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.

Avaaz.org

Please take a few moments to sign their wall.

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.

On Friday the Kids’ Life and Times Survey 2008 was released.

The results (pdf, 14mb) are discussed in the Belfast Telegraph which has a breakdown of what it all means:

Twenty-two percent of the children said they have been physically bullied at school, 39% have been bullied in other ways, 10% have experienced bullying by text message or on the internet and 51% think that children in their school get bullied.

More children said they had been bullied at school in the last two months by getting called names, getting left out of games, or having nasty stories spread about them on purpose than said they had been physically bullied at school — for example getting pushed around or threatened or having their belongings stolen.

The vast majority of children said their school had a set of rules on bullying (87%) and that they had talked about bullying in their class (88%).

As far as I’m aware, it’s the first time this survey has been carried out online, with 3,440 children at many schools across Northern Ireland completing the survey over the Internet. Previous surveys had to visit individual schools to run a survey so they couldn’t include that many young people.

In 2003 the Young Life and Times Survey (687 pupils surveyed and some were post-primary pupils) posed the question: “Do you think that pupils at your school get bullied?”. The 2003 survey indicated that 18% thought pupils got bullied ‘A lot’ but the 2008 survey shows only 5%. There’s still work to be done but such a change has to be positive.

On bullying, Mark Durkan has suggested what is needed is an “integrated, preventative and responsive strategy that brings together schools, communities and families to address the very serous and, sadly, growing problem of bullying“.

The survey also dares to ask what P7 pupils think of the 11+! Not surprisingly, 61% of those that got grade A wanted to keep the 11+, but 51% of those that got grade D wanted to get rid of it.

There’s no real consensus among children on whether it should stay or go. The results demonstrate that plans to replace the 11+ by the Education Minister Catríona Ruane are a mess, and it’s both parents and children who are confused about what is happening. Some children are scared they or their friends will fail the test; they don’t think it’s fair that 2 tests decide your future school, and some children wish to keep the transfer test because they aren’t aware of any proper proposed alternative.

Speech by Mark Durkan MP MLA SDLP Leader
‘The Impact of Civil Rights on Northern Ireland’
Civil Rights 1968 Commemoration Committee International Conference
Guildhall, Derry
Saturday 4 October 2008

(more…)

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.

The full agenda can be downloaded here.

If you wish to attend contact Tim Attwood at civilrights1968@yahoo.co.uk or Tel: 07802 279939

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

There are a series of YouTube videos on the US-Ireland Alliance Good Friday Agreement 10th Symposium. These are now 4 months old but I don’t think many people have seen them.

They include Mark Durkan on negotiations with Downing Street, Bertie Ahern on Articles II and III, and John Hume telling Gerry Adams he needs a shave!

SDLP Leader and Foyle MP Mark Durkan has signed a Parliamentary motion congratulating The Independent newspaper for launching its Fair Tips, Fair Pay campaign which aims to put an end to the situation in the hospitality industry where service charges, tips and gratuities are used to pay staff wages.

Mr Durkan said:

“I would like to congratulate The Independent newspaper for launching its Fair Tips, Fair Pay campaign which I will be supporting alongside other MPs and trade unions.

“The regulations under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 legally allows for service charges, tips and gratuities to be used to pay staff wages.

“Therefore, I will be calling on the government to introduce amendments to the appropriate statutes to ensure that all tips and gratuities are paid to staff in addition to (at least) the hourly minimum wage rate.”

SDLP Leader and Foyle MP Mark Durkan MLA has said the potentials and possibilities of realignment will be the catalyst for change in politics North and South in the 21st Century.

Making the keynote address at the SDLP Youth Conference Mr Durkan told delegates the party’s legacy of keepers of the ideals of civil rights, social democratic values and vision as constitutional republicans will be maintained in the changing political landscape.

He said: “The SDLP was first to recognise that with a settled political process would come both significant challenges and exciting opportunities. We also understand that, if we are to maximise its potential, the possibilities for political realignment in Ireland must involve every party and impact upon every person on this island, North and South. Pivotal as the SDLP is to the debate on realignment; leading that debate as we are; it is vital to appreciate that this debate is bigger and wider than just us or the future direction we will take. It is about the future shape of politics in Ireland in the first half of the 21st century.

“This party was born because our founders had the vision to imagine a new politics in a time of challenge. Now, again in a time of change, we need to show the courage, tenacity and vision to lead the way in unfolding a new political landscape. In ways that will ensure that the SDLP, the values we uphold and the vision we hold out will be at the heart of the democratic life of the nation going forward. And will also create the best conditions to allow all parties to work together in the best interests of the people of this country we love. Delivering that outcome is not just our desire as a political party; it is our duty as patriots.

“It is on that positive, confident and imaginative basis that the SDLP’s All-Ireland Working Group has been exploring the opportunities for new politics.

“The working group has held positive meetings with the main parties in the South – including just this week with Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour. Those exploratory discussions will continue and grow in the time ahead.

“Facilitated by our Deputy Leader, Alasdair McDonnell, the group is also engaging constructively in the North, including with the unionist community. “As we scope out new and wider terrain, it is crucial that we work to reassure people, as well as to persuade them of the potential of our approach.

“We do all this conscious of the great responsibility we have to the SDLP, all that we have been through and everything we have seen through. Because this party – and its members – have stood taller, walked further and reached higher for peace, stability and progress in this country than any other. We would not let anyone else away with misrepresenting that fact; as we discuss and debate our future role in Irish political life, we must not forget it ourselves. Put simply, the SDLP is not up for sale. Our work is not just to promote the prospect of a better Ireland, but to fulfil the promise of a better Ireland.

“So going forward – as we embrace change and explore opportunities in new circumstances – our mission must be to preserve our legacy as keepers of the ideals of civil rights; to protect our values as social democrats; to promote our vision as constitutional republicans; and to put this Social Democratic & Labour Party, all that we stand for, everything we believe in at the heart of the new Ireland.”

The UK Youth Parliament have commended Foyle MP Mark Durkan for slamming other MPs who have suggested that 16-year-olds ‘would not be mature enough or wise enough to vote’ during a Westminster debate on the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill which calls on the government to lower the voting age to sixteen.

Andy Hamflett, Chief Executive of the UK Youth Parliament said:

“The UK Youth Parliament welcomes Mark Durkan’s support for lowering the voting age to 16 in the reading of the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill debate at the House of Commons.

“His support during this debate sends a very strong message that politicians from all parties are ready to start taking young people seriously; that there is an urgent need to reconnect young people to democracy, and lowering the voting age is a crucial step towards engaging them and building their trust in politics.

“Many of the young people with whom we work tell us time and again that politicians don’t listen to them enough and that, with proper citizenship education providing them with the appropriate background information, they would love to be able to vote. Mark’s support is a clear indication that there are politicians who do reach out to young people and signifies that there is a very real chance of success for votes at 16.”

Mr Durkan said:

“I very much appreciate that the UK Youth Parliament has expressed their gratitude for my support in this matter.

“I fully support the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill which is calling on the government to develop the necessary framework for reducing the voting age to 16.

“It is important for the entire democratic process that young people are given such an opportunity to vote at a key formative time in their lives – when they are forming habits of a lifetime.

“Those arguing against votes for 16-year-olds are suggesting that they would not be mature enough or wise enough to vote, and that they would not have a sophisticated enough interest in politics – exactly the arguments that were used against votes for women.

“The time is right to reduce the voting age

“16 is the age at which many of our young people start to make real decisions about their lives, and many significant rights come into play.

“Indeed, 16 and 17-year olds can pay taxes, join Armies and get married, so denying them a vote is simply inconsistent.

“As MPs, it is our duty to encourage political engagement among our young people – especially as it is currently at an all time low.

“Lowering the voting age could play a huge role in helping our young people to feel more connected with political processes and is the next logical extension for citizenship education occurring in our schools.”