Caitríona Ruane: Time to Resign

Dominic Bradley MLA has asked the Minister for Education for a breakdown of the backlog of maintenance work to be carried out on schools.

The response from the Minister contains a list of hundreds of schools owed large amounts of money - £217 million in total and many schools are owed several millions pounds each. This money is meant to be available to help improve nurseries, primary and secondary schools but the Minister isn’t providing the funding when it’s due.

It’s another gigantic blunder by the Minister. Here are some schools owed money:

Sydenham Primary     £1,603,325
St Anne’s PS     £1,954,862
Holy Trinity PS     £1,226,056
Belfast Girls’ Model     £3,586,395
Belmont House Special    £1,055,871

See the full list of schools here

Dominic Bradley MLA has said this means “many children are being taught in substandard classrooms. This shortfall is putting the health and safety of children at serious risk. There are serious questions to be answered like just how long have the Minister and her officials been aware of this? How long will the Minister allow this situation to continue? And what exactly are the implications for the pupils in our schools?”

Albans Close Shave by Pudsey

Well done to SDLP North Belfast MLA who today had his moustache shaved off for BBC Children in Need. Donations are still welcome - by calling Catherine on 028 9052 1319.

Alban without Moustache (courteousy of Photoshop)

Exclusive (to my knowledge)

With Children in Need fast approaching the Chair of the SDLP Assembly Group, Alban Maginness MLA, has agreed, with a little persuasion, to shave off his moustache in the name of charity.  This decision has not been taken lightly by the esteemed member – the moustache has been an integral and longstanding part of Mr Maginness’s makeup.

Alban hopes to hold a shaving ceremony on Thursday of this week and photographic evidence of this particular piece of decommissioning will be provided!  Speaking today Alban said:

“This is a decision I have not taken lightly.  My moustache has been a close friend to me over the years, through good times and bad, through thick and thinning!  It was present at the birth of my children and during many election campaigns walking the streets of North Belfast.  The thought of being without it, for even a short while, fills me with both fear and trepidation.

On a serious note though, the moustache can grow back, I may even prefer life without it, but through the small efforts of many fundraisers throughout the North every year, Children in Need provides hope for many of the most needy and most overlooked sections of our society.

The truth is that we all can make a difference, however small.  We can all work alone or with others to, to draw attention to the event, raise funds for Children in Need, and take part in the knowledge that we are taking part in something bigger.  My moustache may have been a major part of my life, but it is only one small story among thousands that are told every year when raising money for Children in Need.”

More photos from Stormont Schools Debate 2008

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SDLP Youth and Young Unionists joined forces today to host a Schools Debate in the Senate Chamber at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.

The day was organised in conjunction with the NI Assembly’s Education Service.

Peter Armstrong, Chair of SDLP Youth said: “We were delighted to co-host the Schools Debate 2008. The event brought together young people from schools across the north to the Senate Chamber at Parliament Buildings for a cross-community debate on local and international politics.

“This was a very worth-while event as our aim was to bring more young people to the seat of local government.”

Alisdair O’Hara Organiser for the Young Unionists said: “I am extremely pleased with today’s event. It highlights that some political parties can still work together. In this instance we were able to bring sixth formers from various schools across Northern Ireland to debate some of the most relevant local and international issues.

“Engaging young people in politics is extremely important and being able to host this debate at Stormont was very significant”.

Aisling Twomey-O’Connor at her workplace at Parliament Buildings, Stormont

This article is from the SDLP Newsletter November 08.

Aisling Twomey-O’Connor has worked as an SDLP Administration Officer based in Stormont for more than 1 year. Everyday she brushes shoulders with the people in power – Assembly Members and Ministers. Aisling recognises that the corridors where she works are steeped with history and many interesting stories and characters, but that doesn’t faze the 27 year-old.

Aisling explains how she got involved in the SDLP, “Although I had not been a SDLP member before joining the staff at Stormont, I joined the SDLP Youth wing of the party and was elected to the position of Treasurer in June of this year.

“When I applied for the job I didn’t think had any chance of getting it, due to my lack of background in Northern Ireland politics. But I was very pleasantly surprised when SDLP General Secretary Gerry Cosgrove offered me the position. My role is a very busy one as I deal with many different issues and no two days are ever the same. However I have been lucky to have been working along with Catherine Matthews, who I think is the real boss of the SDLP!”

A modest Aisling may well brush aside her experience and knowledge of Northern Ireland Politics but that is not to suggest that this young woman doesn’t know anything about politics and people. On the contrary! During her time at Manchester Metropolitan University she got involved in student politics, and was elected as Vice President.

“I have always been very political since high school and always had comments on my report card like “has no problem sharing her views with her peers”. It seems it was destiny for me to end up working for a political party,” explains Aisling.

“I graduated from MMU Cheshire in 2004 with a BA Hons American Studies. Throughout my time at University, I became involved with the Student Union and served as Site Officer (VP) for my University. As vice president, I represented the Students on Student Staff Forum and Faculty Committee. Unfortunately I had been bitten by the politics bug – In the presidential election at my university, I was defeated by 14 votes out of 1800. “

Turning to her work with the SDLP at Parliament Buildings in Stormont Aisling says, “I am always taken back with this building; there is so much history here and it in surrounding buildings. One of the most interesting and amusing facts of this building is that it survived the Blitz by being covered in cow manure. It is very surreal working here as you may find yourself queuing up for your lunch with Mark Durkan or BBC reporters such as Martina Purdy.

“If you were to ask me what the highlight of my first year within the SDLP has been, many would expect me to say that it’s been working with the best political party in Northern Ireland. But I have to confess that my highlight so far has to be is when I met Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol, one of my favourite bands. I was so nervous; I hardly said more than two words to him the whole day. Amazing the people you meet here.

“I am very proud to work for the SDLP and I hope that I can continue to have a part to play within the SDLP.”

Supporting the launch of UK Youth Parliament’s ‘Free for All’ campaign to abolish university tuition fees today (Monday 6th October) SDLP Leader and Foyle MP Mark Durkan has voiced his concerns about the negative impact tuition fees are having on pupils from poorer, non-privileged backgrounds.

Over 9000 stickered £1 coins are to go into circulation across the UK highlighting the cost of tuition fees being paid by students in England and Northern Ireland over the course of a degree.

Mr Durkan is lending support to the campaign by circulating the coins in the Northern Ireland Assembly, at the House of Commons and in his own constituency this week.
(more…)

Sinn Fein mouthpiece John O’Dowd has been popping up all over the media in the last week (is no one else in the party capable of keeping a straight face while talking absolute rubbish?) spouting the latest party diktat that there is no point in having an Executive meeting until sufficient ‘progress’ has been made.  Has no one thought to tell him that even an Executive meeting taking place at this stage would be progress in itself?  The place to meet is not in backrooms with DUP and Sinn Fein hardmen flexing their political muscles.  It is in the Executive with the 4 main parties working together to solve many of the problems facing the people of the North.

The question must be asked why Sinn Fein are allowed to hold the rest of the Executive to ransom, holding out until the last minute before deciding whether to grace the other ministers with their presence around the table on Thursday.  Artificially stoking crisis after crisis, running to Downing Street and having the British Prime Minister visit Stormont to persuade the parties to get back to work is not the work of a mature political party.  Sinn Fein revel in crisis and it is the only thing that they are skilled it.  Unfortunately for the rest of us they are not so proficient when actually in government.

Crisis and bluster at the expense of working government is not a surprise to those of us who said that these would be the inevitable consequences of voting for the two extreme parties in the North.  It seems almost naive that we could expect anything different.  Hopefully this crisis reveals to the electorate that Sinn Fein and the DUP are incapable of co-operating in the work of creating stable and effective governance in this part of the world.  While the globe is hit by a global economic crisis they are literally having meetings about meetings and are doing nothing to help those who vitally need government to intervene in their lives.  While some governments decide to do nothing out of an ideological attachment to neoliberalism and a small state, this government has decided to do nothing out of sheer incompetence. Voters should send a message to Sinn Fein and the DUP today in the Fermanagh byelection but also at the next election which could be sooner than planned if things do not resolve themselves soon, that things are just not good enough.

This morning the Alliance Party leader David Ford has changed his mind about the Policing & Justice Ministry.

He has allowed himself to be complicit in what is an undemocratic carve up by the DUP and SF, with the aim of denying over 105,000 nationalists their voice in the NI Executive.

In August, David Ford said “The Alliance Party will not be taking the Policing and Justice Ministry.” However, after discussions with the DUP and SF he has changed his mind. David Ford should bear in mind that back room deals damage the democratic process and think about previous agreements between the DUP-SF that never came to any fruition - such as an Irish Language Act.

David Ford is essentially delaying any implementation of the Policing & Justice ministry by posturing outside Stormont Castle waiting for DUP/SF to throw sweeties. My advice is that if Alliance want a seat on the Executive, they should start working towards the extra 17,000+ first preference votes required.

Who should get the Policing & Justice ministry?

The DUP and SF both agreed that they wouldn’t take it, but it wasn’t theirs to take, and it isn’t theirs to give. The NI Assembly operates under the D’Hondt Mechanism. Every time an Executive has been formed, D’Hondt has been used to assign Ministries to each party.

The graph below shows the allocation of the 11 ministries (10 current ministries + Policing and Justice). It quite clearly shows that the 11th Ministry belongs to the SDLP. Even if you kept adding ministries, the SDLP, DUP and SF would all get assigned new ministries before it was the turn of the Alliance.

(click here to see full graph)

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness seem determined to undermine the democratic Assembly structures. In attempting to deny the SDLP their position, they are denying a seat on the Executive to the 105,000 nationalist voters who put the SDLP as their first preference. Instead, they want the Alliance party to take on the post, even though they do not qualify for any seat on the Executive as not enough people vote for them.

The SDLP are going to fight for what is rightfully theirs - what has been mandated to them. Tommy Gallagher yesterday said, “Whatever new department comes into being it has to be allocated under the D’Hondt rule. If Sinn Fein colludes with the DUP in abandoning a fundamental requirement of the Agreement and departing from the principles of fairness and equality then the nationalist community will pay a very high price in relation to future arrangements for government in Northern Ireland.“

Last week, SDLP Leader Mark Durkan gave a keynote speech to the British Irish Association’s Annual Conference. It has received a lot of media coverage, including good pieces by The Guardian and North by Northwest.

However, Durkan was mis-quoted by the Irish News who printed the headline Power-sharing should end soon says Durkan. I wrote a blog piece about it at the time, which I’ve now removed it as it repeated some erroneous quotes! I thought that I’d write another blog piece instead for clarity.

Durkan’s speech is available in full here. The speech is also being discussed on the SDLP Members Forum.

What Durkan Did Not Say:

Durkan definitely didn’t suggest any system resembling simple majority voting (50%+1). This wouldn’t work in N Ireland. Secondly, he did not suggest changing the D’Hondt mechanism – this would remain the same – whereby each parties entitlement to Ministries is on the basis of their electoral mandate.

And lastly (do I even need to point this out!), it’s quite clear from the speech that Durkan was not promoting an end to power sharing. That has been a principle of the SDLP since it was established and it remains so!

What Durkan Did Say:

He did say that in the future society should aim to dissolve the current system of designation used by the Assembly. This is not really a surprise. The SDLP has always said that the system of designation was only a temporary step. In the absence of a strong Bill of Rights that would include protection for community identities, the SDLP insisted on the system of designation 10 years ago as it was required to protect the nationalist minority after so many years of Unionist majority rule in the old days of Stormont. Designation provided important re-assurance that the Assembly would be better.

The cross-community decision-making apparatus was important to secure overwhelming nationalist support for the Agreement in the 1998 referendum in the absence of a stronger means of guarding minority rights, such as a Bill of Rights.

So why review the system of designation?

The Agreement was specifically designed to be reviewed after several years of successful government. It’s worth noting that there was a review of designation in January 2002, which recognised that designation was still necessary but should be continually reviewed. All the parties involved agreed to review it again in the full Strand One Review, but this wasn’t possible because the Assembly kept getting suspended!

However, 10 years have now passed and a lot has changed. Politicians in N Ireland have grown up a little, so the cross-community protections put into the Assembly through the system of designation could in future be replaced by a strong Bill of Rights and a Protected Majority Voting System.

A Protected Majority Voting System would need to be carefully examined by all the parties (and this is not SDLP policy, it’s just an example!) but in my opinion it could include elements of the Qualified Majority Voting used the EU Council, where 65% of the vote must be achieved for legislation to pass.

The EU-style system is different from a simple majority voting system used in Dáil Éireann or the UK Parliament because it would require 65% vote to pass any legislation, therefore making it impossible for any legislation to pass without the support from both communities. It would allow us to leave behind the unionist vs. nationalist system we currently use.

The SDLP always wanted a better system of designation at the Assembly, but recognised that a typical left-right political spectrum instead of a nationalist vs. unionist arrangement might not be possible at first. The unionist vs. nationalist agreement was also required to ensure cross-community consensus on legislation, but not everyone fits into a nationalist or unionist category, and at some point in the future, when we’re ready, NI will leave behind this system that divides our communities.

Mark Durkan said: “At the time, the system of designation was necessary because of what we were coming from but should not be necessary where we were going. Such measures with their arguably sectarian or sectional undertones should be bio-degradable, dissolving in the future as the environment changed. Most, if not all of us, had such future adjustments in mind when we wrote the review mechanisms into the Agreement. As we move towards a fully sealed and settled process we should be preparing to think about how and when to remove some of the ugly scaffolding needed during the construction of the new edifice.”

We are building towards a New Ireland. The SDLP is exploring the opportunities of political re-alignment and are in discussions with southern parties, Unionists and interested parties. Meanwhile, the UUP are exploring relationships with the Conservatives. These should not be prevented by our current system of designation.

On political re-alignment, Mark Durkan said:
“The possibilities for political realignment with new or changing party offerings in the future could be stunted by permanent reliance to the present degree on designation. If we are serious about a truly shared future then we have to allow for truly shared politics where parties can – and have to – appeal across the traditional divides. The fault-line in our society will still be there but it should not determine the party political cleavage for future generations.”

Speech by Mark Durkan MP MLA SDLP Leader

British Irish Association Conference

New College, Oxford

5 September 2008

When I was recently asked to step into this breach, I was told that this session was to provide some retrospective thoughts 10 years on from the Good Friday Agreement and to speculate on possible future prospects.

Here are 10 Recollections and Reflections