sdlp – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

Slugger TV: reflections on local government #imaginebelfast

David McCann on March 31, 2023, 7:37 pm

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Councillors Brian Heading (SDLP) and John Kyle (UUP)

Slugger TV escaped the studio again this month and ventured into the Imagine! Belfast Festival Of Ideas And Politics to chat to two local politicians who are stepping down at the upcoming local elections. Councillors Brian Heading (SDLP) and John Kyle (UUP, formerly PUP) spoke to David McCann about their careers in local government and offered insights into how parties work with one another on councils. You can catch on NvTv on the tellybox from 8pm on Saturday (Freeview channel …

The British and Irish governments mustn’t mess about. Time for Direct Rule by whatever name with Dublin support to tackle the cost of living crisis and move on to Assembly reform

Brian Walker on October 27, 2022, 2:05 pm

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We are teetering on a cliff edge of absurdity about calling an Assembly election “ nobody wants. ” From the DUP viewpoint Peter Robinson brilliantly describes the contradictions in every party’s position except his own. He might have added that it was Chris Heaton Harris and his cronies in the ERG who more than any other faction got us into this trouble in the first place by championing a Withdrawal Agreement with the Protocol attached under frankly false pretences. The …

Fianna Fail-SDLP partnership comes to an end.

David McCann on September 29, 2022, 11:37 am

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Suzanne Breen reports in today’s Belfast Telegraph that the SDLP and Fianna Fail partnership has come to an end after three years. Breen reports; The SDLP has officially ended its three-year partnership with Fianna Fail as Colum Eastwood told members that the party must move forward “standing on its own two feet”. Mr Eastwood made the announcement to 250 delegates at an extraordinary general meeting of his party to discuss the findings of an internal review into its poor Assembly election performance. David McCannDavid …

The SDLP go into opposition at Stormont…

Brian O'Neill on July 25, 2022, 8:29 am

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Following a very weak performance at the recent Assembly Elections, the SDLP have decided to do something dramatic to reverse their ailing fortunes. Today I have written to the Speaker of the Assembly to confirm that the SDLP will now be the Official Opposition to the deadlock and division of the Stormont administration. People were promised change in May’s election. As an Opposition, that’s what our team will deliver. pic.twitter.com/EOZs2JKpaj — Colum Eastwood 🇺🇦 (@columeastwood) July 25, 2022 From the …

Slugger TV looks at the political year ahead

David McCann on July 1, 2022, 4:48 pm

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Slugger TV 01/07/22 from Northern Visions NvTv on Vimeo. This months guest as Alan Meban and Allison Morris David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Slugger TV looks at the main parties after #AE22

David McCann on June 1, 2022, 4:37 pm

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Slugger TV is five years old! This month Anna Mercer from Stratagem and Chris Donnelly look at the state of the parties following the Assembly Election. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

What now for the SDLP?

Michael Hehir on May 10, 2022, 8:16 am

| Readers 5179

It should have been different. The party had been doing so many of the right things. It had put the years of destructive dissension over leadership under Ritchie and McDonnell firmly behind it. It had recruited and groomed a new generation of talented public representatives. It had professionalised its organisation. It had been rewarded with a modest improvement in its 2019 Euro election vote – which held out the promise that the party could put an end to the previous …

UTV Leaders Debate-Low key campaigns don’t drop their guards

David McCann on May 1, 2022, 9:05 pm

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The leaders of the five main parties gathered in South Belfast today for the UTV Leaders Debate, which is the first of two of these debates in the 2022 Assembly Election campaign. Marc Mallett as usual was the moderator and there were two new faces with Doug Beattie and Jeffrey Donaldson taking part for the first time. The experienced debaters returning from 2017 were Colum Eastwood, Naomi Long and Michelle O’Neill. The debate was divided into three main themes, Executive …

And the winner is … ranking the PEBs: Slugger’s verdict on the party broadcasts of #AE22

David McCann on April 22, 2022, 11:00 am

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It’s back! The Slugger review of the Party Election Broadcasts. Starting all the way back in 2014, we are returning to award the best party election broadcast of the 2022 Assembly campaign. This year we are assembling the same judges as in 2019 to help us decide who won the battle on TV. We have our own Alan Meban, the Belfast Telegraph Crime Correspondent, Allison Morris and Director of Brown O’Connor Communications, Chris Brown. How does it work? Each of …

Why are the SDLP doing so badly in the polls?

Soapbox on April 14, 2022, 8:19 am

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Even as, for the first time, nationalism in Northern Ireland may find itself in the symbolic driving seat of the role of First Minister, the SDLP’s polling remains stagnant. The most recent Irish News/University of Liverpool poll showed the party polling at 9.9%, which would represent a new low-mark for the party in Northern Irish elections, if the results on May 5 match the poll. It also shows them significantly behind Sinn Féin, who poll at 27% and are on …

SDLP meet for the first time in four years with opportunities and battles ahead.

David McCann on March 25, 2022, 5:37 pm

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The SDLP met in Bellaghy for their first conference since 2018. The small crowd of around one hundred delegates gathered at the Seamus Heaney homeplace. This is the first time since 2018 that delegates have gathered together in person. Last time the conference was something akin to a wake as they reeled from a disastrous General Election in 2017. This time they meet with two MPs and a minister in government, but the party has challenges going into this election. …

Slugger TV looks at the polls and strategy for #AE22

David McCann on January 28, 2022, 2:16 pm

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This month Slugger TV talks to two former party strategists about what the parties will be thinking about going into the next election. We have Brendan Mulgrew (For SDLP advisor and Partner in MW Advocate) and Lee Reynolds (Former Director of Policy for the DUP and SPAD). NVTV and local broadcasting lost a very special person last week. Marilyn Hyndman very sadly passed away. She was someone who edited, checked over and supported Slugger TV. We hope you enjoy this …

Scores on the doors: 2022 Assembly Election lay of the land

David McCann on January 21, 2022, 6:12 pm

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We are 104 days away from the Assembly Election. Set for Thursday 5th May, we will be able to decide who we want to take Northern Ireland forward for the next few years. Where will the parties be targeting and defending? I have put together a list of where is under threat for each of the main parties and where could they make some gains. These things are moveable feasts and dynamics can change throughout the campaign. Sinn Fein-Currently holds …

Time to demand more for Derry?

David McCann on August 20, 2021, 12:27 pm

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Chris Donnelly was writing in Monday’s Irish News about the need to address the economic situation in the city of Derry. He outlined the major issues. Derry needs an injection not just of cash but of people. It should be the Galway of the north, itself a city in which 1 in 5 residents are students. Derry has the lowest Higher Education provision of the fifteen largest towns and cities with degree-granting institutions across the island. Sligo has a similar …

Flooding is our canary in the coal mine for the impact of climate change, says Sinéad McLaughlin

Paul Gosling on August 20, 2021, 9:05 am

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Belfast, Derry, Strabane and much of Ireland have suffered severe flooding problems in recent days and weeks. We know this will get even worse – with flooding become more intensive and more frequent. A new report says that climate change will be a particular problem for the West of Ireland, with even higher rainfall, leading to even more flooding. These are not problems we can ignore. I am discussing with the insurance industry how to ensure homeowners, tenants and businesses get the …

More truth and honesty needed in government, and in dealing with legacy, says Colum Eastwood

Paul Gosling on July 23, 2021, 9:05 am

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Truth and honesty must be at the heart of how we deal with the legacy of the past and in how politicians in Northern Ireland govern today, says Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP and MP for the Foyle constituency. He was speaking in the latest Holywell Trust Forward Together podcast and is the third political leader to be interviewed in the series, discussing how to make progress in Northern Ireland. Victims have been badly treated, stresses Colum, and they …

Well, well, well-#AE2022 and that Lucid Talk poll

Sarah Creighton on May 22, 2021, 11:06 am

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It’s early days, minds could change later, but the Belfast Telegraph’s latest poll will send shivers down the DUP’s spine. According to Lucid Talk, support for the DUP has dropped to 16%, the same as Alliance. Sinn Fein sits at 25%. Doug Beattie will take comfort from the figure for the UUP, up two points to 14%. A Sinn Fein First Minister has been a possibility since the 2017 Assembly election. Based on these figures, Sinn Fein will clinch the …

Where can the Unionist parties gain seats at the next election?

David McCann on May 19, 2021, 1:50 pm

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The DUP has started messaging ahead of next years assembly election that the combined Unionist parties need just five seats to remove the protocol. Now this claim has been fact checked that they can only remove certain parts, rather than all of it. But I thought it would be interesting to look at where Unionism could potentially find those gains. To start with, this is a very tall order for the combined Unionist parties. If the results of elections from …

Moderate Irish Nationalism is talking at Unionists, not with Unionists, and that will set us all back.

Soapbox on February 11, 2021, 8:46 pm

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Philip Wilson is a Belfast-based writer who is involved in Northern Irish politics. He has a Master’s in Politics from King’s College London When Irish Nationalists like Simon Coveney and Matthew O’Toole suggest that Brexit, and not the protocol, is the problem, they deny Unionists their full place in the United Kingdom and implicitly dilute the vote of Unionists as full citizens of the UK. In no sense can this be interpreted as in the spirit of the Belfast/Good Friday …

AE22: Targets for the main parties next year

David McCann on February 10, 2021, 11:04 am

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It is 15 months away, but lockdown boredom and messing around with numbers, he is the lay of the land going into the next Assembly Election. Alliance The happiest people looking at this are the Alliance Party, gains to be seen across Northern Ireland and on numbers, none of their 8 seats are under threat. Around 10 target seats are there for them, with varying degrees of effort required. The low hanging fruit are places like North Belfast and South …