proposed new legislation could be the first blow struck successfully by an opposition voice in Stormont. Although that will depend on which way the SDLP votes. Sam McBride provides the key background to the bill: The legislation introduced by TUV leader Jim Allister was drafted [...] more »
Home Rule, Rome Rule and Gay Marriage
Tweet Last September, Unionists paraded in their tens of thousands through Belfast to celebrate the centenary of the Ulster Covenant. From the days of Lilibullero in the 17th Century, Ulster Protestantism has always had a particular genius for summing up its political causes in easily remembered ditties and catchphrases. Perhaps the easiest slogan to remember [...] more »
“a 65% to 17% majority for Northern Ireland remaining in the UK suggests little room for doubt.”
Tweet From the conversation on BBC NI Spotlight tonight there are challenges for all the political parties in the results of the polling by Ipsos Mori. But here are the reported results on the constitutional question. Not surprisingly, more than 90% of those who identify themselves as Protestants told the pollsters they wanted to stay [...] more »
National Crime Agency: What’s in a name?
Tweet The local row over the UK’s new National Crime Agency (NCA) isn’t going away. But let’s try to address the issue in a less hysterical manner… Firstly, the body that the NCA needs to be compared with, in terms of the powers to be available to it here, is the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). From [...] more »
David Ford: Ideological differences not being handled inside the SDLP…
Tweet John Manley has an interview with David Ford in today’s Irish News. Much of it what you might expect, but Mr Ford is clearly taking the opportunity to throw out a long line for nationalist voters (traditionally an area of poor returns for the party). If there was ever a time for them to [...] more »
SDLP chooses Patsy McGlone to contest Mid Ulster…
Tweet This is worth noting since it’s a smart choice. And the SDLP have not been known for those in recent years. McGlone has a sound rural base of voters, and a decent local machine. You can almost certainly rule out a win against SF veteran Francie Molloy. In the last Assembly elections Sinn Fein’s [...] more »
Labour NI not allowed to stand candidates: “an abdication of responsible political leadership, at a time when we have a leadership void in NI” (updated)
Tweet The NI Conservatives didn’t miss when they issued a press statement titled: Labour Party Abandons People in Northern Ireland. Party spokesperson Bill Manwaring said: It’s pretty rich for Vernon Coaker to pontificate about how the government should respond to disorder in Northern Ireland when his party is not even prepared to stand candidates in [...] more »
The modest case for the Assembly in 2013
Tweet Later.. I’ve now made it to 20 points by adding a couple on managing the economy ( how could I have left them out?). These create a dialogue with Mick, although not quite along the same lines. Working with the available material and far away from Nirvana. To adapt Mario Cuomo, you rebel in poetry but [...] more »
SDLP old guard reject Newry party support for McCreesh playground
Tweet Just a footnote on the flags exchanges from the Commons yesterday which suggests that the SDLP might have a flicker of independent life left in it when it appeals to old decencies. What we might call a creative split in the party occurred over the naming of the Patrick St playground in Newry after Raymond McCreesh which [...] more »
Take Alliance seriously.They represent what most people want, the politics of compromise
Tweet Even to their own supporters the main parties are hardly coming out of the flag disorder looking impressive. When the chips are down the smiling cross community stuff isn’t quite cutting the mustard where it matters most. Nice people pocket the gains – they might even group around a new Northern Ireland, Peter still has [...] more »
Reflections on the SDLP conference and Alasdair McDonnell’s speech
Tweet After Delores Kelly naughtily referred to opposition in her deputy leader’s speech, all ears where pinned to see whether party leader Alasdair McDonnell would reciprocate. But there wasn’t a single mention. Instead there was a critique of other parties that would have been better left to a more sharp-tongued colleague and little to inspire [...] more »
SDLP Conference: Change can only come from the bottom up…
Tweet Comrade Stalin in the comments under Alan’s makes a reasonable point about the SDLP’s belated talk of opposition, given that party’s rather rigid come-what-may espousal of a settlement that crowds out any oppositionist voice. Yet this is what happens the democratic world over when parties change their leadership. The change of personnel gives them [...] more »
SDLP shows signs of life … and opposition
Tweet If the number of motions raised by party branches was an indication of strength and fervour, the SDLP would have forever lost their South Down and Londonderry Party nickname. Unlike unionist party conferences, the SDLP’s annual shindig is a policy body as well as a public relations vehicle. Outside of the Parliamentary Assembly Group [...] more »
Micheál Martin: “As a Republican I feel an obligation to make my contribution to the debate…”
Tweet Micheál Martin’s interview with Mark Carruthers on The View last night is interesting viewing. Not least at the point (about here) where Carruthers mentions Gerry Adams’ dismissal of the Fianna Fail’s interventions as being driven by a concern for politics in the south. I’ve no doubt that the general thrust of Adams statement is [...] more »
SDLP try an ‘insider trading card’ to connect with Sinn Fein’s base?
Tweet So the Commissioner for Public Appointments says that OFMdFM were bang out of order in their appointments to the board of the new Maze facility… Why? Because much of the political activity of the new appointees was not declared according to the rules of the CPA. [Where have we heard that one before? - [...] more »
“The PSNI said it was the council who had removed the debris, “after consultation with the local community”.”
Tweet Three nights of disturbances in the Galliagh area of Londonderry, including an arson attack on a electricity sub-station, during which police have been attacked with petrol bombs and other items, have been blamed on a “hardcore” element by the PSNI. A “youth worker” in the same BBC report concurs Mr Connolly said: “It’s clearly been totally anti-social [...] more »
SDLP needs a story that makes its opponents more uncomfortable than it does themselves..
Tweet Now here’s an interesting one. Almost as interesting for where it comes from as to what it suggests… Nigel Dodds is having a go at the SDLP for taking up a number of cases concerning the fate of dissident Republicans, in particular that of Gerry McGeough… The News Letter reports: The DUP deputy leader [...] more »
Sinn Fein’s South Down selection sows seeds for a new post conflict generation…
Tweet Nice move from Sinn Fein in their choice of MLA to replace Willie Clarke in South Down. The new boy (seen here signing in at Stormont) is Chris Hazzard, a native of Drumaness, in the north of the constituency. He’s a alum of my old school, which we used to call St Pat’s Knock [...] more »
16 Nationalist MLAs in the top 20 of free ink claimants…
Tweet Interesting front page story in the Irish News today… They’ve been digging on the use of free toner to political parties and it breaks down to this: Sinn Fein £93,550 SDLP £58,693 DUP £52,770 UUP £25,515 Pat Doherty in West Tyrone claimed about £16,300, although the party say that Doherty shared an office with [...] more »
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Books
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The First Shades of God (Jamie Bryson): unremarkable theology, but an insight into the mind of the protest-organiser
Tweet Jamie Bryson has come to prominence recently as one of the leaders of the flag protests across Northern Ireland. As Chris Donnelly pointed out in his post (and was echoed later in the Belfast Telegraph), Jamie Bryson is a well known loyalist in North Down where he unsuccessfully stood at the council elections under [...] read our review »
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Turas, by Colin Neill – a story of strangers in a strange land
Tweet Colin Neill’s first novel Turas peeks into a world in which many Ulster Protestants feel uncomfortable. It’s 2020 and the Irish unification that unionists and loyalists confidently predicted would never happen has become a reality. President Adams is ensconced in Phoenix Park. The newsreader reported that … a short ceremony at Stormont had confirmed [...] read our review »
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The Imperfectionists (Tom Rachman) – an insight into a newspaper that’s maybe not so fictional
Tweet ‘news’ is often a polite way of saying ‘editor’s whim’ Given the shift from print to online and e-ink, maybe Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists was a suitable first first book for me to finish reading on the Kindle. Considering the economic pressures on the newspaper industry, his novel perhaps captures the spirit and soul [...] read our review »
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