Ieper in the rain

Have spent a splendid day in the company of friends in the Belgian town of Ieper. Defended till the death between 1914 and 1918 it became the allies’ bulwark against Germany. The battle for Passchendale was fought on its outskirts and the reminders of war are everywhere from Hill 60 to the shrapnel corner. The town was totally rebuilt against Winston Churchill’s wishes in the twenties as he believed it should be left in ruins as a reminder of German brutality. The local’s were defiant and brick by brick reassembled a beautiful Flemish spot.

There are no McDevitt’s on Menin Gate but there are thousands of other Irish names amongst the 58,000 for whom there is no grave. The Irish Peace tower stands on a hill over the final battleground where the 16th and 36th divisions pushed the German lines back in June 1917. There are some wonderful inscriptions as you walk in. They say different things but have a single message best summed up in the words of Tom Kettle:

To dice with death, and, oh! They’ll give you rhyme
And reason; one will call the thing sublime,
And one decry it in a knowing tone.
So here, while the mad guns curse overhead,
And tired men sigh, with mud for couch and floor,
Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead,
Died not for Flag, nor King, nor Emporor,
But for a dream born in a herdsman’s shed,
And for the Secret Scripture of the poor.

 Big Fearghal O’Boyleis a magnificent guide and has created a programme which will take us from here to the Somme and on to the other famous fields of Flanders. The war to end wars has been followed by 125 conflicts. It’s impact on our small island was immense yet it is only now that many are daring to explore this very shared part of our history.

Louise from Gerry Anderson’s own home town in pulling pints in the peace village and looking after the weary travellers. The perfect host and a friendly face and the end of a big day.

 Off to the last post now.

Clinton is coming but who is going

So Bill Clinton is flying in from the failing presidential bid to celebrate a decade since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. I am told the key players are all invited but despite my best efforts I can see very little evidence that many of those who were part of the talks have actually been asked.

I am sure the organisers have their reasons but it is bizarre they appear more interested in getting the DUP along when they were not there on the day. All feeling a bit like a Clinton celebration rather than an acknowledgement of the tremendous acvhievement of those who negotiated a new beginning for the North.

Irish News column

It’s Irish News column day on O’Conall Street. I have taken a look at public affairs focussing on the ICAI’s campiagn for lower coporation tax.

PLAN YOUR LOBBY SO IT SURVIVES FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY 

I am often asked what I do for a living. ‘I’m a public relations consultant’ I tell them, ‘a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and specialist in corporate communications and public affairs’. Like most professions ours is a broad church. From Fast Moving Consumer Goods consumer marketing to technical policy lobbies, chances are there is a PR professional in their somewhere advising and designing campaigns that effect change and get results.

Tomorrow in Westminster an important campaign on behalf of business in Northern Ireland takes a big step forward. Over the past year the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland under the leadership of their Northern Tax Committee Chairperson Eamonn Donaghy with support from Director of Tax Brian Keegan has been lobbying intelligently and to great effect to ensure the opportunity for a considerably lower rate of corporation tax for this region remains on the political agenda.

When the Prime Minister invited Sir David Varney to conduct a review of taxation in Northern Ireland after the reestablishment of the power sharing executive last spring the ICAI rightly calculated the report would be negative. Of particular concern was the fact that the main reasons being offered by the British government such as EU law, impact on the UK exchequer, the ‘Azores’ judgement and technical arguments about transfer pricing, held no water and needed urgent and detailed rebuttal.

The ICAI was at the starting point of a classic lobby. Armed also with research which the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants had showing overwhelming support amongst its members for a lower rate, the institute’s communications team sat down to map out the issues, key influencers and decision makers, other stakeholders and messages before getting started. The issue was clear; to tackle the spurious assumptions being made by the Varney team and the arguments they were articulating against a differential rate here. 

With a political consensus in favour of a differential rate across the island of Ireland and the active support of both the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government there was little point mounting a campaign that focussed on people with whom there was no disagreement.  The accountants rightly identified GB as the key battleground as it was ultimately the British Government’s decision and a matter for Parliament. To have simply targeted ministers and those inside government would not have achieved wider exposure for the campaign nor brought additional pressure on them. One group stood out as potential allies and highly influential. The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Westminster as well as scrutinising the work of the NIO has a duty to represent the interests of this region on non devolved matters such as tax. All through the summer the ICAI quietly met and briefed all the Northern Ireland members and the senior GB members of the committee to secure a commitment that if Sir David reported negatively and failed to give good reasons for not granting a differential rate they would put the issue on their committee agenda.

This was not simply a political lobby, the accountants were well armed with a detailed policy rebuttal of Sir David’s so called reasons for not granting a differential rate. This dissection and detailed argument on technical grounds is critically important when lobbying. All too often interest groups focus solely on recruiting political support only to find their campaign and political support shot down by an argument from the other side for which they are not ready and have no proper answer. In lobbying your plan must be able to survive first contact with the enemy. 

During the early days there was little public comment on the issue and only minimal media exposure for the campaign. This was deliberate and often the case when lobbying. The first objective must be to establish a case, recruit advocates and ensure all the key stakeholders are on board before telling the world what you are about.

When Sir David’s report finally emerged on the eve of Christmas the ICAI were able to go public and claim a victory whilst continuing the pressure. The messages which they had worked so hard to communicate had clearly got through. All the obstacles to reduction which the review team had so confidently enunciated in the summer were gone. No significant arguments against, no EU law stood in the way, no serious fiscal impediments. All the report could achieve was a pretty poor analysis of the Republic’s success over the past decade and concerns that a reduction would cost the exchequer. In other words there was no sound policy reason for not granting NI a differential rate, just a political one – the British government don’t want to. Result!

Now that the technical obstacles were disappearing many commentators, economists, business leaders and all the political parties here saw the opportunity to keep the issue on the agenda. No surprise this week then when the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee decided to call the ICAI to give evidence. The Assembly is also looking again at the detail and as Sir David awaits local submissions to his second review, the Economy Minister Nigel Dodds, is still pressuring the Secretary of State publicly in Parliament. Locally all the main papers, including this one, are happy to continue to lend support to the campaign. This issue in the words of the First Minister, Ian Paisley hasn’t gone away you know.

Employees want better communication

Employers across Ireland got a shock today when the results of a survey carried out by Weber Shandwick’s sister company, Inside Edge were published.

Insidedge conducted 602 online interviews with employees across ROI and NI in February. These results are part Insidedge’s ongoing commitment to researching and understanding the dynamics of employee trust in Ireland, the UK and USA.

Those interviewed included employees of large, medium and small companies, of indigenous and international parentage as well as government employees. The range of interviewees was drawn from senior management to front line staff.

The findings will be a little startling to many business leaders on this island.

Employee trust in their senior management is alarmingly low with one in every three employees in both Northern Ireland and the Republic recording active distrust or low trust in their employers according to new survey results released today by Insidedge, the global employee engagement specialists.

The survey also revealed that employees rank trust and open, honest internal communications as major contributors to their job satisfaction, organisational commitment and decisions whether to stay with or leave their employers. In Northern Ireland 38 percent and in RoI 32 percent of those surveyed expected to leave their current employment in the foreseeable future, while an overwhelming 74 percent of all Northern Ireland and 80 percent of RoI interviewees indicated that an improvement in communications would positively influence them to remain with their employers.

Keith Burton who leads Inside Edge globally thinks these results pose significant issues for local businesses and government bodies about the way they communicate with their employees–especially when measured against the millions in cash which staff replacement, absenteeism and low productivity due to employee lack of commitment cost individual companies and the economy here every year.

“In our survey, we polled some 400 employees in ROI and over 200 employees in Northern Ireland across a wide range of the manufacturing, service and government sectors. The results clearly indicate the driving impact which effective employee engagement-or lack of it – has on an organisation’s competitive advantage and success in the marketplace as well as on overall economic growth and stability.” Keith is a regular contributor to business  magazines in the US and recently wrote an interesting article for The Journal on internal branding which is worth a read.

Inside Edge is being headed up in Ireland by Brenda Boal who told me the survey reinforces the importance which employee place on trust and effective communication in the workplace. The results are particularly significant, given the unprecedented scope and scale of the structural and operational changes faced by companies and government both in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

“Irlande Douze Pointe” the turkey gets it

Ye good thing ye.

The country went stuffed turkey last night and put our Dustin in the fray for the least coveted prize in modern music, the Eurovision Song Contest.  Our hopes and dreams in Belgarde hang on Irelande Douze Point and the world’s finest avian artist.  It’s advocacy, it’s badvocacy, it’s ecumenical and evangenical. Poor old Johnny Logan will be turning in his botox.  

Stuff Barack – Vote for Dustin.

Up the Dubs!!!

Eddie gets his answer on Super Saturday

Murphy, O’Gara, Trimble, Bowe….. Try!

Then Bowe again in the Canal – Hogan apex for number five.

Eddie O’Sullivan got his answer from the benches. His forced deployment of Murphy and Bowe consolidated a new look Ireland team which defeated Scotland today at Croke Park, keeping the hopes of another Triple Crown alive.

O’Sullivan got his victory despite his questionable skills. Enough to hang on for another while but a tragedy as the most talented Irish squad in recent history squanders its opportunity of greatness.

Croker looked wonderful and from an Ulster perspective Rory Best’s arrival gave the province a much needed boost and the national squad added depth. With ten minutes to go Eddie dumped the old guard from the bench on our hallowed soil. Typical of a one trick pony who by the way picked an Ireland A side that went down 67 – 7 in Perth last night.

The roar went up when Jordan Murphy was named man of the match. Oh Eddie, how wrong you are.

As Barack would say its time for change we can believe in.

What does O’Conall Street think about this?

A good friend sent me this with the disclaimer he did not agree with the article. It has sparked a debate within our little group and I am curious what others on O’Conall Street think. It’s by Margery Eagan and was published in yesterday’s Boston Herald.
I’m an Obama girl and my man throttled Hillary Clinton, again, Tuesday night.

Suddenly, the impossible is real.

Suddenly, I’m nervous. Very nervous, actually.

I’m nervous because an otherwise normal grownup told me yesterday she’s watched the will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) “Yes We Can” Obama video about 100 times and gets “weepy” every time.

I’m nervous because a longtime political type, normally quite cynical, now waxes rhapsodic about Obama’s “cool.”

“He’s elegant, controlled, the best-dressed candidate ever,” he says. Never a red tie, yellow or bright blue. No, Obama does a subdued lean charcoal gray suit with a gray or silvery tie. Everything muted, measured, fluid. “He floats onto the stage, a bit of the Fred Astaire thing going.”

Fred Astaire?

This same man, 100 percent anti-illegal aliens, fears Obama could pull a Reagan or a JFK on the Mexican border, head down there, chanting, “Tear down this wall!” or even do an “Ich bin ein Tijuana!!!”

He’s with Obama anyway.

I’m nervous because Harvard political genius Elaine Kamarck told me Hillary understands the various messes we’re in far better than Obama.

Suppose Kamarck’s right?

I’m nervous about the “O’Bambi” factor. Will the terrorists move in next door when Obama’s in the White House?

I’m nervous because Michelle Obama, about whom I just wrote a fawning puff piece, now says that until her husband’s stunning ascendancy, she’s never before been proud of America. Huh?

Barack now claims she didn’t mean it. Oh, yes she did. We all know the insufferable, holier-than-thou, Blame-America-First types who lecture the unwashed from the rarefied air of Cambridge and Brookline.

If I wanted lecturing, I’d be with Hillary.

I’m nervous because too many Obama-philes sound like Moonies, or Hare Krishnas, or the Hale-Bopp-Is-Coming-To-Get-Me nuts.

These true believers “Obama-ize” everything. They speak Obama-ese. Knit for Obama. Run for Obama. Gamble – Hold ’Em Barack! – for Obama. They make Obama cakes, underwear, jewelry. They send Valentine cards reading, “I want to Barack your world!”

At campaign rallies people scream, cry, even faint as Obama calmly calls for the EMTs. When supporters pant en masse, “I love you!” (like The Beatles, circa 1964), Barack says, “I love you back” with that deliciously charming, almost cocky smile.

Oh – I’m nervous because it’s all gone to his head and he hasn’t even won yet.

I’m nervous because it’s gone to a lot of other people’s heads as well. Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings introduced Obama last week in Baltimore and said, “This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world.”

“He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere,” says George Clooney.

“I’ll do whatever he says to do,” says actress Halle Berry. “I’ll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.”

I’m nervous because nobody’s quite sure what Obama stands for, even his supporters. (“I can’t wait to see,” said actress/activist Susan Sarandon, declaring full support nonetheless).

I’m nervous because even his biggest fans can’t name Obama’s accomplishments, including Texas state Sen. Kirk Watson, an Obama-man who humiliated himself when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews asked him about five times to name something, anything, Obama’s done. Watson hemmed. Watson hawed. Watson gave up.

I’m nervous because John McCain says Obama’s is “an eloquent but empty call for change” and in the wee, wee hours, a nagging voice whispers, suppose McCain’s right, too? Then what?

Badvocates at work!

The emergence of advocacy, the many on their soapboxes arguing for a cause, a brand or a candidate creates space for those who wish to communicate against it. In Weber Shandwick we call these negative advocates badvocates.

The video below (thanks to T for sharing with me) is a classic example of how social and digital media can be used to undermine a candidate (in this case Mike Huckabee) and his/her platform. It works in the same way the Black Eyed Pea  endorsement of Obama did but clearly the originators hope it will have the opposite effect. I’ll let you be the judge of that.

More can be done – Dodds

One of the many interesting parts of my job is sitting in on statements and questions in the Oireachtas, the Assembly and Westminster.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Shaun Woodward had been taking Northern Ireland Questions this morning and has been pressed by conservative and labour MPs to outline what specifically he is doing to strengthen the NI economy in light of the Varney report. Nigel Dodds MP, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment summed up the mood in Ireland when he invited the Secretary of State to agree that more could be done by the British government in fiscal terms to address the distorting effect of a land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland on business. It would appear that the campaign for a reduced rate of corporation tax which the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland is taking to Westminster next week continues to enjoy the support of the ministers in the executive.

Meanwhile in the US it looks like it may well be curtains for Hillary as Obama is now his support base amongst working class democrats and women.

All about Advocacyhas a very interesting post on Starbucks Badvocates for the professional communicators amongst you.

Hasta luego companero

It’s the end of an era on O’Conall Street. Rumours are now rife about the future of First Minister Ian Paisley and in the Caribbean Fidel is hanging up his rhetoric  and surrendering to his body.

There is an air of inevitability about the year ahead on this island. The bookies will soon be offering odds for not one but both Irish premiers falling on their swords. It is very possible Ahern and Paisley will look to retirement before the last year of the decade is upon us. Chapters are closing everywhere.

SF MLA Raymond McCartney was on the radio praising the Cuban experience this morning.  He spoke of the world class health care system and the education which this paradise island provides for its citizens. I agree, Cuba has built a great health system. When I visited the country as a tourist ten years ago it was clear that this was a place of extremes. For all the great medical care the poverty was shocking, for all the education prostitution was rife and the wholesale exploitation of young women was being allowed right under the noses of the state police in every corner of Havana.

The USA has behaved disgracefully towards Cuba of that there is little debate in Europe, but the Cuban government has failed its people miserably. It continues to encarcerate political dissidents, normal pratcice you may say in a Communist state but hardly the sign of a progressive place.

The country’s HIV sufferers can expect a lifetime in ‘protective custody’ and the intellectually disabled and mentally ill live in isolation and are deprived all but the most basic of rights.

I loved the Cuban people and fell in love with their beautiful island. They were well versed in the ways of the world and always keen to debate international politics. At the time, in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement, I was encouraged at how much they knew about our small island. The tragedy was the conversation invariably came to an abrupt end when the politics of their own country came up.

So hasta luego companero Fidel. You have done you state some service but the time is well past for change. The old man with the fundamentalist hew is a dying breed on the world stage.