ae11 – Page 4 – Slugger O'Toole

#AE11 Open thread: South Belfast (#bels11)

Mick Fealty on April 12, 2011, 9:42 am

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As Alan points out in South Belfast there are eleven parties standing candidates… but none of them are independents. Again, there’s not likely to be much play in the overall game.. It will be worth looking at Conall McDevitt’s (occasionally of this parish) performance who is standing for election for the first time having been co-opted for Carmel Hannah’s seat. He’s had plenty of time to build his provenance there, so he should be safe. Keep an eye on Máirtín …

“I would go so far as to say that Ronan Kerr voted for Sinn Fein”

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 12, 2011, 9:10 am

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Jude Collins in conversation with Martin McGuinness and Mary-Lou McDonald

Is it right to claim a dead man’s vote? About 120 people gathered in the Wellington Park Hotel in South Belfast to hear Martin McGuinness and Mary-Lou McDonald in conversation with Jude Collins. Part of a series of town hall events that Sinn Fein promise to hold each year. They spoke about highlights from the political careers, the lack of backstabbing in the party given that everyone earns the same wage, and how to convince “dissidents” (a term that Martin …

Martin not for the FM role (not this year at least)…

Mick Fealty on April 12, 2011, 9:05 am

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In the first of a series of analysis pieces for Stratagem, Nicholas Whyte looks at an issue which is only obtusely refered to in public but which may be responsible for the only substantial voter churn in this election: who gets to be First Minister: The St Andrews Agreement is perfectly clear: the nominating officer of the largest political party after the election gets to nominate the new First Minister of Northern Ireland; the largest political party of the other …

UTV Roadtrip: Tweeting from East Belfast (#bele11) today…

Mick Fealty on April 12, 2011, 8:30 am

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Today we start the UTV Twitter Roadtrip… It culminates this evening with a small conversational group at the Park Avenue Hotel (almost booked up, but with a few waiting list places). You can follow the interviews with ordinary folk and politicians by using the #UTVtrip hashtag on Twitter… Here’s a bit of what our intention behind the project is: If you want to hook up with me during the day, you can direct message or just ping me on my …

TUV launch campaign and manifesto seeking to be a catalyst for change in the Assembly

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 12, 2011, 7:25 am

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TUV launch

On Monday morning, the TUV held their campaign launch for May’s Assembly and local government elections. They’re running 12 candidates across 11 (of the 18) constituencies, and 41 council candidates across 19 (out of the 26) councils. In the press conference, Jim Allister apologised to voters in constituencies in which they were not able to offer a TUV candidate. He explained that as a party with no public funding (ie, no Assembly, Westminster or European elected representatives), they had to …

#AE11 Open Thread: Foyle (#FO11)…

Mick Fealty on April 11, 2011, 12:55 pm

| Readers 11

Foyle is probably one of the last few places where there is still a significant and meaningful divide between ‘nationalist’ and ‘Republican’ in the local electorate. In 2005 Sinn Fein’s Westminster candidate, Mitchel McLaughlin predicted a significant win for himself. In the end he was sorely disappointed. The clash between the SDLP and Sinn Fein will take place in what have been up to now been mutually exclusive electorates. As John has already noted the continuing candidacy of Eamonn McCann …

Charting the Assembly election candidates

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 8, 2011, 11:24 pm

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Number of parties standing in each constituency along with number of independents in 2011 Assembly election

Following on the nominations announcement, we now know that Belfast East will have 17 candidates listed on its long ballot paper. Belfast South and Belfast West are next largest with 14 candidates each. South Antrim will have the shortest ballot papers with only 10 candidates listed. Just five constituencies have all six “sitting” MLAs standing again for re-election – Belfast North/South/West, Newry and Armagh, and South Antrim. Four constituencies have just four of their existing MLAs fighting to be elected. …

#AE11 Open Thread: Strangford (#str11)…

Mick Fealty on April 8, 2011, 1:20 pm

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Okay, bit of a break there. I do want to get round to Foyle, since it is the only constituency I’ll be visiting on our #UTVtrip tweet up odyssey around Northern Ireland. As the Derry Wans might say, I’ll be leaving the best till last. Instead, I’m going to Strangford next, a place where boundary changes may force a couple of seat changes. There’s a couple of thousand Unionist voters coming in the south and maybe about 1k nationalist voters. …

“The days of the Assembly as a novelty are over…”

Mick Fealty on April 8, 2011, 11:57 am

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This classy little video from Stratagem is the first of a series with comment from a range of voices (yours truly amongst them)… It starts with a review of the last four years… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Sinn Fein unilaterally withdraw posters in #FST11…

Mick Fealty on April 7, 2011, 1:27 pm

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I’ve not seen anywhere near as many posters this year as in previous years. Parties seem to be either investing their cash in the kind of bespoke pitches that Chris reports of Sinn Fein’s charm offensive in the loyalist Village area of Belfast (or more likely, just avoiding the high winds). Now the party is entering a non proliferation strategy by withdrawing posters in two electoral areas, Erne East (#LG2005) and Blackwater (#LG2005). Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. …

SDLP campaign launch: uniting people and building prosperity … and a tweet-up

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 7, 2011, 1:15 pm

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Having postponed from earlier in the week, Margaret Ritchie this morning corralled the SDLP’s Assembly candidates together with many of the younger council candidates in Belfast’s Hilton Hotel to launch their election campaigns. Each party expends a lot of effort and expense organising these launch events … all for twenty or so reporters (and the occasional blogger) to turn up and provide a few minutes or inches of coverage. That aside, the SDLP’s leader called it a “marvellous opportunity”. The …

UTV North Antrim Election Twitter roadshow

Mick Fealty on April 7, 2011, 11:51 am

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So next Wednesday we are going to the Braid Arts Centre in Bridge Street Ballymena to host a discussion of the issue facing the voters of North Antrim. We’re hoping to draw in opinion from across the constituency, from Ballycastle down through Ballymoney and Ballymena not to mention the vast rural hinterland. As you can see from my interview with Marc Mallett earlier in the week, it will be held in an open format, and the point is to initiate …

Launching the UTV Twitter Road Shows…

Mick Fealty on April 5, 2011, 3:11 pm

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As some of you may have seen last night or on Twitter, I’ll be hosting a number of Twitter Roadshows for UTV over the next few weeks. In all there will be four of events, starting next Tuesday evening at the Park Avenue Hotel, (our initial thread on East Belfast is still rolling) where the discussion will focus on issues relating to East Belfast (hashtag: #Bele11). There are only a small number of spaces available on the night, as I’ve said …

Alliance: all (about leading) change

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on April 5, 2011, 1:00 pm

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Alliance leading change banner

Alliance launched their election campaign this morning but gave away little about the specific contents of their upcoming manifesto. The paper copy of David Ford’s speech this morning was titled: “Ford launches Alliance campaign saying the party is leading change”. Certainly it seemed like the party leader was embarking on a record breaking attempt to overuse the word change. If his short speech was passed through Wordle, the word “change” would overshadow all other content. [Ed – by popular demand, …

#AE11 Open Thread: North Down (#ndo11)

Mick Fealty on April 5, 2011, 9:11 am

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Every year, North Down is a lottery. It has in the deep past been a bit of a no go for the DUP. That broke with the defection of Peter Weir from the UUP. The party now have two MLAs going into this election with a third candidate who has a chance of picking up a third. But this IS North Down, so nothing is certain. Brian Wilson’s Green seat looks hard for Stephen Agnew to hang on to, despite …

Double jobbing or hedging bets #AE11

Patrick Corrigan on April 4, 2011, 10:36 pm

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One of the issues which became a subject of heated debate at the Newcastle hustings was double jobbing. A significant number of the prospective MLAs for South Down are also bidding to be returned as councillors – a pattern which is repeated right across Northern Ireland. Of course, this would simply continue the current widespread practice of dual mandates at local council and Assembly levels which, at one level, is uncontroversial. For instance, at the hustings, the SDLP’s Eamonn O’Neill …

DUP Election Broadcast Preview…

Mick Fealty on April 4, 2011, 11:44 am

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Upbeat for most of it, finishes with a beautifully oblique reference to that old Martin McGuinness as First Minister schtick (or the simple fix as Lord Trimble would have it)… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

#AE11 Open Thread: West Tyrone (#wt11)

Mick Fealty on April 4, 2011, 9:15 am

| Readers 15

I had thought about moving on to Foyle, but considering the resignation of former MLA Eugene McMenamin (after he failed to get selected as the official SDLP candidates), things have gotten nicely complicated over in West Tyrone. He’s expected to be one of two former SDLP candidates in the race. Ross Hussey is running this time for the UUP and may provide a much needed gain for the Ulster Unionists, probably at the expense of Alan Bresland of the DUP …

#AE11 Open Thread: East Belfast (#bele11)

Mick Fealty on April 3, 2011, 10:37 am

| Readers 59

Okay, East Belfast is really interesting. Will we see two Alliance MLAs, after Naomi Long’s historic victory last year? Can Dawn Purvis hold on the seat she won against the odds four years ago without the backing of the PUP machine? What effect will Sammy Douglas have on the DUP ticket? And at Council level how will the UUP fair banking on two old stagers, Jim Rodgers and (the recently rewhipped) Ian Adamson alongside the rookie Stephen Warke. So what …

Dump d’Hondt: The UUP’s suggestion for improved Executive

Mick Fealty on April 2, 2011, 10:52 am

| Readers 53

There are still some folk in the SDLP who see their role (as Mark Durkan undoubtedly did) as the guardians of the institutions set up by the Belfast Agreement. But as we’ve seen with the shift in the rules for the election of First and deputy First Minister’s roles, that’s not a position held anywhere else. The UUP’s Mark Neale looks at the impasse over education and reprises Tom Eliott’s idea that the winning parties ought to be forced to …