party conferences

Alliance Party Conference report #apni25

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deputy leader Eoin Tennyson hugs Alliance leader Naomi Long, while audience stand to applaud

The 2025 Alliance Party conference comes shortly after the first anniversary of the restoration of the Stormont institutions, and a day after the Programme for Government was finally agreed and published. It also marks a changing of the guard within the party with manifesto-supremo and deputy leader Stephen Farry absent for the first time in perhaps 35 years. I’ve been attending and writing up online coverage of party conferences for a mere 15 years. Back in 2010, party met in …

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SDLP conference – two leader’s speeches delivered to packed room of rapt delegates #sdlp24

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For the third weekend in a row, the Crowne Plaza’s ballroom was hosting a party conference. The SDLP adopted their traditional long and thin configuration – 240 seats laid out, for those who count these things – bringing back memories of the same room delivering a former new leader’s moment in the light back in 2011. There was an upbeat mood at the SDLP conference. Throughout the speeches and discussions, there was an emphasis of stepping up, stepping forward, and …

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UUP Conference – new leader calls for hope at disappointing party conference #UUP2024

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The UUP conference began with a closed session that was supposed to ratify Mike Nesbitt as their new leader. The suggestion that he’d rather wait until he could address the members in person seemed to be ignored, and a vote to ratify him went ahead. It was one of a number of semi-chaotic moments. The agenda stretched from eleven o’clock to half past three, with a series of panels and speeches, a long lunch break, and a guest speaker slot …

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Foster expresses deep regret for party’s mistakes over RHI while Boris imagines ‘UKNI’ dystopia but fails to excite DUP activists #DUP18

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Read back key sections and listen to speeches from today’s DUP Conference. Arlene Foster apologised for the party’s mistakes over RHI, hinted at a ‘cultural deal’ and expressed her wish for devolution to be restored. Boris Johnson spoke about buses, Brexit and light sabres …

UUP Conference: “in a battle to save the Union from the DUP” – speeches & audio #UUP18

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Listen back to and read key speeches. The UUP’s annual conference was dominated by messaging aimed at differentiating the party from its larger competitor in the run up to the local government elections. If the UUP are to arrest their general decline, it must be with a strong performance in May’s council elections at the expense of the DUP. That is the only test that the UUP will be measured against.

2018/9 NI Party Conference dates

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Listing Northern Ireland political party conferences planned for autumn 2018 and spring 2019. Post will be updated as precise dates and venues are confirmed, and links will be added to post-conference reviews.

SDLP Leadership team delivers on stage but can the party turn the corner?

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The SDLP gathered for the first time in over two years for their conference at Titanic Belfast. In what has been a political year of many highs of lows for the party it was a relatively low key affair for most of the morning. Delegates (those who turned up) debated a steady stream of motions on welfare reform, environment and policing. The only potentially controversial motion that was up for debate was one regarding the naming of parks after actors …

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2017/8 NI Party Conference dates

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PARTY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE – a list of the 2017/18 party conferences and gatherings most relevant to followers of NI politics. It’ll be updated with information as and when the parties confirm and share their plans, and updated with links to Slugger’s conference coverage after each event.

PUP Conference receives internal and external advice on its image & reform – will it listen & act?

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PARTY CONFERENCE season has started with the Progressive Unionist Party meeting at Corr’s Corner Hotel. Both internal and external voices critiqued the party’s perception problem and hinted at ways that it could addressed. The impact of women in the party continues to grow. Deputy leader John Kyle was honest about the disappointing election result. And party leader Billy Hutchinson called for progress on legacy issues, economic growth, welfare reform, and the persistence of poverty and deprivation.

2016/7 NI Party Conference dates

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PARTY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE – a list of the 2016/17 party conferences and gatherings most relevant to followers of NI politics. It’ll be updated with information as and when the parties decide and share their plans, and updated with links to Slugger’s conference coverage after each event.

LIVE blog for the SDLP Conference and Leadership election…

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CONFERENCE LIVE: You can follow today’s proceedings of today’s SDLP conference and leadership election results in our CoverItLive live blog. David and Alan and other selected tweeters will keep you up to date with news and interviews, the leader’s speech at 12pm and finally the details of the results at 5pm.