SDLP Youth Campaigns Officer Kyle Boyd has condemned the recent attacks on the Romanian families in South Belfast.
Kyle said: “I live on the street where these attacks have happened. They are disgraceful and a shock to the whole South Belfast area.
“I see these families everyday and they are the friendliest and warmest people you could meet, and to think that they have been attacked due totheir nationality is beyond me.
“This attack has brought the wider community together and shows that no-one in today’s society will let this stand and are fully behind the parents and their young families.
“SDLP Youth were at the anti-racist protest on Monday evening to show our support for the Romanian community. I also want to condemn the youths who threw bottles and hurled abuse during the protest, and I would appeal to anyone who has any information about this to contact the PSNI immediately and bring justice to whoever did this.”
Dolores Kelly will lead her canvassing team back into the Kilwilkie estate in Lurgan at seven PM tonight, accompanied by Alban Maginness and Mark Durkan. On Tuesday night she was confronted by a masked gunman who told her to get out in five minutes or she would be shot.
A separate canvass team was also confronted by people in exceptionally well-sewn balacavas and told Dolores would be shot. Dolores is not taking any of this:
“Let me make this very clear to those people who think they can intimidate me or my party - they will not. This is an affront to democracy. I am proud to be an elected representative for this area and a young thug like that will not deter me from my work.
“This type of person offers nothing to the community. There was a teenage girl with me helping me canvass. This person thinks he’s being a big man by threatening us, but he’s the opposite. A coward is too good a word for him.
“The matter is now with the PSNI and for the safety of those with me I decided to finish canvassing for the evening after the incident. This, however, will not stop me from doing what I was democratically elected to do - to serve the community. I wish it to be known that the SDLP fought for civil rights and we will not let an incident like this keep us from helping the good people of Lurgan.”
It wasn’t the lads in balaclavas who kept us out last night, it was the football.
Gerry Conlon from the Guildford Four will join Breege Quinn at an SDLP event in Newry on Wednesday evening called ‘Justice Denied: A Public Discussion’.
Mr Conlon, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 15 years, will join the panel alongside Mrs Quinn from Cullyhanna, whose son was beaten to death 18 months ago. Also speaking will be Anne Morgan, whose brother Seamus Ruddy is one of the Disappeared, and justice campaigner Raymond McCord. SDLP Justice Spokesperson Alban Maginness will address the gathering too.
The meeting will offer an opportunity to hear the personal experiences of people who have suffered from miscarriages of justice or have had justice denied to them.
Speaking ahead of the event, Gerry Conlon said: “Thankfully we are now living in more peaceful times. However, for many people, the events of the past still cast a shadow over their lives, and more needs to be done to correct wrongs and bring closure.
“I’d encourage people to come along to this meeting to hear from the experiences of people who have been denied justice, and to share their own stories. This will be a powerful, yet very interesting event.”
Breege Quinn added: “We intend to keep our campaign going until we get justice for Paul, so we welcome every opportunity to speak on any platform to get that message across, especially to his murderers. We have a lot in common and a lot to learn from other families that have lost members by murder.”
The public meeting will take place in the Canal Court Hotel, Newry at 7.30pm on Wednesday 22 April. Admission is free and anyone can attend.
SDLP Leader and Foyle MP Mark Durkan MP and Newry and Armagh Assembly Member Dominic Bradley have expressed their sadness after learning of the death of Paddy O’Hanlon, a founder member of the party.
Mr O’Hanlon passed away tonight in Dublin’s Mater Hospital following a short illness. Funeral details will be announced later.
Mr Durkan said: “With the sad death of Paddy O’Hanlon we have lost a real champion of civil rights, justice and reconciliation.
“Paddy was one of the best orators of his generation, powerfully reflecting deep democratic convictions.
“He was part of that leadership class which choose non violence to challenge the injustice of the old Stormont regime, who rejected the violence of paramilitaries and repression of the state and who consistently espoused partnership as the only basis for sharing a peaceful future.
“Even when standing well back from the political frontline his compelling political insight, and the integrity of his commitment to social justice was apparent in all the activism and advice he offered.
“In the legal vocation which he found he was able to give particular expression to his sense of justice his instinct for challenge and his love of able argument.
“So much of Paddy O’Hanlon’s character and contribution epitomizes and the debt which this society owes to the activists and leadership of the civil rights movement who never deviated from non-violence and who sustained the quest for a new agreed democratic order.
“Paddy was a man of great warmth as well as worth. He was sharp in his observation and straight in his counsel whether in his private conversation or public speaking he always impressed with the purity of his principle and the clarity of his case and the sincerity of the advice he offered.
“On behalf of the SDLP I offer my condolences to Paddy’s family and our sympathy to those colleagues who toiled and were tested with him in a crucible of tumultuous times. Not just they but all Irish democrats have lost a special friend and true stalwart.
Back in September SDLP Youth encouraged everyone to sign a petition to allow Palestinian student Haneen Wishah to travel from Gaza to Ireland to study at the University of Ulster Coleraine. The petition was successful. In the Coleraine Times this week Haneen urges Israel to stop the war.
“Stop the Israeli aggression on my land and people.
We, as Palestinians are begging to live in peace in a justice world in our homeland Palestine, because it’s our legal right and we won’t give up until we free our land Palestine from the Israeli occupation.”
Belfast Gaza Protest
The protest was hugely successful. Around 2,000 people attended the protest, while thousands more marched and lined the route through the city centre. Similar marches took place in cities and towns throughout Ireland in solidarity with the people in Palestine.
SDLP Youth call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the killing, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and both sides to enter talks to work towards a peaceful solution. Until this happens, the Irish, British and European governments must impose economic sanctions upon Israel.
SDLP Party Leader, MP for Foyle has tabled an Early Day Motion calling for an end to the death and destruction in Gaza:
“That this House deplores the concentration of violence, degradation and hardship suffered by the Palestinian people;
condemns terrorist attacks on Israelis by Hamas or other armed factions;
recognises that the essence of terrorism is to attack civilians and civil infrastructure to achieve or impose political ends;
condemns, unequivocally, the Israeli Defence Forces onslaught of terror in Gaza;
rejects the pretence of military equivalence between the ruthless firepower unleashed by Israel in Gaza and the deplorable rockets fired by Hamas or others against Israeli people;
refutes the false argument that the high-tech, high-death-toll terror tactics deployed by Israel against the people of Gaza are morally superior or ethically different to the crude weapons employed by Hamas and others;
and regrets the failure of the UK government and the international community to unequivocally condemn the outrageous actions of Israel’s government or threaten any sanction in response to escalating humanitarian transgressions, flagrant breaches of international law, continuous flouting of UN resolutions and possible war crimes.”
SDLP Youth have called for the European Union to pressure Israel to end attacks on Gaza.
SDLP Youth Chair Peter Armstrong today said: “The international community must do a lot more to end the Israeli attacks on Gaza. In a single day the Israeli Army killed 270 people in retaliation for 1 Israeli dying in a mortar attack. Killing and injuring thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza is a completely disproportionate response. There must be another way. A peaceful solution must be sought. A ceasefire needs to be restored.
“World leaders need to put pressure on Israel to immediately end the bombardment. A message must go across from the EU that this is not acceptable, a breach of international law and it cannot continue.”
“SDLP Youth are calling on everyone to sign an emergency petition by Avaaz on their website at http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace/ which calls on the European Union to ensure that a ceasefire is restored, to stop the bloodshed and address the humanitarian crisis.”
Fantastic news. Historical significance. A victory for Civil Rights. A ‘Cooler’ America.
Many didn’t have faith in America to elect such an outstanding candidate. We all thought they’d pick the idiot. Of course, Americans shouldn’t blame us for thinking this - as they previously elected Bush & Cheney (in 2000 and 2004!).
Certainly, if the world could vote, 87.3% would have voted for Barack Obama - a majority voting for Obama in every country and terrority (except FYR Macedonia & Albania where people voted for McCain - not sure what’s going on there..).
This is how our politicians summed it up:
The decisiveness of his triumph and the hope which it heralds is in contrast to the divisiveness of previous elections. His election is a sign of positive progress, not just in the United States but in terms of international leadership. Mark Durkan MP MLA, SDLP Leader
I congratulate President-elect Barack Obama and Vice-President-elect Joe Biden, not only because they have Irish roots, not only because they are pledged to continue to support our own peace process, but because what they have done is historic by any standard. We have reached a turning point in international affairs and I believe we can all be more optimistic this morning. Dr Alasdair McDonnell MP MLA, SDLP Deputy Leader
Today, I’m sure many Americans wish they had our system, where Obama would win on 4th November and be inaugurated on 5th November. Nevertheless, even if we have to wait until January for Inauguration Day, the next 4 years and hopefully the next 8 years should be a lot brighter than the previous 8 years under Bush. America is in troubled economic times, but it has a lot to look forward to.
President Obama has been left a huge amount of work by his predecessor, but we believe he can make huge changes to the US and the world. He recognises the importance of civil rights in America, he recognises that climate change exists, and he has plans to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Avaaz have set up a “Goodbye Bush, Hello Obama” message board. Well, more a message wall - if you sign up on their website, they will display your message on a giant wall in Washington DC.
Dear President Obama:
As citizens across the world, we congratulate you on your election, and celebrate your campaign commitments to sign a strong new global treaty on climate change, close Guantanamo prison and end torture, withdraw carefully from Iraq, and double aid to fight poverty. No one country or leader can meet the world’s most pressing challenges alone, but working together as one world in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation, yes we can bring real and lasting change.
We also have to recognise the hard work on the Republican side *cough*. They sure kept us entertained.
Via Niall’s blog, two prankster DJ’s from CKY Radio in Montréal phone up Governor Sarah Palin (before the election) who believes that she is talking to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Amnesty International will screen their Secret Policeman’s Ball this Saturday night (4th October) in the Errigle Inn, Belfast, broadcast live by satellite from London’s Royal Albert Hall.
It features an all-star line-up of comedy and music talent standing up for human rights – and the Belfast audience will experience it all at the same time as Ball-goers in London. The Belfast Event is to be hosted by Tim McGarry and will be followed by a disco of Northern Soul, Funk and Reggae by Hydroponic.
If you’re available on Saturday night there should be great craic at the Errigle - tickets cost £10 from the Amnesty site.
However, if you happen to miss the event, it will be screened on Channel 4 on Sunday night at 9pm!
The Civil Rights Commemoration Committee is hosting an international conference on Saturday 4th - Sunday 5th October 2008 in the Guildhall in Derry to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Duke Street march.
The conference will reflect on the importance of civil rights, highlight civil rights issues in Ireland and the world today and will consider the impact of the media on civil rights.
President Mary McAleese will give the keynote addresses at the conference.
Speakers include John Hume, Ivan Cooper, Nell McCafferty, Patricia McKeown, ICTU, Monica McWilliams HRC, Maurice Manning IHRC, Mark Durkan MP MLA, Martin McGuinness MP MLA, Gregory Campbell MP MLA and many others.
SDLP Party Leader, MP for Foyle has tabled an 
