2011 Party Election Broadcast: Leading Change.
Campaign for elections to Northern Ireland Assembly 5/5/2011.
05 April 2011
01 April 2010
Obituary: Peter Copeland
Kieran McCarthy MLA, Charles Kennedy MP, and Peter Copeland, at Alliance Party election fundraiser, 5 November 2003, Culloden Hotel, Co. Down, Northern Ireland
Alliance News
January-March 2010
Peter Copeland (4 July 1939-17 January 2010)
Peter Copeland from Newtownards was born on 4 July 1939 and died suddenly on 17 January 2010 as a result of a severe stroke.
He attended Regent House School and went on to Queen's University, Belfast, where he studied economics. After graduating, he joined Hugh Smylie and Sons before he entered the family firm -- the Ulster Print Works. Following the change in ownership of the firm he found a new career in personnel management and was a lecturer in that subject at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher education until his retirement in 1999.
Peter had a quiet but engaging manner but this did not mask his capacity for making many lasting friendships nor his loyalty to his family, church, town or his ever present willingness to help others. These traits were amply demonstrated by his service in the eldership of First Presbyterian Church, Newtownards, and in the interest he took in his visitation duties and by his service as a past treasurer of the church.
In the wider community, Peter was currently vice-chair of the Newtownards Citizens Advice Bureau, the honorary treasurer of Ards Historical Society, and in the past honorary treasurer of the Institute of Personnel Management. He was a founder member of Newtownards Round Table and was an active member of the 41 Club. Peter was a staunch supporter of work in improving community relations and for many years gave much of his time and support to the work of the Alliance Party both locally in the Strangford constituency and at the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Peter was a very capable musician. A fine clarinet player, he regularly played with the Ards Choral and Orchestral Society and in recent years he enjoyed making music with the Playing for Pleasure Orchestra where he was a very popular member.
A keen sportsman, he was a fine squash player but particularly hone in the golfing world. He was an enthusiastic member of the Royal Belfast senior cup team and was proud to have been a member of the team which contested the final of the Irish Senior Cup at Killarney against Royal Dublin. He was honoured by the Royal Belfast Golf Club with the captaincy in 2007.
These few facts give little indication of Peter the person: as devoted family man, member of the church, musician, sportsman and one who sought to serve the community in so many ways.
Peter will be remembered by his family as a devoted husband to Margaret, proud father to David, dear father-in-law to Kate and loving grandfather to his grandson Edward. He will also be remembered by the wider community as a wonderful friend and colleague in so many areas of life. He is and will be sadly missed.
Obituary: Anne and Bill Barbour
Alliance News
January-March 2010
Bill Barbour (1920-2009), Anne Barbour (1926-2009)
Alliance members will have been saddened to learn of the deaths of Anne and Bill Barbour in such tragic circumstances late last year. For many years, Bill Barbour was the heart and soul of the Alliance Party in Fermanagh, having joined the party at the beginning, acting as Association Chair for many years as well as being an election agent and council candidate in his own right.
Bill Barbour was raised in Bangor to parents who he often said had one common interest -- spending money. Although the family had been reasonably wealthy on both sides, his mother's profligacy was such that the family lived in occasional bouts of splendour interspersed with long periods of penury.
Bill's ferocious intelligence earned him a scholarship to study Classics at Trinity College Dublin. After graduating with First Class Honours, he was recruited into code-breaking at Bletchley Park, but by 1944 felt that the code-breaking was largely over, and volunteered for regular military service, serving in Military Intelligence in Egypt. Bill met Anne when they were both working in code-breaking -- in making his first approach to her, apparently Bill bounded down flight after flight of stairs to intercept Anne at the door when she left work one day.
After a short spell teaching in England, Bill took up a post teaching Classics at Portora in 1951, and he and Anne were to spend the rest of their lives in Enniskillen.
Neither of them was short of physical courage; Bill spent three different periods of his life as a volunteer soldier, under two different governments: while a student in Dublin in 1940 as part of the Irish home guard when a German invasion threatened, again in Egypt in the latter years of the Second World War, and finally wangling his way as an overaged Private into the UDR in the early years of the troubles. One story of a Liberal Party campaign in Fermanagh in the 1960s recounts Anne remaining in the car while Bill canvassed, in order to prevent it being physically overturned by a gang of Loyalists.
Bill and Anne joined the Alliance Party almost immediately on its formation, and were stalwarts of the party in Fermanagh for almost 40 years, most recently when they allowed their house to be the office for the Enniskillen by-election in 2009. Bill regularly took a respectable vote in council elections in Enniskillen, but never quite enough to take a seat in Fermanagh's deeply polarised political environment. Bill also regularly acted as election agent for Alliance candidates in Westminster elections in Fermanagh & South Tyrone, most notable (that physical courage again) for Seamus Close in the by-election after Bobby Sands' death in 1981.
Bill and Anne were deeply involved in community life in Fermanagh. Anne spent many years as a marriage guidance counsellor and a prison visitor. Bill was involved in the Royal British Legion and the integrated education movement. Both gave long years of service to the Citizens Advice Bureau.
The presence at their memorial service of both Fermanagh's Sinn Fein MP and DUP Investment Minister showed the degree to which the Barbours were held in high regard across the community. Many lives were touched by Anne and Bill Barbour, and many will miss their human qualities -- Anne's honesty and kindness, Bill's wonderfully laid back sense of humour and sense of proportion.
January-March 2010
Bill Barbour (1920-2009), Anne Barbour (1926-2009)
Alliance members will have been saddened to learn of the deaths of Anne and Bill Barbour in such tragic circumstances late last year. For many years, Bill Barbour was the heart and soul of the Alliance Party in Fermanagh, having joined the party at the beginning, acting as Association Chair for many years as well as being an election agent and council candidate in his own right.
Bill Barbour was raised in Bangor to parents who he often said had one common interest -- spending money. Although the family had been reasonably wealthy on both sides, his mother's profligacy was such that the family lived in occasional bouts of splendour interspersed with long periods of penury.
Bill's ferocious intelligence earned him a scholarship to study Classics at Trinity College Dublin. After graduating with First Class Honours, he was recruited into code-breaking at Bletchley Park, but by 1944 felt that the code-breaking was largely over, and volunteered for regular military service, serving in Military Intelligence in Egypt. Bill met Anne when they were both working in code-breaking -- in making his first approach to her, apparently Bill bounded down flight after flight of stairs to intercept Anne at the door when she left work one day.
After a short spell teaching in England, Bill took up a post teaching Classics at Portora in 1951, and he and Anne were to spend the rest of their lives in Enniskillen.
Neither of them was short of physical courage; Bill spent three different periods of his life as a volunteer soldier, under two different governments: while a student in Dublin in 1940 as part of the Irish home guard when a German invasion threatened, again in Egypt in the latter years of the Second World War, and finally wangling his way as an overaged Private into the UDR in the early years of the troubles. One story of a Liberal Party campaign in Fermanagh in the 1960s recounts Anne remaining in the car while Bill canvassed, in order to prevent it being physically overturned by a gang of Loyalists.
Bill and Anne joined the Alliance Party almost immediately on its formation, and were stalwarts of the party in Fermanagh for almost 40 years, most recently when they allowed their house to be the office for the Enniskillen by-election in 2009. Bill regularly took a respectable vote in council elections in Enniskillen, but never quite enough to take a seat in Fermanagh's deeply polarised political environment. Bill also regularly acted as election agent for Alliance candidates in Westminster elections in Fermanagh & South Tyrone, most notable (that physical courage again) for Seamus Close in the by-election after Bobby Sands' death in 1981.
Bill and Anne were deeply involved in community life in Fermanagh. Anne spent many years as a marriage guidance counsellor and a prison visitor. Bill was involved in the Royal British Legion and the integrated education movement. Both gave long years of service to the Citizens Advice Bureau.
The presence at their memorial service of both Fermanagh's Sinn Fein MP and DUP Investment Minister showed the degree to which the Barbours were held in high regard across the community. Many lives were touched by Anne and Bill Barbour, and many will miss their human qualities -- Anne's honesty and kindness, Bill's wonderfully laid back sense of humour and sense of proportion.
05 November 2009
Homophobia is shameful blight on society: Long
Naomi Long MLA said: "Homophobia is a sickening and shameful blight on our society. For Northern Ireland to have a shared future we need to combat all forms of intolerance. Prejudice breeds prejudice and we won't be able to create a respectful and welcoming society if we don't tackle it in all its forms.
"The Rainbow Project have a strong and proud history and I want to wish all involved a happy 15th birthday. Holding an anti-homophobia week provides an extremely important platform from which we can address and battle prejudice.
"Everyone's the same irrespective of sexual orientation and no one should ever have to experience intimidation or discrimination. I want to hear all parties say this and prove that Northern Ireland is leaving prejudice in the past."
ENDS
01 September 2009
Climate change: Arguments for and no many against (Ian Butler)
The debate over global warming is over and every scientist, and even Sammy Wilson, accept that as a concrete reality. The debate about global warming being fought now in the arena of the cause of the temperature rises. The majority of scientists now agree that the greenhouse efect is a man made phenomenon, and that unless we attempt to reverse the effects, all of us including Sammy are in a lot of trouble.
According to the David Suzuki Foundation, which since 1990 has worked to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us, the scientific evidence is compelling: "To gain an understanding of the level of scientific consensus on climate change, a recent study examined every article on climate change published in peer reviewed scientific journals over a 10-year period. Of the 928 articles on climate change the authors found, not one of them disagreed with the consensus position that climate change is happening or is human-induced."
These findings contrast dramatically with the popular media's reporting of climate change. One recent study analysed coverage of climate change in four influential American newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal) over a 14-year period. It found that more than half of the articles discussing climate change gave equal weight to the scientifically discredited views of the sceptics.
This discrepancy is largely due to the media's drive for balance in reporting. Journalists are trained to identify one position on any issue, and then seek out a conflicting position, providing both sides with roughly equal attention. Unfortunately, the "balance" of the different views within the media does not always correspond with the actual prevalence of each view within society, and can result in unintended bias. This has been the case with reporting on climate change, and as a result, many people believe that climate change is still being debated by scientists when in fact it is not.
This is clearly not Sammy Wilson's view. On the Politics Show 9/2/2009, he claimed that 43% of climate change scientists agreed with his view. Where this study was published he did not say, and he again used that figure on Channel Four News later that day. I have looked for this report on the internet for weeks and cannot find it. However, most climate change sceptics will point to the most well know theory of non man made climate change is that of "solar forcing", and it appears through his two appearances on the TV that Sammy Wilson supports that view.
Of the climate change sceptics not funded by the oil lobby, the most reputable are Knud Lassen of the Danish Meteorological Institute in Copenhagen and his colleague Eigil Friis-Christensen. They did some research in 1991, and found a strong correlation between the length of the solar cycle and temperature changes throughout the northern hemisphere. Initially, the used sunspot and temperature measurements from 1861 to 1989, but later found that climate records dating back four centuries supported their finding. This relationship appeared to account for nearly 80% of the measured temperature changes over this period. Two other scientists, Damon and Laut from the US, however, showed that when the graphs are corrected for filtering errors, the sensational agreement with recent global warming which drew worldwide attention, has totally disappeared. Despite this, the well funded sceptic propaganda is still using this discredited data.
So the reality of the debate that is happening within the worldwide scientific community is that there are no credible theories to support the view that the increase in temperature change since 1980 is anything other than a man made phenomenon. Any attempt to do so is intellectually bogus and needs to be backed up by referral to scientific papers that informed that view (quite difficult as there are none which have not been systematically refuted).
For most people this lead on to a larger question. What would induce the Environment Minister to back a thoroughly discredited view? The answer lies in politics rather than science.
Politics for the Alliance Party is about telling the truth, and trying to persuade people to change. Politics for Sammy Wilson is about getting his name in the paper. The DUP gutlessly stood behind him when the Environment Committee and the Executive wanted to call him to account, hiding behind tribalism. That was a disgrace and it shows the failings in a non-accountable system.
However, I believe that we must keep this pressure on and continue to expose the fallacy of the arguments that climate change deniers continually spout. Not for political gain but so our future generations can look us in the eye without scorn or shame.
According to the David Suzuki Foundation, which since 1990 has worked to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us, the scientific evidence is compelling: "To gain an understanding of the level of scientific consensus on climate change, a recent study examined every article on climate change published in peer reviewed scientific journals over a 10-year period. Of the 928 articles on climate change the authors found, not one of them disagreed with the consensus position that climate change is happening or is human-induced."
These findings contrast dramatically with the popular media's reporting of climate change. One recent study analysed coverage of climate change in four influential American newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal) over a 14-year period. It found that more than half of the articles discussing climate change gave equal weight to the scientifically discredited views of the sceptics.
This discrepancy is largely due to the media's drive for balance in reporting. Journalists are trained to identify one position on any issue, and then seek out a conflicting position, providing both sides with roughly equal attention. Unfortunately, the "balance" of the different views within the media does not always correspond with the actual prevalence of each view within society, and can result in unintended bias. This has been the case with reporting on climate change, and as a result, many people believe that climate change is still being debated by scientists when in fact it is not.
This is clearly not Sammy Wilson's view. On the Politics Show 9/2/2009, he claimed that 43% of climate change scientists agreed with his view. Where this study was published he did not say, and he again used that figure on Channel Four News later that day. I have looked for this report on the internet for weeks and cannot find it. However, most climate change sceptics will point to the most well know theory of non man made climate change is that of "solar forcing", and it appears through his two appearances on the TV that Sammy Wilson supports that view.
Of the climate change sceptics not funded by the oil lobby, the most reputable are Knud Lassen of the Danish Meteorological Institute in Copenhagen and his colleague Eigil Friis-Christensen. They did some research in 1991, and found a strong correlation between the length of the solar cycle and temperature changes throughout the northern hemisphere. Initially, the used sunspot and temperature measurements from 1861 to 1989, but later found that climate records dating back four centuries supported their finding. This relationship appeared to account for nearly 80% of the measured temperature changes over this period. Two other scientists, Damon and Laut from the US, however, showed that when the graphs are corrected for filtering errors, the sensational agreement with recent global warming which drew worldwide attention, has totally disappeared. Despite this, the well funded sceptic propaganda is still using this discredited data.
So the reality of the debate that is happening within the worldwide scientific community is that there are no credible theories to support the view that the increase in temperature change since 1980 is anything other than a man made phenomenon. Any attempt to do so is intellectually bogus and needs to be backed up by referral to scientific papers that informed that view (quite difficult as there are none which have not been systematically refuted).
For most people this lead on to a larger question. What would induce the Environment Minister to back a thoroughly discredited view? The answer lies in politics rather than science.
Politics for the Alliance Party is about telling the truth, and trying to persuade people to change. Politics for Sammy Wilson is about getting his name in the paper. The DUP gutlessly stood behind him when the Environment Committee and the Executive wanted to call him to account, hiding behind tribalism. That was a disgrace and it shows the failings in a non-accountable system.
However, I believe that we must keep this pressure on and continue to expose the fallacy of the arguments that climate change deniers continually spout. Not for political gain but so our future generations can look us in the eye without scorn or shame.
Alliance first citizens in Belfast and North Down
Alliance first citizens in Belfast and North Down
Alliance News
September-October 2009
After a day of high drama at Belfast City Hall and low politics from some other parties, Naomi Long was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast and has hit the ground running as a high-profile Lord Mayor who gets things done. Naomi is the fourth Alliance Lord Mayor of the city, after David Cook, David Alderdice and Tom Ekin, and only the second woman to hold the post in 112 years!
Bangor West councillor Tony Hill was elected Mayor of North Down, thanks to the three-party power-sharing arrangement between Alliance, the UUP and DUP on the council. Following Stephen Farry, Tony is the second Alliance first citizen of North Down in this council term.
Alliance News
September-October 2009
After a day of high drama at Belfast City Hall and low politics from some other parties, Naomi Long was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast and has hit the ground running as a high-profile Lord Mayor who gets things done. Naomi is the fourth Alliance Lord Mayor of the city, after David Cook, David Alderdice and Tom Ekin, and only the second woman to hold the post in 112 years!
Bangor West councillor Tony Hill was elected Mayor of North Down, thanks to the three-party power-sharing arrangement between Alliance, the UUP and DUP on the council. Following Stephen Farry, Tony is the second Alliance first citizen of North Down in this council term.
The Alliance Party: How it began (Brian Eggins)
The Alliance Party: How it began
Brian Eggins (Alliance News)
September-October 2009
The Civil Rights Association (CRA) was formed in 1967, protesting about discrimination against Catholics. In November 1968, Prime Minister Terence O'Neill proposed reforms intended to meet their grievances. This led to dissension in the Stormont cabinet, with Bill Craig calling for tough action against the CRA, who themselves were not satisfied with O'Neill's package. On 9 December, O'Neill appealed to the people in his "Ulster at the crossroads" speech, in which he asked, "What kind of Ulster do you want?"
He called an election in February 1969, but ten unionist MPs were against him, so in April he resigned.
In January 1969, the New Ulster Movement emerged, which aimed to develop cross-community politics with moderate and non-sectarian policies involving both Catholics and Protestants. An active organisation was built with thousands of members drawn from all sections of the community. It issued many influential papers. But its more radical members wanted a new political party.
Denis Loretto recalled, "A sixteen-strong group was formed late in 1969, consisting of some NUM members plus representatives of the 'Parliamentary Associations', which had formed around pro-O'Neill candidates in the February 1969 election. Behind the scenes it worked on the logistics of forming a political party from the ground up."
Then on 16th April 1970, there were two by-elections. David Corkey backed by NUM obtained 25% of the votes in South Antrim. So, as Denis Loretto said, "In a hectic weekend we wrote a declaration of intent signed in 19th April by sixteen people, containing the founding principles of the party plus all the supporting documentation for a press launch on Tuesday, 21st April."
The first Alliance Party conference was held in 4th July 1970, attended by 90 committee members. An acting Executive Committee was formed, with Oliver Napier and Bob Cooper as joint political chairpersons. In October was the first Alliance Party Council. Further Party Conferences were held in the Ulster Hall, attended by about 2,000 people.
Alliance leaders were soon involved in talks with British Government Ministers. In October 1971, Basil Glass, Oliver Napier and Bob Cooper met with Home Secretary Reginald Maulding, and in January 1972, Glass, Napier and Cooper had talks with Prime Minister Edward Heath.
Early in 1972, Alliance acquired a parliamentary party when the Stormont MPs Phelim O'Neill (Unionist), Bertie McConnell (Independent Unionist), and Tom Gormley (Independent Nationalist) joined the party. In April 1972, seventeen Aldermen and Councillors announced that they would be sitting as Alliance Party members henceforth.
A conference was held at Darlington in September 1972, to examine the options for Northern Ireland government. The new Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to go, and only the Faulkner-led Official Unionists, Alliance, and the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) attended.
Phelim O'Neill (now Alliance Party Leader), Oliver Napier and Bob Cooper regularly met Secretary of State Willie Whitelaw for lunch. They convinced him that PR elections were needed. He pushed it through the cabinet against the advice of others. In November, a Green Paper was published which contained most of the ideas put forward at Darlington. The "Irish Dimension" was clearly going to be the most contentious issue.
In 1973, Stratton Mills, Westminster MP for North Belfast, joined the Alliance Party, but did not stand in the next election in 1974. Robin Baillie, Stormont MP for Newtownabbey, also joined.
A Government White Paper, "Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals", was published in March, which was supported by Alliance and the NILP, but the SDLP gave only qualified support. The UUP refused to reject it. The DUP and William Craig's new Vanguard Unionist Party were opposed. However, the proposals went ahead and two Bills were published in May.
Alliance was ready to contest its first elections. Expectations were high as 238 candidates stood in the Local Government elections in May and 35 candidates in the Assembly elections in June, both using the Single Transferable Vote system as proposed by Alliance. Alliance obtained 13.7% in the Local Government elections, winning 63 council seats. In the Assembly elections, the vote was 9.2%, yielding eight Assembly seats. This gave Oliver Napier a seat in the power-sharing Executive (as Minister for Law Reform), together with Bob Cooper (as Minister for Labour Relations).
A conference was then held at Sunningdale about the Irish Dimension. Although a Council of Ireland was agreed, different parties had different perceptions of it. The unionists considered it an advisory body, whereas the SDLP thought it was the route to a united Ireland. Oliver Napier asked, "Do you really want a Council of Ireland? The Council of Ireland hangs by a thread ... If you do nothing in the next few weeks, history will judge you and its judgment will be harsh and unforgiving."
Brian Eggins (Alliance News)
September-October 2009
The Civil Rights Association (CRA) was formed in 1967, protesting about discrimination against Catholics. In November 1968, Prime Minister Terence O'Neill proposed reforms intended to meet their grievances. This led to dissension in the Stormont cabinet, with Bill Craig calling for tough action against the CRA, who themselves were not satisfied with O'Neill's package. On 9 December, O'Neill appealed to the people in his "Ulster at the crossroads" speech, in which he asked, "What kind of Ulster do you want?"
He called an election in February 1969, but ten unionist MPs were against him, so in April he resigned.
In January 1969, the New Ulster Movement emerged, which aimed to develop cross-community politics with moderate and non-sectarian policies involving both Catholics and Protestants. An active organisation was built with thousands of members drawn from all sections of the community. It issued many influential papers. But its more radical members wanted a new political party.
Denis Loretto recalled, "A sixteen-strong group was formed late in 1969, consisting of some NUM members plus representatives of the 'Parliamentary Associations', which had formed around pro-O'Neill candidates in the February 1969 election. Behind the scenes it worked on the logistics of forming a political party from the ground up."
Then on 16th April 1970, there were two by-elections. David Corkey backed by NUM obtained 25% of the votes in South Antrim. So, as Denis Loretto said, "In a hectic weekend we wrote a declaration of intent signed in 19th April by sixteen people, containing the founding principles of the party plus all the supporting documentation for a press launch on Tuesday, 21st April."
The first Alliance Party conference was held in 4th July 1970, attended by 90 committee members. An acting Executive Committee was formed, with Oliver Napier and Bob Cooper as joint political chairpersons. In October was the first Alliance Party Council. Further Party Conferences were held in the Ulster Hall, attended by about 2,000 people.
Alliance leaders were soon involved in talks with British Government Ministers. In October 1971, Basil Glass, Oliver Napier and Bob Cooper met with Home Secretary Reginald Maulding, and in January 1972, Glass, Napier and Cooper had talks with Prime Minister Edward Heath.
Early in 1972, Alliance acquired a parliamentary party when the Stormont MPs Phelim O'Neill (Unionist), Bertie McConnell (Independent Unionist), and Tom Gormley (Independent Nationalist) joined the party. In April 1972, seventeen Aldermen and Councillors announced that they would be sitting as Alliance Party members henceforth.
A conference was held at Darlington in September 1972, to examine the options for Northern Ireland government. The new Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to go, and only the Faulkner-led Official Unionists, Alliance, and the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) attended.
Phelim O'Neill (now Alliance Party Leader), Oliver Napier and Bob Cooper regularly met Secretary of State Willie Whitelaw for lunch. They convinced him that PR elections were needed. He pushed it through the cabinet against the advice of others. In November, a Green Paper was published which contained most of the ideas put forward at Darlington. The "Irish Dimension" was clearly going to be the most contentious issue.
In 1973, Stratton Mills, Westminster MP for North Belfast, joined the Alliance Party, but did not stand in the next election in 1974. Robin Baillie, Stormont MP for Newtownabbey, also joined.
A Government White Paper, "Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals", was published in March, which was supported by Alliance and the NILP, but the SDLP gave only qualified support. The UUP refused to reject it. The DUP and William Craig's new Vanguard Unionist Party were opposed. However, the proposals went ahead and two Bills were published in May.
Alliance was ready to contest its first elections. Expectations were high as 238 candidates stood in the Local Government elections in May and 35 candidates in the Assembly elections in June, both using the Single Transferable Vote system as proposed by Alliance. Alliance obtained 13.7% in the Local Government elections, winning 63 council seats. In the Assembly elections, the vote was 9.2%, yielding eight Assembly seats. This gave Oliver Napier a seat in the power-sharing Executive (as Minister for Law Reform), together with Bob Cooper (as Minister for Labour Relations).
A conference was then held at Sunningdale about the Irish Dimension. Although a Council of Ireland was agreed, different parties had different perceptions of it. The unionists considered it an advisory body, whereas the SDLP thought it was the route to a united Ireland. Oliver Napier asked, "Do you really want a Council of Ireland? The Council of Ireland hangs by a thread ... If you do nothing in the next few weeks, history will judge you and its judgment will be harsh and unforgiving."
Unsung heroes: David Young
Unsung heroes: David Young
Ian Williamson (Alliance News)
September-October 2009
Those of you who have been in touch with the Alliance office at Parliament Buildings will no doubt have been greeted by the cheery tones of David Young, our Press and Policy Assistant. David combines an encyclopaedic knowledge of parliamentary procedure with an encyclopaedic knowledge of cinema! Alliance News caught up with him at Stormont.
Tell us about your background?
I am orginally from Portstewart where I went to Coleraine Inst., but I have been living in student digs in Belfast for the past five years. I went to Queens, where I studied history and politics for three years. Then four days after my graduation ceremony, David Ford rang me up to say that I got this job.
You did work experience with Alliance before you started working for the party. Tell us what made you get involved with the party?
I have always supported Alliance, but it is really two family connections that got me involved in the party. Stephen Farry married my aunt a couple of years ago, so you could say I am continuing the family business. He was the General Secretary for the party during the last Assembly election, so I just asked if he needed any help at headquarters, which he gladly said yes to. The other reason why I got involved in the party is that David Ford and his wife are old friends of my parents, so I have known him most of my life.
What type of work does your daily job entail?
I do pretty much everything and anything under the sun up at Stormont. My main press work entails me writing press releases, organising interviews for the media and arranging photo calls. I also do Stormont related policy work, such as research for MLAs for Assembly debates. I am also in charge of drafting questions to Ministers, as well as looking after Assembly plenary business, such as amendments to motions and legislation.
What has been the most stand out experience of your time working for Alliance?
It was probably last May, when the Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai visited Belfast to attend a Liberal International conference. We were only told the day before the conference that he was coming, so Ian Williamson and myself spent several frantic hours trying to get as many journalists as possible to attend. I heard him speak of the unrest that was happening in his country, which I had only previously seen on the news, so to hear it first hand was something else. I got to shake his hand, which I was very proud to do, and I have massive respect for him as someone who worked to bring peace to their country while their life was under threat.
Do you have any ambitions to become an elected representative?
At the minute I would have to say that I probably would not want to become a politician, but I am only 23 years old, so maybe in 10 or 15 years I might have a go.
I know you are into films -- what are your top ten all-time favourites?
I enjoy running with my housemates. I have to keep fit if I want to be able to chase after MLAs in Stormont! I also play rugby and cricket with my friends. And nothing beats a good book. As well as watching films, I do a lot of computer gaming on the X-Box 360 and Playstation.
Ian Williamson (Alliance News)
September-October 2009
Those of you who have been in touch with the Alliance office at Parliament Buildings will no doubt have been greeted by the cheery tones of David Young, our Press and Policy Assistant. David combines an encyclopaedic knowledge of parliamentary procedure with an encyclopaedic knowledge of cinema! Alliance News caught up with him at Stormont.
Tell us about your background?
I am orginally from Portstewart where I went to Coleraine Inst., but I have been living in student digs in Belfast for the past five years. I went to Queens, where I studied history and politics for three years. Then four days after my graduation ceremony, David Ford rang me up to say that I got this job.
You did work experience with Alliance before you started working for the party. Tell us what made you get involved with the party?
I have always supported Alliance, but it is really two family connections that got me involved in the party. Stephen Farry married my aunt a couple of years ago, so you could say I am continuing the family business. He was the General Secretary for the party during the last Assembly election, so I just asked if he needed any help at headquarters, which he gladly said yes to. The other reason why I got involved in the party is that David Ford and his wife are old friends of my parents, so I have known him most of my life.
What type of work does your daily job entail?
I do pretty much everything and anything under the sun up at Stormont. My main press work entails me writing press releases, organising interviews for the media and arranging photo calls. I also do Stormont related policy work, such as research for MLAs for Assembly debates. I am also in charge of drafting questions to Ministers, as well as looking after Assembly plenary business, such as amendments to motions and legislation.
What has been the most stand out experience of your time working for Alliance?
It was probably last May, when the Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai visited Belfast to attend a Liberal International conference. We were only told the day before the conference that he was coming, so Ian Williamson and myself spent several frantic hours trying to get as many journalists as possible to attend. I heard him speak of the unrest that was happening in his country, which I had only previously seen on the news, so to hear it first hand was something else. I got to shake his hand, which I was very proud to do, and I have massive respect for him as someone who worked to bring peace to their country while their life was under threat.
Do you have any ambitions to become an elected representative?
At the minute I would have to say that I probably would not want to become a politician, but I am only 23 years old, so maybe in 10 or 15 years I might have a go.
I know you are into films -- what are your top ten all-time favourites?
- The Dark Knight
- The Departed
- Batman Begins
- Capote
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
- Blades of Glory
- The Matrix
- Once Upon a Time in America
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Nochnoy Dozor
I enjoy running with my housemates. I have to keep fit if I want to be able to chase after MLAs in Stormont! I also play rugby and cricket with my friends. And nothing beats a good book. As well as watching films, I do a lot of computer gaming on the X-Box 360 and Playstation.
What would the Tories mean for Northern Ireland?
What would the Tories mean for Northern Ireland?
EDITORIAL (Alliance News)
September-October 2009
There are now probably only seven months to go before a General Election and the Tories are currently enjoying a comfortable poll lead. It is not certain that a Tory government will actually take power -- those who think that David Cameron has "closed the deal" with the British public would do well to remember that after Party Conference season in 1991, it seemed certain that Labour would win the following General Election. However, it is more likely than not that David Cameron will be the next Prime Minister of the UK, so it seems an opportune moment to review what a Conservative government might mean for Northern Ireland and for the UK as a whole.
The striking point about the contemporary Conservative Party is how light on policy it is. Cameron's own aides admit to how little substance is being produced by their own leader, sidestepping the questions raised by saying the upcoming election is about character rather than policy.
This lack of substance is disquieting in the middle of a serious economic crisis. One either liked or disliked Mrs Thatcher -- and Alliance News had a long record of disapproving of her policies -- but at least there were things she clearly believed in. Thatcher entered power with the aim of uprooting the postwar consensus in British politics -- and she succeeded in implementing that aim, albeit with more ups and downs than are usually remembered today. Cameron on the ohter hand seems to have no great political principle other than the idea that he and his colleagues from the Bullingdon Club have a divine right to rule.
That begs the question of how a Tory government under an ideologically disinterested leader might govern. A point insuficiently made is the degree to which the Conservative Parliamentary Party has shifted to the right over the past generation. Thatcher's agenda faced considerable opposition from within the Conservative Party. Although the Tories' shift to the right arguably began as early as 1968, even the Conservative Party of the 1990s contained many "big beasts" on the Tory left -- Patten, Clarke and Heseltine were all powerful figures within the party. Over the past three general elections, the "wets" have tended to retire and have been replaced by younger MPs from an identikit Thatcherite mould. Kenneth Clarke, the last of the wet grandees, is clearly head and shoulders above the callow George Osborne in ability, and should by rights be the current Shadow Chancellor, but is unacceptable to many Tory backbenchers.
To the degree that Cameron is a social liberal, this is largely a product of generational change -- British society is vastly more liberal on issues like race, marriage and sexual orientation than it was a generation ago, and the Tory party is no more immune from that change than any other social group. But on issues of economics, Europe, social justice, law and order and Middle East policy, the Conservatives have moved sharply to the right. And following the agenda set by that now unchallenged right-wing consensus will provide the path of least resistance for any future Cameron premiership.
As far as Northern Ireland goes, the clumsily named electoral pact between the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionist Party (rejoicing in the snappy title of "UCUNF -- Ulster's Conservatives and Unionists: New Force") has not exactly been shy in promoting itself as the saviour of Northern Ireland politics. Rhetoric is currently a long way short of reality.
There is an old Turkish folk saying: "If one sticks a silver saddle on a donkey, it is still a donkey." And the Ulster Unionist Party remains the Ulster Unionist Party, even after a generous helping of Tory money, Tory election expertise and advice from metrosexual Tory spin-doctors. The UUP and the Tories were organically linked from 1906 until 1972 -- this did not prevent the dreary, bigotry-laden, lost decades of Unionist misrule from Stormont nor did it prevent the outbreak of violence in the late 1960s.
If anything the UUP have tacked to the right, aiming to make hay from the DUP's internal difficulties, since they announced their shiny new pact with the Tories in February. Reg Empey has stated publicly that in his book, no nationalist need apply for the post of Justice Minister. David McNarry thinks that BBC NI showing an all-Ireland GAA semi-final involving Tyrone is part of a devious popish plot to bring about a united Ireland. In South Belfast, the UUP are so obsessed with getting rid of Alasdair McDonnell that their membership is seeking a pact with the DUP; one that might get them out of supporting the Catholic already selected to fight the seat for the Tories. New force? We've heard these tribal drumbeats many times in the past.
If the UUP are determined to go back into their tribal box, at one level that is no problem for the Alliance Party. Alliance has always done well when the UUP has veered off to the extremes, and always done well when it has retreated into navel-gazing fratricide. Currently, it seems intent on doing both at once. If the UUP weren't now organically linked to a Tory party potentially in power within the year, the antics of the UUP would be music to Alliance ears.
However, the Tory-UUP deal was predicated on the idea that 2007 marked the end of history for Northern Ireland, that there would be no further need of crisis interventions by British Secretaries of State. This year has shown much work still to be done to make this a normal democracy: the Sinn Féin-DUP coalition is still extremely fragile; Jim Allister's siren voice still calls from the wings as, tragically, do the guns and bombs of dissident Republicanism. It is possible, perhaps even likely, that a future Secretary of State will once again need to take an active, direct, role in the affairs of Northern Ireland, and may once again have to try and hold the ring between the political parties here. It is difficult to see how that can be done by a Secretary of State organically linked with a UUP intent on undermining the current political settlement for cheap kicks.
EDITORIAL (Alliance News)
September-October 2009
There are now probably only seven months to go before a General Election and the Tories are currently enjoying a comfortable poll lead. It is not certain that a Tory government will actually take power -- those who think that David Cameron has "closed the deal" with the British public would do well to remember that after Party Conference season in 1991, it seemed certain that Labour would win the following General Election. However, it is more likely than not that David Cameron will be the next Prime Minister of the UK, so it seems an opportune moment to review what a Conservative government might mean for Northern Ireland and for the UK as a whole.
The striking point about the contemporary Conservative Party is how light on policy it is. Cameron's own aides admit to how little substance is being produced by their own leader, sidestepping the questions raised by saying the upcoming election is about character rather than policy.
This lack of substance is disquieting in the middle of a serious economic crisis. One either liked or disliked Mrs Thatcher -- and Alliance News had a long record of disapproving of her policies -- but at least there were things she clearly believed in. Thatcher entered power with the aim of uprooting the postwar consensus in British politics -- and she succeeded in implementing that aim, albeit with more ups and downs than are usually remembered today. Cameron on the ohter hand seems to have no great political principle other than the idea that he and his colleagues from the Bullingdon Club have a divine right to rule.
That begs the question of how a Tory government under an ideologically disinterested leader might govern. A point insuficiently made is the degree to which the Conservative Parliamentary Party has shifted to the right over the past generation. Thatcher's agenda faced considerable opposition from within the Conservative Party. Although the Tories' shift to the right arguably began as early as 1968, even the Conservative Party of the 1990s contained many "big beasts" on the Tory left -- Patten, Clarke and Heseltine were all powerful figures within the party. Over the past three general elections, the "wets" have tended to retire and have been replaced by younger MPs from an identikit Thatcherite mould. Kenneth Clarke, the last of the wet grandees, is clearly head and shoulders above the callow George Osborne in ability, and should by rights be the current Shadow Chancellor, but is unacceptable to many Tory backbenchers.
To the degree that Cameron is a social liberal, this is largely a product of generational change -- British society is vastly more liberal on issues like race, marriage and sexual orientation than it was a generation ago, and the Tory party is no more immune from that change than any other social group. But on issues of economics, Europe, social justice, law and order and Middle East policy, the Conservatives have moved sharply to the right. And following the agenda set by that now unchallenged right-wing consensus will provide the path of least resistance for any future Cameron premiership.
As far as Northern Ireland goes, the clumsily named electoral pact between the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionist Party (rejoicing in the snappy title of "UCUNF -- Ulster's Conservatives and Unionists: New Force") has not exactly been shy in promoting itself as the saviour of Northern Ireland politics. Rhetoric is currently a long way short of reality.
There is an old Turkish folk saying: "If one sticks a silver saddle on a donkey, it is still a donkey." And the Ulster Unionist Party remains the Ulster Unionist Party, even after a generous helping of Tory money, Tory election expertise and advice from metrosexual Tory spin-doctors. The UUP and the Tories were organically linked from 1906 until 1972 -- this did not prevent the dreary, bigotry-laden, lost decades of Unionist misrule from Stormont nor did it prevent the outbreak of violence in the late 1960s.
If anything the UUP have tacked to the right, aiming to make hay from the DUP's internal difficulties, since they announced their shiny new pact with the Tories in February. Reg Empey has stated publicly that in his book, no nationalist need apply for the post of Justice Minister. David McNarry thinks that BBC NI showing an all-Ireland GAA semi-final involving Tyrone is part of a devious popish plot to bring about a united Ireland. In South Belfast, the UUP are so obsessed with getting rid of Alasdair McDonnell that their membership is seeking a pact with the DUP; one that might get them out of supporting the Catholic already selected to fight the seat for the Tories. New force? We've heard these tribal drumbeats many times in the past.
If the UUP are determined to go back into their tribal box, at one level that is no problem for the Alliance Party. Alliance has always done well when the UUP has veered off to the extremes, and always done well when it has retreated into navel-gazing fratricide. Currently, it seems intent on doing both at once. If the UUP weren't now organically linked to a Tory party potentially in power within the year, the antics of the UUP would be music to Alliance ears.
However, the Tory-UUP deal was predicated on the idea that 2007 marked the end of history for Northern Ireland, that there would be no further need of crisis interventions by British Secretaries of State. This year has shown much work still to be done to make this a normal democracy: the Sinn Féin-DUP coalition is still extremely fragile; Jim Allister's siren voice still calls from the wings as, tragically, do the guns and bombs of dissident Republicanism. It is possible, perhaps even likely, that a future Secretary of State will once again need to take an active, direct, role in the affairs of Northern Ireland, and may once again have to try and hold the ring between the political parties here. It is difficult to see how that can be done by a Secretary of State organically linked with a UUP intent on undermining the current political settlement for cheap kicks.
07 January 2004
Alliance welcomes NIO move on ASBOs
Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Stephen Farry, has welcomed the announcement by NIO Criminal Justice Minister John Spellar of draft proposals for the creation of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders in Northern Ireland.
Dr Farry stated:
“The introduction of these measures was a significant plank in our recent Assembly Manifesto.
“There is a groundswell of support among the police, district Councils and some public sector agencies for the introduction of these orders into Northern Ireland.
“Most elected representatives are inundated with complaints from residents, particularly the elderly and other vulnerable people, about persistent anti-social behaviour. Problems can include: youths hanging around and being loutish, vandalism and criminal damage, drunken behaviour and underage drinking, harassment of residents or passers-by. At times, it is not each individual incident that causes the problem, but the rapid accumulation of a number of similar incidents.
“In Northern Ireland, when the police and courts do not have the powers to tackle these problems, paramilitaries often try to exploit the resultant vacuum.
“Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been used to some effect in Great Britain since 1999. Home Office research published in 2002 found that the orders had delivered real improvements in the quality of life in numerous communities.”
Dr Farry stated:
“The introduction of these measures was a significant plank in our recent Assembly Manifesto.
“There is a groundswell of support among the police, district Councils and some public sector agencies for the introduction of these orders into Northern Ireland.
“Most elected representatives are inundated with complaints from residents, particularly the elderly and other vulnerable people, about persistent anti-social behaviour. Problems can include: youths hanging around and being loutish, vandalism and criminal damage, drunken behaviour and underage drinking, harassment of residents or passers-by. At times, it is not each individual incident that causes the problem, but the rapid accumulation of a number of similar incidents.
“In Northern Ireland, when the police and courts do not have the powers to tackle these problems, paramilitaries often try to exploit the resultant vacuum.
“Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been used to some effect in Great Britain since 1999. Home Office research published in 2002 found that the orders had delivered real improvements in the quality of life in numerous communities.”
28 January 2003
Just whom does Trimble speak for? Bell
Questioning David Trimble’s right to exclude a large majority of the electorate from current negotiations, Eileen Bell, Alliance Deputy Leader, said:
“When one thinks about it, Trimble wants to restrict what he sees as the only meaningful talks to the two governments (neither of which has any mandate from the people here ), Sinn Fein and his own party. Between them they received less than 39% of the total vote in the last Assembly election so exactly whom are they speaking for?
“The situation is even worse than the percentages represent. The UUP received 21.28% of the vote, but has since expelled one assembly member and suspended another!
“The talks this week at Stormont would represent over 69% of the electorate if the UUP were to join the other pro-agreement parties who are already attending! Surely, on that basis alone, the UUP are under an obligation to attend if, as they claim, they really want the agreement to work!
“They are also an obligation, I would suggest, to discuss other very important issues, such as Equality, Victims and Human Rights, even though they don’t think they really matter!
“I would remind Mr. Trimble that he was only First Minister because of the temporary support of myself and two other members of my party, yet we don’t warrant a place at the big table!”
“When one thinks about it, Trimble wants to restrict what he sees as the only meaningful talks to the two governments (neither of which has any mandate from the people here ), Sinn Fein and his own party. Between them they received less than 39% of the total vote in the last Assembly election so exactly whom are they speaking for?
“The situation is even worse than the percentages represent. The UUP received 21.28% of the vote, but has since expelled one assembly member and suspended another!
“The talks this week at Stormont would represent over 69% of the electorate if the UUP were to join the other pro-agreement parties who are already attending! Surely, on that basis alone, the UUP are under an obligation to attend if, as they claim, they really want the agreement to work!
“They are also an obligation, I would suggest, to discuss other very important issues, such as Equality, Victims and Human Rights, even though they don’t think they really matter!
“I would remind Mr. Trimble that he was only First Minister because of the temporary support of myself and two other members of my party, yet we don’t warrant a place at the big table!”
15 January 2003
Community relations problems must be addressed, not buried! Bell
The Alliance Party has launched a new policy paper on Community Relations entitled Building a United Community.
Alliance Deputy Leader Eileen Bell said: “The healing of our communal divisions must be the greatest priority for our political institutions.
“Sectarianism and segregation remain major scars on Northern Ireland, and have even intensified in recent years. They are responsible for tremendous human, social and economic costs to our society. Indeed, continued divisions pose a constant threat to peace and stability, and ultimately to the durability of the Agreement.
“Three times Alliance has voted against the Programme for Government because it failed completely to address the question of community relations. Equally unacceptably the Executive failed to produce the Harbinson Report because its recommendations did not agree with their thinking! The First/Deputy First Ministers’ record in the area of community relations is not poor, it is non-existent!
“Any proper community relations strategy must be extensive and radical. It must go to the very core of how we live, work and play as a society. This paper addresses all aspects of the problem. It must be seriously considered, even by those trying to bury the whole issue permanently.”
Alliance Deputy Leader Eileen Bell said: “The healing of our communal divisions must be the greatest priority for our political institutions.
“Sectarianism and segregation remain major scars on Northern Ireland, and have even intensified in recent years. They are responsible for tremendous human, social and economic costs to our society. Indeed, continued divisions pose a constant threat to peace and stability, and ultimately to the durability of the Agreement.
“Three times Alliance has voted against the Programme for Government because it failed completely to address the question of community relations. Equally unacceptably the Executive failed to produce the Harbinson Report because its recommendations did not agree with their thinking! The First/Deputy First Ministers’ record in the area of community relations is not poor, it is non-existent!
“Any proper community relations strategy must be extensive and radical. It must go to the very core of how we live, work and play as a society. This paper addresses all aspects of the problem. It must be seriously considered, even by those trying to bury the whole issue permanently.”
10 January 2003
Unionists must not be allowed to carry education back to the dark ages: Bell
Commenting on the UUP’s intention to debate the 11+ and other Educational matters at Westminster next week, Eileen Bell, Alliance Deputy Leader and member of the Assembly Education Committee, said that she was concerned that the UUP were attempting to bring back the widely discredited 11+ to Northern Ireland.
“While the outgoing Education Minister, Martin McGuinness, was totally irresponsible in starting the removal of the 11+ without first introducing an alternative form of transfer procedure, that does NOT justify trying to reinstate the status quo.
“The current NIO Education Minister, Jane Kennedy, was quite right in reminding Roy Beggs MP that the province suffers from a sizeable number of pupils leaving school with few or no qualifications at all, and these children must be catered for every bit as much as the high number leaving with excellent results!
“It would be unfortunate if the Unionists were to use the suspension of the Assembly as a means to try, once again, to reinforce the 11+, a move which can only be justified by a total concentration on its benefits for those pupils on the grammar school track!”
“While the outgoing Education Minister, Martin McGuinness, was totally irresponsible in starting the removal of the 11+ without first introducing an alternative form of transfer procedure, that does NOT justify trying to reinstate the status quo.
“The current NIO Education Minister, Jane Kennedy, was quite right in reminding Roy Beggs MP that the province suffers from a sizeable number of pupils leaving school with few or no qualifications at all, and these children must be catered for every bit as much as the high number leaving with excellent results!
“It would be unfortunate if the Unionists were to use the suspension of the Assembly as a means to try, once again, to reinforce the 11+, a move which can only be justified by a total concentration on its benefits for those pupils on the grammar school track!”
08 January 2003
Alliance launches community relations policy paper
The Alliance Party have launched a new policy paper on Community Relations, entitled Building a United Community.
Speaking at its launch, Party Leader, David Ford said:
“The healing of our communal divisions must be the greatest priority for our political institutions.
“Sectarianism and segregation remain major scars on Northern Ireland, and have even intensified in recent years. They are responsible for tremendous human, social and economic costs to our society. Indeed, continued divisions pose a constant threat to peace and stability and ultimately to the durability of the Agreement.
“Alliance has voted against three successive Programmes for Government due to the former Executive’s failure to adequately address community relations issues. Furthermore, it has stalled over the production of a draft community relations strategy – the Harbinson Report. Their record is particular damning when contrasted with the performance of the Scottish Executive whose problems are less acute.
“Any proper community relations strategy must be extensive and must be radical. There is no point tinkering around the edges; it must challenge how we live, work and play as a community.
“Sectarianism is not something restricted to a few interface areas in and around Belfast, but is deeply ingrained throughout society. People are taught to see themselves as part of an exclusive community and to be suspicious of others from an early age.
“It is not enough to merely encourage people to respect and tolerate each other, we must work to change mindsets that pigeon-hole others as being different.
“Ultimately, we must tackle the institutionalised sectarianism that comes from the top down. Both within the Agreement, and in other areas of Government policy – most notably the recent census – there is a formal assumption that society is divided into two separate communities.
“This approach is sectarian in that it rides roughshod over people’s freedom to choose their own identity, and ignores the evidence of a growing number of people do not want to be associated with either a Unionist or a Nationalist community.
“When people are being conditioned to think of themselves in such group terms, is it little wonder that this translates into conflict over territory, resources and culture, and that so many police resources are eaten up in dealing with street violence and interfaces.
“Accordingly, the central theme to our paper is building a united community. Alliance wants to provide everyone, unionists and nationalists included, with an invitation to join in something different, something better – a genuinely shared, non-sectarian Northern Ireland.
“We will stress that people be able to hold open, mixed and multiple identities, and will promote the notion of Northern Ireland as a distinct region – our reference point.
“Public agencies, such as the Housing Executive, should have an explicit objective of promoting integration. All policies should be screened for their impact on sharing over separation. This should be scrutinised by an Integration Monitor. This person would also have a role in seeking to quantify the social and economic costs of providing separate facilities.
“Alliance will seek to increase the resources available to the Community Relations Council allowing it to increase its work.
“Alliance wants to see 10% of our children in integrated schools by 2010. We need to be creative about we do this, and there should be a presumption that all new-build schools should be integrated.
“The promotion of mixed housing must lie at the heart of any new strategy. Fundamentally, it is a law and order problem. People in mixed areas must have appropriate security. At present when someone is intimidated in their home, the response of the authorities is to move the victim rather than punish the offender.
“The scourge of paramilitary flags and graffiti that is present in so many parts of Northern Ireland must be addressed. Not only should the police intervene when the law is being broken, but the Housing Executive and Roads Service should remove the offending symbols from their property. Alliance has proposed an inter-agency working group within the Executive to co-ordinate these efforts.
“Finally, Alliance is highlighting the need to reform Fair Employment monitoring regulations to reflect the reality that people define themselves in many ways other than members of a Protestant Community or a Catholic Community.”
ENDS
Summary of Alliance Proposals
Speaking at its launch, Party Leader, David Ford said:
“The healing of our communal divisions must be the greatest priority for our political institutions.
“Sectarianism and segregation remain major scars on Northern Ireland, and have even intensified in recent years. They are responsible for tremendous human, social and economic costs to our society. Indeed, continued divisions pose a constant threat to peace and stability and ultimately to the durability of the Agreement.
“Alliance has voted against three successive Programmes for Government due to the former Executive’s failure to adequately address community relations issues. Furthermore, it has stalled over the production of a draft community relations strategy – the Harbinson Report. Their record is particular damning when contrasted with the performance of the Scottish Executive whose problems are less acute.
“Any proper community relations strategy must be extensive and must be radical. There is no point tinkering around the edges; it must challenge how we live, work and play as a community.
“Sectarianism is not something restricted to a few interface areas in and around Belfast, but is deeply ingrained throughout society. People are taught to see themselves as part of an exclusive community and to be suspicious of others from an early age.
“It is not enough to merely encourage people to respect and tolerate each other, we must work to change mindsets that pigeon-hole others as being different.
“Ultimately, we must tackle the institutionalised sectarianism that comes from the top down. Both within the Agreement, and in other areas of Government policy – most notably the recent census – there is a formal assumption that society is divided into two separate communities.
“This approach is sectarian in that it rides roughshod over people’s freedom to choose their own identity, and ignores the evidence of a growing number of people do not want to be associated with either a Unionist or a Nationalist community.
“When people are being conditioned to think of themselves in such group terms, is it little wonder that this translates into conflict over territory, resources and culture, and that so many police resources are eaten up in dealing with street violence and interfaces.
“Accordingly, the central theme to our paper is building a united community. Alliance wants to provide everyone, unionists and nationalists included, with an invitation to join in something different, something better – a genuinely shared, non-sectarian Northern Ireland.
“We will stress that people be able to hold open, mixed and multiple identities, and will promote the notion of Northern Ireland as a distinct region – our reference point.
“Public agencies, such as the Housing Executive, should have an explicit objective of promoting integration. All policies should be screened for their impact on sharing over separation. This should be scrutinised by an Integration Monitor. This person would also have a role in seeking to quantify the social and economic costs of providing separate facilities.
“Alliance will seek to increase the resources available to the Community Relations Council allowing it to increase its work.
“Alliance wants to see 10% of our children in integrated schools by 2010. We need to be creative about we do this, and there should be a presumption that all new-build schools should be integrated.
“The promotion of mixed housing must lie at the heart of any new strategy. Fundamentally, it is a law and order problem. People in mixed areas must have appropriate security. At present when someone is intimidated in their home, the response of the authorities is to move the victim rather than punish the offender.
“The scourge of paramilitary flags and graffiti that is present in so many parts of Northern Ireland must be addressed. Not only should the police intervene when the law is being broken, but the Housing Executive and Roads Service should remove the offending symbols from their property. Alliance has proposed an inter-agency working group within the Executive to co-ordinate these efforts.
“Finally, Alliance is highlighting the need to reform Fair Employment monitoring regulations to reflect the reality that people define themselves in many ways other than members of a Protestant Community or a Catholic Community.”
ENDS
Summary of Alliance Proposals
- Alliance is working for an open and free society, where we are all equal citizens - not a society where we merely tolerate difference, but rather a society where we celebrate diversity and cherish individuality. Only Alliance rejects the notion that we must all be pigeonholed into ‘two communities’, and respects personal choice of identity. Alliance offers everyone, including unionists and nationalists, an invitation to something different, something better than sectional politics - a genuinely shared and non-sectarian future. Alliance wants to build a united community, characterised not by communal separation but by sharing. For Alliance, the Agreement is not the ceiling of our ambition; it is the floor upon which we can build a shared society.
- Alliance believes that government, statutory agencies and indeed civic society should actively encourage de-segregation and communal integration, and develop the appropriate policies.
- Alliance will promote citizenship and a culture of lawfulness education in schools.
- Alliance stresses that people should be able to hold open, mixed and multiple identities, and can have loyalties to a range of political structures at different levels.
- Alliance believes that Northern Ireland should be promoted as a distinct region within a decentralising British Isles and emerging Europe of the Regions.
- Alliance proposes that new symbols be devised to give expression to Northern Ireland as a region, including a new flag. Greater use should also be made of the European Flag.
- Alliance restates its support for the work of the Community Relations Council, and would significantly increase the budget granted to it to expand its support for projects.
- Alliance believes that community investment funds should be increasingly concentrated on projects with a cross-community element.
- Alliance proposes that the OFMDFM appoint an integration monitor.
- Alliance proposes that the integration monitor be charged with producing an audit of the costs of segregation on an annual basis.
- Alliance proposes that a new form of policy proofing, entitled Policy Appraisal for Sharing over Separation (PASS) be introduced for all government policies.
- Alliance has set a target of 10% of children being educated in integrated schools by 2010.
- The duty on the DENI to encourage, not merely to facilitate, the development of integrated education should be extended to Education and Library Boards.
- Where new schools are being, for example to service new housing developments, the Department should survey local residents regarding a presumption that they will be integrated or inter-church. As far as possible, new schools should be sited to service mixed catchment areas.
- Alliance will encourage the transformation of existing schools to ‘transformed’ integrated status.
- Alliance will reform and relax the criteria for the creation and maintenance of integrated schools, giving recognition of those children of mixed, other or no religious background.
- Alliance believes that the promotion and maintenance of mixed housing should become an explicit objective of the NI Housing Executive. Alliance advocates the creation of an Inter-Departmental Working Group to facilitate an inter-agency approach to these problems. Alliance urges the police to adopt a more pro-active policy of intervening when paramilitary flags and other emblems are being erected.
- Alliance further highlights the need for public bodies to defend existing and to further develop common civic spaces, especially in town centres. Best practice should also be developed regarding design of the urban environment to maximise cross-community mixing.
- Alliance stresses the full enforcement of the existing law and the revision of the criminal law where appropriate.
- Any community safety strategies must address community relations issues. In particular, the forces of law and order should support those trying to move from the perceived safety of segregated areas or facilities towards mixed ones, and to assist those trying to protect existing mixed areas and facilities from threat.
- Alliance does not believe that the building of ‘peace walls’ to keep people apart provides a meaningful solution to interface tensions.
- Alliance has called for the immediate extension of the racially-motivated offences contained within the Crime and Disorder Act to Northern Ireland. Alliance will support the creation of homophobic Hate Crime measures on a UK-wide basis. Alliance also advocates the creation of sectarian Hate Crime measures on a UK-wide basis.
- Alliance proposes that the Football Offences Act (1991) and other relevant legislation that are applied in Great Britain to deal with racist chanting at football grounds be extended to Northern Ireland to deal with both sectarian and racist chanting at local sporting grounds.
- Alliance believes that a forum should be established to allow victims (self-defined) to tell their stories, and have them placed on an official record.
- Alliance supports the creation of a Single Equality Act, to combat discrimination or other forms of unfair treatment based on religion, gender, perceived race, disability and sexual preference.
- Alliance proposes that fair employment monitoring regulations be amended to allow people to identify themselves as ‘Protestant’, ‘Catholic’, ‘Other Religion’ or ‘No Religion’.
- Alliance also proposes that the list of organisations exempted from fair employment Regulations be amended. In particular, the ability of schools to hire teachers exclusively from one or other community background should be removed.
- Alliance believes in the separation of church and state, which in the context includes the separation of religion from party politics. It sends a profoundly wrong message in our community for the monarchical succession to proceed on the basis of inequality of gender and equality of religion/denomination.
- As a longstanding supporter of human rights, Alliance would like Northern Ireland to have the best set of human rights protections possible, which could in turn be a model for parts of these islands and of Europe. Alliance supports the efforts of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to draft a Bill of Rights, as required under the Agreement. Alliance believes that the NIHRC should look to incorporate established international conventions, and properly reflect pluralism and diversity within its work.
- Alliance recommends that the NI Human Rights Commission draw up a Charter of Freedom from Sectarianism.
- Alliance strongly advocates a system that uses a straightforward weighted majority, free from designations, as the voting system for key decisions in the Assembly.
14 August 2002
Alliance calls for student funding review
Alliance calls for student funding review
14 August 2002
On the eve of this years A-level results Alliance Youth Affairs Spokesperson Michael Long has called on the Minister for Education and Learning Carmel Hanna to look again at the issue of student finance and scrap tuition fees.
The call was made in a week through in which changes in England will result in Northern Ireland students facing amongst the worst levels of financial support in these islands. At the same time a NatWest Survey has revealed that half of those who have not pursued a University career did not do so because of fears of acquiring huge financial debt.
Councillor Long said:
“At a time when potential students are considering their options its clear that local students deserve a better deal. This week even the SDLP’s Education Spokesperson, Tommy Gallagher has called for tuition fees to be scrapped, and described existing provision as not being realistic. Surely it is now up to his party colleague Carmel Hanna to act and Alliance is calling for tuition fees to be scrapped immediately.
“The NatWest survey again underlines the fact that fear of acquiring debts is deterring potential students. Alliance firmly believes that a fairer deal for students is the only way to attract more people from disadvantaged groups and low income backgrounds.
“It is time that Carmel Hanna went back to the drawing board as her current policy would definitely not achieve pass grades from local students.”
ENDS
14 August 2002
On the eve of this years A-level results Alliance Youth Affairs Spokesperson Michael Long has called on the Minister for Education and Learning Carmel Hanna to look again at the issue of student finance and scrap tuition fees.
The call was made in a week through in which changes in England will result in Northern Ireland students facing amongst the worst levels of financial support in these islands. At the same time a NatWest Survey has revealed that half of those who have not pursued a University career did not do so because of fears of acquiring huge financial debt.
Councillor Long said:
“At a time when potential students are considering their options its clear that local students deserve a better deal. This week even the SDLP’s Education Spokesperson, Tommy Gallagher has called for tuition fees to be scrapped, and described existing provision as not being realistic. Surely it is now up to his party colleague Carmel Hanna to act and Alliance is calling for tuition fees to be scrapped immediately.
“The NatWest survey again underlines the fact that fear of acquiring debts is deterring potential students. Alliance firmly believes that a fairer deal for students is the only way to attract more people from disadvantaged groups and low income backgrounds.
“It is time that Carmel Hanna went back to the drawing board as her current policy would definitely not achieve pass grades from local students.”
ENDS
28 March 2002
The case for meaningful devolution
The case for meaningful devolution
Seamus Close
28 March 2002
With a Talks Agreement now within sight despite all the hurdles, there is every chance that devolved government will return to Northern Ireland within the near future.
This will carry enormous implications for how this region is governed. Alliance firmly believes that the new Assembly must have meaningful legislative powers, including the ability to vary tax, in addition to the necessary administrative powers.
Alliance believes that decisions should be taken as close to the people affected as possible. Democratically accountable local politicians can be much more sensitive to the needs of a region than a distant national government.
We have had devolution before in Northern Ireland. Stormont failed, not because devolution was in itself wrong, but because only one section of our community had access to power and responsibility. Any new Assembly will have power-sharing at its core.
Our choice
The essential choice we face in Northern Ireland is between on the one hand only administrative powers or on the other hand full legislative powers.
Under the first, the new Assembly would do little more than implement more sensitively decisions that have been taken elsewhere. Our Assembly would be little more than a glorified District Council.
In the latter, we would be able to directly influence the future of their region. Certain responsibilities would remain with Westminster. However, areas such as Health, Education, Agriculture, Economic Development, the Environment, Finance and Personnel, and possibly policing would be responsibilities of the Assembly. Our politicians would not only take administrative decisions, but have the power to pass legislation that better reflects the wishes of the local population.
The past
It is worth recalling what the current system of Direct Rule entails. Whenever Stormont was abolished, Northern Ireland did not revert back to being ruled like any other part of the United Kingdom.
Instead, decisions are taken by unaccountable government ministers. Legislation is passed through "Orders in Council" rather than normal parliamentary procedures. In a sense, there always has been the presumption that devolved powers would be restored to Northern Ireland.
Under 'direct rule', the British Government has done many good things for Northern Ireland. They have implemented many reforms necessary to take account of a divided society and have continued to seek a political agreement.
But by their very nature, the Government takes an overall national perspective to their decisions. This does not always work to our advantage in Northern Ireland.
The nation-state is losing some of its dominance within a globalising world. National governments can no longer can provide the answers to all of society’s problems. Certain functions are increasingly exercised at the European or international level. At the same time, many other powers are increasingly being devolved down to regional governments.
Regional competition
With regional government becoming the norm in both UK and the rest of Europe, Northern Ireland is going to be in competition with other regions, particularly both Scotland and Wales.
The forthcoming political agreement will address new North-South arrangements. Already the Republic of Ireland has considerable advantages over Northern Ireland. For example, it is able to offer incentives to investors based on tax rates and stability, while Northern Ireland can only compete on the less efficient basis of subsidies.
Relations with the South will include both co-operation but will also feature areas of intense competition. There is a danger that there could be a very uneven relationship between a region on the one hand and an independent state (albeit within the European Union) on the other.
Thus the stronger the powers given to any Northern Ireland Assembly, the more balanced and workable this new relationship will be.
Tax-varying powers
The case for meaningful powers is therefore very strong. However, legislative powers are greatly enhanced with the ability to vary tax. The canny Scots have already voted for these powers to go with their strong version of devolution.
No one is suggesting that Northern Ireland should be left to its support itself. It will still be dependent upon a subvention from the UK Exchequer, just like Scotland, Wales and parts of England. The Government has a duty to ensure parity throughout the UK in areas such as social security benefits.
The ability to vary taxes will allow the preferences of people at a regional level to be more fully respected, they could concentrate resources on the services that are the bigger priorities for them. Do we want to have a superior education system in Northern Ireland? If so are we prepared to consider raising the necessary additional finance? Tax-varying powers gives us this option; it would be up to us to decide whether to use it. Both politicians and people will have a better appreciation of the costs of services, and the difficult decisions involved in allocating scarce resources.
Devolution is not going to be a panacea for every problem in Northern Ireland. But it will allow local people to take on more responsibility for shaping their future.
Seamus Close is Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party.
Seamus Close
28 March 2002
With a Talks Agreement now within sight despite all the hurdles, there is every chance that devolved government will return to Northern Ireland within the near future.
This will carry enormous implications for how this region is governed. Alliance firmly believes that the new Assembly must have meaningful legislative powers, including the ability to vary tax, in addition to the necessary administrative powers.
Alliance believes that decisions should be taken as close to the people affected as possible. Democratically accountable local politicians can be much more sensitive to the needs of a region than a distant national government.
We have had devolution before in Northern Ireland. Stormont failed, not because devolution was in itself wrong, but because only one section of our community had access to power and responsibility. Any new Assembly will have power-sharing at its core.
Our choice
The essential choice we face in Northern Ireland is between on the one hand only administrative powers or on the other hand full legislative powers.
Under the first, the new Assembly would do little more than implement more sensitively decisions that have been taken elsewhere. Our Assembly would be little more than a glorified District Council.
In the latter, we would be able to directly influence the future of their region. Certain responsibilities would remain with Westminster. However, areas such as Health, Education, Agriculture, Economic Development, the Environment, Finance and Personnel, and possibly policing would be responsibilities of the Assembly. Our politicians would not only take administrative decisions, but have the power to pass legislation that better reflects the wishes of the local population.
The past
It is worth recalling what the current system of Direct Rule entails. Whenever Stormont was abolished, Northern Ireland did not revert back to being ruled like any other part of the United Kingdom.
Instead, decisions are taken by unaccountable government ministers. Legislation is passed through "Orders in Council" rather than normal parliamentary procedures. In a sense, there always has been the presumption that devolved powers would be restored to Northern Ireland.
Under 'direct rule', the British Government has done many good things for Northern Ireland. They have implemented many reforms necessary to take account of a divided society and have continued to seek a political agreement.
But by their very nature, the Government takes an overall national perspective to their decisions. This does not always work to our advantage in Northern Ireland.
The nation-state is losing some of its dominance within a globalising world. National governments can no longer can provide the answers to all of society’s problems. Certain functions are increasingly exercised at the European or international level. At the same time, many other powers are increasingly being devolved down to regional governments.
Regional competition
With regional government becoming the norm in both UK and the rest of Europe, Northern Ireland is going to be in competition with other regions, particularly both Scotland and Wales.
The forthcoming political agreement will address new North-South arrangements. Already the Republic of Ireland has considerable advantages over Northern Ireland. For example, it is able to offer incentives to investors based on tax rates and stability, while Northern Ireland can only compete on the less efficient basis of subsidies.
Relations with the South will include both co-operation but will also feature areas of intense competition. There is a danger that there could be a very uneven relationship between a region on the one hand and an independent state (albeit within the European Union) on the other.
Thus the stronger the powers given to any Northern Ireland Assembly, the more balanced and workable this new relationship will be.
Tax-varying powers
The case for meaningful powers is therefore very strong. However, legislative powers are greatly enhanced with the ability to vary tax. The canny Scots have already voted for these powers to go with their strong version of devolution.
No one is suggesting that Northern Ireland should be left to its support itself. It will still be dependent upon a subvention from the UK Exchequer, just like Scotland, Wales and parts of England. The Government has a duty to ensure parity throughout the UK in areas such as social security benefits.
The ability to vary taxes will allow the preferences of people at a regional level to be more fully respected, they could concentrate resources on the services that are the bigger priorities for them. Do we want to have a superior education system in Northern Ireland? If so are we prepared to consider raising the necessary additional finance? Tax-varying powers gives us this option; it would be up to us to decide whether to use it. Both politicians and people will have a better appreciation of the costs of services, and the difficult decisions involved in allocating scarce resources.
Devolution is not going to be a panacea for every problem in Northern Ireland. But it will allow local people to take on more responsibility for shaping their future.
Seamus Close is Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party.
04 May 2001
Belfast murder is major human rights abuse: Farry
Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Stephen Farry has condemned this afternoon’s murder in Belfast City Centre, and on the day of the European Court judgment, asked how many people are going to condemn this abuse of human rights.
Stephen Farry said:
“Once again, a human life has been taken with impunity, this time in broad deadlight in the centre of Belfast.
“Such murders are the greatest abuses of human right possible.
“Today, the news agenda has been dominated by the statement of the judgment of the European Court that the human rights of IRA members on ‘active service’ were abused by the failure of the authorities to properly investigate their deaths.
“What this judgment says that is every citizen, irrespective of their background or conduct, are entitled to have their rights protected - the rule of law must be paramount.
“Yet, how many people are going to speak out about the human rights abuses involved in this brutal murder.”
Stephen Farry said:
“Once again, a human life has been taken with impunity, this time in broad deadlight in the centre of Belfast.
“Such murders are the greatest abuses of human right possible.
“Today, the news agenda has been dominated by the statement of the judgment of the European Court that the human rights of IRA members on ‘active service’ were abused by the failure of the authorities to properly investigate their deaths.
“What this judgment says that is every citizen, irrespective of their background or conduct, are entitled to have their rights protected - the rule of law must be paramount.
“Yet, how many people are going to speak out about the human rights abuses involved in this brutal murder.”
13 November 2000
Alliance opposition to Programme for Government
Alliance Opposition to Programme for Government
13 November 2000
THE Alliance Party will today (Monday) be making serious criticisms of the draft Programme for Government for its failure to address the deep divisions that remain in Northern Ireland, and to promote an agenda of sharing over separation.
The debate on the draft Programme for Government begins in Stormont on Monday.
Speaking in advance of the debate, Alliance Chief Whip, David Ford said:
"Despite the Agreement, the biggest problem in Northern Ireland remains the deep divisions in our society.
"When Alliance launched its Alternative Programme of Government last month, we highlighted a central theme of promoting sharing over separation.
"While the Executive's draft Programme of Government does have many positive policy suggestions, it fundamentally fails to address the divisions in this society - divisions that could ultimately destroy the Agreement if they are not addressed.
"The flowery rhetoric at the beginning of the document belies the reality that there is for instance only one line on integrated education in 85 pages, there is no mention of promoting mixed housing, there is no detailed strategy for improving community relations, no measures to tackle the proliferation of flags and sectarian graffiti on public property, and no plans to appraise policies for their impact on sharing over separation."
"Alliance intends to highlight these deficiencies in today's debate and urges the Executive to correct this major problem."
Notes to editors:
Alliance is the only opposition party to have produced its own alternative to the Executive's document. The following are just some areas which Alliance believes have not been adequately covered in the draft Programme for Government.
Alliance wants all Government policies to be proofed to ensure they promote sharing over separation. The Programme for Government only calls for policies to be 'rural proofed'.
Alliance wants to boost the number of pupils in integrated education to 10 percent by 2010 through the transformation of existing schools. The Government only proposes to relax criteria for new integrated schools.
Alliance has called for the integration of public housing. The Programme for Government merely calls for more home ownership while saying the Executive will look at the existing patterns of housing.
Alliance has called for more funding for community relations projects. The Executive says it is committed to improving community relations - but has few policy proposals.
Alliance wants the Committee of the Centre to investigate the barriers people entering into mixed marriages face. There is no mention of this in the Programme for Government.
Alliance has called for a Children's Commissioner. No mention in Programme for Government.
Alliance has called for action to be taken on the proliferation of illegal flags and graffiti in public spaces. No mention in Programme for Government.
ENDS
13 November 2000
THE Alliance Party will today (Monday) be making serious criticisms of the draft Programme for Government for its failure to address the deep divisions that remain in Northern Ireland, and to promote an agenda of sharing over separation.
The debate on the draft Programme for Government begins in Stormont on Monday.
Speaking in advance of the debate, Alliance Chief Whip, David Ford said:
"Despite the Agreement, the biggest problem in Northern Ireland remains the deep divisions in our society.
"When Alliance launched its Alternative Programme of Government last month, we highlighted a central theme of promoting sharing over separation.
"While the Executive's draft Programme of Government does have many positive policy suggestions, it fundamentally fails to address the divisions in this society - divisions that could ultimately destroy the Agreement if they are not addressed.
"The flowery rhetoric at the beginning of the document belies the reality that there is for instance only one line on integrated education in 85 pages, there is no mention of promoting mixed housing, there is no detailed strategy for improving community relations, no measures to tackle the proliferation of flags and sectarian graffiti on public property, and no plans to appraise policies for their impact on sharing over separation."
"Alliance intends to highlight these deficiencies in today's debate and urges the Executive to correct this major problem."
Notes to editors:
Alliance is the only opposition party to have produced its own alternative to the Executive's document. The following are just some areas which Alliance believes have not been adequately covered in the draft Programme for Government.
Alliance wants all Government policies to be proofed to ensure they promote sharing over separation. The Programme for Government only calls for policies to be 'rural proofed'.
Alliance wants to boost the number of pupils in integrated education to 10 percent by 2010 through the transformation of existing schools. The Government only proposes to relax criteria for new integrated schools.
Alliance has called for the integration of public housing. The Programme for Government merely calls for more home ownership while saying the Executive will look at the existing patterns of housing.
Alliance has called for more funding for community relations projects. The Executive says it is committed to improving community relations - but has few policy proposals.
Alliance wants the Committee of the Centre to investigate the barriers people entering into mixed marriages face. There is no mention of this in the Programme for Government.
Alliance has called for a Children's Commissioner. No mention in Programme for Government.
Alliance has called for action to be taken on the proliferation of illegal flags and graffiti in public spaces. No mention in Programme for Government.
ENDS
17 October 2000
Education change "for the sake of improvement": Bell
Speaking in the Assembly debate on the Gallagher Report, Eileen Bell said:
“This resolution is timely, insofar that we should state, LOUD AND CLEAR, that consultation on this important issue should be as wide, as comprehensive and, of course, as effective as possible.
“We must ensure that all interested parties, from teachers to parent, will be adequately consulted, so that, as far as possible, the most satisfactory outcome is achieved for the good of all the pupils that it will affect.
“Again, I have to say, Mr Speaker, that I find this resolution extremely timely, because of the Press Release which outlined the first stages of the consultation process. The meetings so far planned are to be by invitation only, for school principals and representatives of educational and other related organisations in the field.
“We are told that public meetings will be held by the Review Body when they set up their programme. I await the details of these meetings with great interest, and I trust that they will be both many and widespread, and that they will be held in the very near future !
“There are a great number of parents, with 7, 8 and 9 year- old children, who are fervently hoping that they, and theirs, will not have to deal with the stresses currently endured by P5 and P6 pupils and their families. These parents not only want to attend the meetings, but are entitled to have their say, to have their questions answered and to have their heart-felt concerns met. These are the people who need to be listened to, and to be reassured that, whatever option is finally chosen, it is the best way forward for their children, and indeed, all the children of Northern Ireland.
“We, in the Alliance party, will be looking closely at the record of all-ability integrated schools, as they will show us how a modern comprehensive system might look.
"I am sure that all sections of our community will approach this in a constructive way, because it must be clearly seen to be an all-inclusive real consultation, that is not predetermined at any stage by ‘ experts ‘, but will ensure that we get the education system that our society, our economy, but, most of all, our children deserve.
“Finally, Mr Speaker, it goes without saying that our current system, which brands a large number of our future citizens FAILURES when they have lived, at most, 1/6th of their lives must be radically changed, but it also must be said that we do not want change for the sake of change, but change for the sake of improvement.“
“This resolution is timely, insofar that we should state, LOUD AND CLEAR, that consultation on this important issue should be as wide, as comprehensive and, of course, as effective as possible.
“We must ensure that all interested parties, from teachers to parent, will be adequately consulted, so that, as far as possible, the most satisfactory outcome is achieved for the good of all the pupils that it will affect.
“Again, I have to say, Mr Speaker, that I find this resolution extremely timely, because of the Press Release which outlined the first stages of the consultation process. The meetings so far planned are to be by invitation only, for school principals and representatives of educational and other related organisations in the field.
“We are told that public meetings will be held by the Review Body when they set up their programme. I await the details of these meetings with great interest, and I trust that they will be both many and widespread, and that they will be held in the very near future !
“There are a great number of parents, with 7, 8 and 9 year- old children, who are fervently hoping that they, and theirs, will not have to deal with the stresses currently endured by P5 and P6 pupils and their families. These parents not only want to attend the meetings, but are entitled to have their say, to have their questions answered and to have their heart-felt concerns met. These are the people who need to be listened to, and to be reassured that, whatever option is finally chosen, it is the best way forward for their children, and indeed, all the children of Northern Ireland.
“We, in the Alliance party, will be looking closely at the record of all-ability integrated schools, as they will show us how a modern comprehensive system might look.
"I am sure that all sections of our community will approach this in a constructive way, because it must be clearly seen to be an all-inclusive real consultation, that is not predetermined at any stage by ‘ experts ‘, but will ensure that we get the education system that our society, our economy, but, most of all, our children deserve.
“Finally, Mr Speaker, it goes without saying that our current system, which brands a large number of our future citizens FAILURES when they have lived, at most, 1/6th of their lives must be radically changed, but it also must be said that we do not want change for the sake of change, but change for the sake of improvement.“
24 February 1999
Alliance welcomes Blair move on Euro
Alliance Party spokesperson, Stephen Farry, has welcomed the more positive approach of the British Government towards the Euro, and reiterated the Alliance belief that the earliest possible entry of the UK to the EuroZone in is Northern Ireland’s interest.
Stephen Farry said:
“Alliance supports the UK’s entry into the European Single Currency at the earliest possible opportunity. There are sound economic reasons to justify it, in particular greater stability and increased potential for trade. The arguments against are weak and largely based on out-moded attitudes towards sovereignty.
“Northern Ireland’s place in the Euro-Zone is particularly important given the Republic of Ireland’s participation. Its current competitive advantage over Northern Ireland as a location for investment would be further enhanced. It is particularly disappointing that some local politicians, in particular Unionists, do not appreciate what is Northern Ireland’s economic interest.
“Alliance welcomes the more positive attitude of the British government to the UK’s participation in the Single Currency. However, it does not yet amount to a substantive decision to apply for entry.”
Stephen Farry said:
“Alliance supports the UK’s entry into the European Single Currency at the earliest possible opportunity. There are sound economic reasons to justify it, in particular greater stability and increased potential for trade. The arguments against are weak and largely based on out-moded attitudes towards sovereignty.
“Northern Ireland’s place in the Euro-Zone is particularly important given the Republic of Ireland’s participation. Its current competitive advantage over Northern Ireland as a location for investment would be further enhanced. It is particularly disappointing that some local politicians, in particular Unionists, do not appreciate what is Northern Ireland’s economic interest.
“Alliance welcomes the more positive attitude of the British government to the UK’s participation in the Single Currency. However, it does not yet amount to a substantive decision to apply for entry.”
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