There was relatively little Twitter traffic from the SDLP conference on Friday night. This could just point to the party being gathered together and meeting face-to-face. But given the opportunity for putting out positive messages about their party’s thinking and plans, the low level of news might just point to a much smaller gathering than the masses who turned up for February’s leadership election conference weekend. In his Friday night speech, SDLP deputy leader and director of elections Patsy McGlone …
I’ve found my thick pack of papers from February’s SDLP conference in the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle and the memories are flooding back. Right in the heart of Margaret Ritchie’s rain-swept South Down constituency, she wrestled the leadership of the party from the clutches of Alasdair McDonnell. Lamp posts were adorned with water-damaged posters. Inside the hotel, there was the air of an Ideal Home Exhibition with badges and stickers being handed out everywhere you went. … the candidates’ …
It seems we will be saying goodbye to many political faces as the Assembly and needlessly delayed council elections approach. The latest to fall is the unelected MLA for East Derry, former lots of things, Cllr Billy Leonard. The declared reason from the 55yr old for leaving political life is the time required to write a book (he clearly doesn’t have the stamina of an older, prolific SF author) Blank
Former Mayor of Derry city council, Helen Quigley featured prominently in today’s Journal, with the suggestion that she was leaving the council after failing to be considered as a candidate in next years Assembly election. Update: It seems I have got a number of important details wrong in this story in my unbecoming haste to get it out. Contrary to my first report last night, Quigley remains an SDLP councillor and will remain such until the local elections next year. …
Last night Haiti was the real winner with £1225.90 raised at the Great Big Politics Quiz to help re-house some of the million-plus poor Haitians left homeless by the January 2010 earthquake. An outbreak of cholera in Haiti has resulted in more than 2,500 cases and 200 deaths. People forced to live in the island’s huge campsites are highly vulnerable to cholera, which is caused by bacteria transmitted through contaminated water or food. The house-building project, run by Irish charity …
I’m off on a wee rant below, apologies. While Eamonn’s reproduction of a UUP communication to members has transitory interest, it could open up a broader discussion on the internal democracy of our political parties; how they manage policy setting, media protocols and transparency. A party wracked with disagreement and conflicting messages for nearly two decades like the UUP is long overdue a leader to stamp internal discipline and defined direction for external eyes. The immediate threat of ‘you go …
Does the SDLP have a future? The question is often asked but rarely examined properly. Now the historian Cillian McGrattan has had a modest go at it in Fortnight. On bread and butter policies there’s little or no difference with Sinn Fein: spend, spend, spend. It might be very different if they were obliged to tax as well as spend. Looking back on the Troubles, McGrattan is right to stress radically different legacies. It’s true that the SDLP found it easier …
Nicholas Whyte has kindly given Slugger permission to reproduce this article.
The SDLP were defending a marginal in South Belfast and had a new leader attempting to follow a popular MP in South Down. Those seemed potential nightmare ingredients. However the election was a real triumph for Ritchie. Looking at their strongest seats you have:
Welsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…
A quick aside. I see Tommy Burns MLA quite regularly at our gaelic club and we have an occasional chat. We’ve never discussed Slugger to my recollection and certainly haven’t chatted about my posts on the costs of 11th July bonfires.
I’m surprised to see that completely independently he has asked the exact same questions on costs to the Fire Service that I had answered back on 19th August.
The Irish News, Belfast Telegraph and UTV all say;
The figures were revealed by the Assembly after a freedom of information question from the SDLP’s Thomas Burns
mmmmm…..
Update: As per Nevin’s comment below – it was synchronicity. What are the odds on that?
With the publication of the Saville Report focus is now shifting to the possibility of prosecutions, some paratroopers are already under investigation by the Public Prosecutions Service over perjury at the inquiry but it is unknown if any criminal investigations and/or prosecutions will take place over events on the day. The DUP’s Peter Robinson has called for no prosecutions I think from a political point of view I have to say that I do not believe that there is anything …
This is a version of the article of mine that appears in the Political Review supplement of today’s Belfast News Letter. It examines the call for nationalist unity from Declan O’Loan and asks: cui bono. It concludes that nationalism’s best chance for unification may be to remain free to develop separate and competing visions for unification.
On May 12th I posted a mocked up version of SDLP MPs making their solemn declaration/affirmation of allegiance to ‘Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors’ It was variously described by pro-SDLP contributors as a ‘new low’ for Slugger (x4), ‘inane’, ‘masturbatory, a ‘steaming log’, ‘lowering the tone’ and even resulted in one claim of a commenter leaving the site. So I apologise in advance for directly linking Margaret Ritchie actually taking that affirmation to her Queen: And the …
There are no indications that there has been any serious contemplation of an O’Loan scenario, in which the SDLP might seek terms with Sinn Fein inside the former. But in today’s Irish Times Fionnuala O’Connor thinks there might be some mileage in it. She notes the immediate context for the idea: Realignment inside unionism has been much discussed, if not to much purpose, since defeat for both the UU and DUP leaders at the polls on May 6th. By contrast …
With the announcement of spending cuts of £128m from the Assembly’s budget, Sammy Wilson had stated his intention to offset the loses in part with Departmental underspends. “We knew [this] was coming down the line and when departments surrender money through the year, as inevitably they do, we can maybe use some of that to offset these cuts that have been imposed on us,” Mr Wilson said. Now DSD has declared a halt to plans to develop the Donegall Street …
Today’s Irish News revealed that Declan O’Loan wasn’t on a solo run with his remarks on Nationalist Unity and enjoys sizeable support for his comments across the SDLP. The paper noted: Despite members of his North Antrim constituency giving him their full support, Mr O’Loan was forced to retract the statement It also states: However, The Irish News has learned that Mr O’Loan received unanimous support from senior grassroots members and councillors at his Ballymena constituency office last Thursday It …
Just in from the SDLP: Following a meeting with party leader Margaret Ritchie this morning the party whip has been removed from Declan O’Loan MLA until a future date, to be determined by the party leader. 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
Well, that didn’t last long. Within hours of suggesting the unthinkable, North Antrim MLA has pulled out of his bold statement earlier in which he noted: I believe that a major realignment of northern nationalism is now called for and I think that this means the formation of a new single nationalist party. The values of the SDLP and its ability to command respect and at least second preference votes across the whole community are not something that should be …
Thanks to Aldous Duke we have something most didn’t get hear on election day: Rodney Connor’s ungracious defeat speech – taking time to round on Douglas Bain and threaten legal options -how many other candidates didn’t congratulate the victor, praise the count staff etc? A humilated Fearghal McKinney attacking unionism for not offering ‘choice’. Blank
After several requests we bring you coverage of what will be the SDLP’s first bit of parliamentary business: Blank
