Alliance Party

Parsley quits… again.

| Readers 372

North Down Conservative Ian Parsley has announced his second resignation from a political party inside 14 months. Using his blog this evening to deliver this lengthy resignation letter, Parsley states: I notified the North Down Conservative Association of my intention to resign as a member Saturday week ago, effective from midnight the following Thursday. I have long sought the most effective vehicle to pursue and deliver effective mainstream, non-sectarian and responsible politics in Northern Ireland. Despite best intentions, the Conservatives lack the …

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Do not mourn the octopus

| Readers 22

In news Slugger predicted last year, Alliance’s Sean Neeson has announced his retirement. You won’t have long to wait to check if the 2nd half of the prediction is correct and Gerry Lynch is selected to run in his place. Blank

South Belfast UUP dump another of their Westminster candidates…

| Readers 51
UUP banner logo - slightly cropped

I cannot think of another political party that would spend the money and effort on a candidate in one election, only to dump them in the next. And Paula Bradshaw could be forgiven for wondering whether Reg Empey meant it when he promised the Ulster Unionist party would prioritise bringing women into the Assembly party. To be fair to Sir Reg he is no longer leader. And by all accounts he will shortly be giving up his ministerial post. But …

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General Election 2010 – the Alliance.

| Readers 9

There was something for everyone in this election but the undoubted highlight was Naomi Long’s stunning victory in East Belfast.

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“Lots of it is on the “motherhood and apple pie” level.”

| Readers 14

The BBC report tells us that The NI first and deputy first ministers have published their proposals for tackling sectarianism, racism and hate. That would be the long-awaited Programme for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration.  And from what I can glean from the consultation document [pdf file] they propose to form a committee “Panel”. As Mark Devenport says about the document Lots of it is on the “motherhood and apple pie” level. It’s good to hear that the First and Deputy First …

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Alliance back in the fight?

| Readers 13

At one point during the election campaign I read a senior Alliance member and good friend of Slugger boasting they were one of only two parties running in every constituency. I reminded him as it was the first time in 10-15 years for six of the eight constituencies held by Nationalists that wasn’t much of a boast. Now the results are in what can we tell about Alliance’s first visit to those constituencies in such a long time? FST – …

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Ford tries to ‘bump’ Long over the line?

| Readers 11

I’ve not been able to take politicians forecasts of their own fortunes seriously since Mitchel McLaughlin told me in all seriousness that he was going to win the Foyle seat in 2005. Now David Ford is pushing his candidate in East Belfast as a real possibility for taking a seat, without quite saying that. With Sammy Morse’s warnings against any party (including his own presumably) who relies on canvass returns ringing in my ears, I would say the Alliance party …

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Robinson’s hope: the circular firing squad of liberal East Belfast

| Readers 28

Splintered’s guides are shaping up to be the blog gem of this campaign, though he’s not got as far as East Belfast yet. The common wisdom is that Robinson is safe. His majority of just 6,ooo majority in 2005 (which is towards the lower end of the scale in Northern Ireland), would be comfortable in normal times. But, for the Robinson family, these are not normal times. Here’s how it worked out last time amongst the main contenders (the nationalist …

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