Will our next election be ‘inline’?

The best thing about working for Weber Shandwick is its people, not just here in Ireland but across the globe. We have some wonderfully talented people with facintaing and diverse backgrounds working with us. Luke Akehurst and Tara Hamilton-Miller are just two of them. Luke and I go back a bit. We served together in the early nineties on the governing committee of the  European Young Socialists (ECOSY). He is now a Labour Councillor in Hackney and a popular blogger. Tara joined us a little while back from Conservative Central Office and is a regul;ar media commentator on Conservative politics and communications.

They have produced an interesting think piece on the lessons British and Irish parties could learn from the Obama Campaign’s use of social and digital media.

Its published in the latest edition of our European Journal and I think worth reproducing below.

For a small contribution could you be tempted by a ‘Gordon Brown polo shirt’ or a ‘David Cameron hoodie’? Even after his victory, the welcoming page of Barack Obama’s website, barackobama.com is a request for a donation and if you give $30 or more you will receive an Obama Victory T-shirt (100% cotton). It is all very informal, messages from the
White House start with “Hey” as in, “Hey, President Obama submitted his first budget to Congress on Thursday.”

Should you not wish to give cash/add to your wardrobe you are invited to hold an Economic Recovery House Meeting in your living room. An experience similar to a coffee morning or a Tupperware party but with less plastic.

Could this work here?

With a UK election possibly just months away how much influence will political parties take from Obama’s success embracing technology?

The Labour and Conservative approach to technology and it’s use has differed, though both have had slightly stop and start attempts at neon websites and podcasts. Somehow Obama and his supporters’ internet campaigning got it right. They were clever and they had the all important ingredient; humour. It has yet to be cracked here, the main bloggers
get it but the parties are far behind. Boris Johnson’s London Mayoral campaign was slick and different and used the internet with style. Not a huge amount of content but countless passionate volunteers were recruited on-line. Arguably Boris is the exception to every rule, Boris achieves because he is Boris not because some whizzo  re-pubescent teenager is an internet genius.

The official Conservative Party website has not been so successful competing with excellent websites like conservativehome.com, loyally read by party followers before they go near conservatives.com.

There was a problem when the Conservatives attempted a fundraising tactic based on the Obama blueprint to appeal to those who did not want to become a full Tory member but were interested and could show their support. The idea was that you could become a ‘Friend’ with a minimum donation of £1; the party could beef up funds with humble amounts and build a database of supporters. It was a disaster, the campaign and it’s advertising cost was not cheap, various figures are banded about but £500,000 is thought to be the loss. It is suggested that the total number of ‘Friends’ who joined was in double figures only. A spectacular waste of money.

Paramount to viral campaigning is the face behind it. John McCain could have had the same digital infrastructure as Obama but at his age anything too radical looks like an old guy getting down with the kids. It’s rotten but a cruel sign of the times that politics is becoming a young man’s (or woman’s) game.
Web Cam’, featuring Tory leader David Cameron chatting as he fills his ishwasher/drinks railway coffee/changes his Britta water filter, has been relatively well received. He’s a natural in front of the camera. Brown will have more problems with this kind of message; name one domestic chore Brown could carry out with dignity while talking about pensions and MRSA to a nervous aide with a camcorder.

The Left has been slower to engage with digital campaigning than the Tories, who dominate the UK blogosphere. Even more significant is Labour’s internal culture, developed in order to win back power in 1997 after years of internal divisions, of being ‘on message’ at all times.

It’s difficult to blog spontaneously and rapidly about unfolding events if you have been trained that you need to clear public statements with a press officer and to wait for the ‘line-to-take’ to be issued by party HQ. Labour has yet to develop individual blog stars with the readership or public profile of the Tories’ Iain Dale, or the ability to set the mainstream media agenda of Guido Fawkes. Nor is there a Labour site to equal conservative.home’s role in hosting internal party debates.

However, as with New Labour’s craze for all thinking Clinton in the ‘90s, Labour is sending party officials across the Atlantic in droves to try to harvest state-of-the-art techniques from the Obama campaign for UK use. A smaller stream of Obama advisers and digital consultants has been over here speaking to Labour MPs, campaign managers and activists – with some of the consultants hoping to pick up Labour contracts, though they may be disappointed by the small budgets in British politics.

Not everything Obama did is transferable to a parliamentary rather than presidential system, particularly as lots of Obama’s online ‘fan base’ was created by his appeal as a charismatic, insurgent personality. Nor is all of it necessary as much Obama online activity was about small-donor fundraising (Labour gets large union donations and
the UK has strict campaign spending limits) and building local grassroots campaign teams. UK parties have permanent local branches rather than having to build a volunteer base afresh for each new campaign.
 
All local levekl candidates from all sides are increasingly using social media like Facebook as a way of identifying and mobilising active supporters – with online networks driving ‘real world’ doorstep campaigning. And the Labour blogosphere has started to try to compete with the Tories with the launch of labourlist.org, though it appears to have been eclipsed by former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott who has discovered to his delight a brand new stage.

For all the digital furore and smarty-pants computer geeks claiming “it was the net what won it” Obama’s message appealed to the time; traditional speeches based on Jefferson’s dream of citizenship. It cannot be ignored that good old fashioned campaigning worked for Obama. Americans liked and craved the idea of an up-standing citizen; they were comforted by the feel of old frontier hustings, a vision, and face-to-face charm.

Education chaos guaranteed as reality of Catholic 11plus and Protestant 11plus hits home

Ten years after the Good Friday Agreement a Sinn Fein Minister has delivered the ultimate act of educational segregation and division with the effective creation of a Catholic 11plus and a Protestant 11plus.

The BBC reports that The Commission for Catholic Education has given the go-ahead for Catholic grammar schools in Northern Ireland to set entrance exams.

However, it has also restated its position that academic selection of any kind should end by 2012.

Some Catholic grammar schools have said they will set entrance exams in the absence of an official test. The commission said that in the absence of a regulated system of transfer, academic test may be appropriate in the short-term, particularly for those post-primary schools which are oversubscribed.

NICCE chairman Bishop Donal McKeown said: “This is a clear statement from the Catholic trustees that academic selection at age 11 has no place in a modern education system.”

The commission stressed that Catholic schools which opt to use the tests must ensure they do not discriminate against any child, avoid a multiplicity of tests and should be used for only a limited period of time.

The church has been trying to keep the support of Catholic parents who want their children to go to a grammar school but who could choose to leave the sector and apply for non-denominational grammar schools instead.

Today’s decision is an honest act on behalf of the Catholic Commission to show some leadership on this issue. It will however do nothing to prevent the inevitable chaos which will now ensue. It is a dark day for politics and a total indictment of Caitriona Ruane’s stewardship as Education Minister.

It will also increase pressure on Ms Ruane to back down from her pledge not to reinstate a selective test for a limited period to allow time for political agreement on a way forward.

The DUP, Ulster Unionist Party, SDLP and Alliance Party have all urged her to reintroduce a test for a couple of years in a bid to prevent the looming chaos likely to take hold under an unregulated school transfer system.

Since when was the environment a sectarian issue?

Since today, that’s when!

The DUP is using an Assembly mechanism designed to ensure cross community support on sensitive issues to defeat a motion on climate change today. Yes folks, the environment is now a sectarian issue for 30 DUP MLAs who willingly signed the petition of concern which means the motion which is critical of DUP Environment Minister Sammy Wilson will be defeated because it will not enjoy the support of a majority of  unionists (i.e. the DUP).

Storm in a tea cup I hear you say. Not so I retort. The requirements for cross community voting on issues which could cause sectarian tensions is an important parliamentary procedure in a divided society. The DUP are making a mockery of this and making a joke of what is a really important issue for the vast majority of people in this region.

It all give politics a bad name. It also begs a series of questions; 

• does this party respect the views of others, and;
• will any issue on which the DUP is in a minority in the Assembly now be turned into a sectarian one?

The Bishops’ are publishing their response to the Minister for Education’s proposals to de-regulate education today.  She is reported to have rejected suggestions from the hierarchy for an interim state exam whilst this mess gets sorted out. 

Meantime children will suffer. 

But who cares as long as you are right Minister.

Mick over on Sluggerpicks up on the debate today with a couple of good links. Also Pete has uploaded yesterday’s Politics Show debate which is worth a watch.

A week in Uganda

Seventy days from now on the 7th of June 2009 I will be joining a team of traders and management from Rushmere Shopping Centre travelling to Uganda to help build a prinmary school in the jungle.

Our vision is to provide the children of Kibaale (a small village about a hundred miles west of Kampala in the Fort Portal District) with the facilities and equipment needed to help them build a brighter future for themselves and their family while making a sustainable and long term difference to the lives of these children.

After nearly three decades of civil unrest, Uganda is picking itself up. The infrastructure is developing and the economy is growing faster than any other African country. Education is a source of opportunity in Uganda and enrolment is up to 70% across the country. Despite these great achievements progress, in rural villages such as Kibaale, is not as rapid. There is an eagerness to learn but a lack of resources make it difficult to give the hundreds of children who live in the village, the quality education that they so desperately need.

In Kibaale the existing school which is made from wattle and mud is susceptible to all the forces of nature. Wind and rain can effectively destroy this temporary structure and ensure that many children are out of education until it can be rebuilt or alternative arrangements can be made.

A good education delivered within a permanent school structure gives hope. It offers the children of Kibaale the chance to make a better life for themselves and their families.

The opportunity to attend a “real” school, will give the children of Uganda a sense of belonging, the opportunity to meet people whom they may not normally meet and learn skills that they may not normally learn.

This week long building blitz will put to good use a range of skills from the volunteers, not only in terms of construction and heavy labour, but in terms of retail and other associated activity that the local community will benefit from. This blitz will culminate in the volunteers’ attendance at the topping out event.

This project is designed to be self-sustainable, therefore we hope there will be the opportunity for volunteers to return to the community and see first hand how the processes that are in place have progressed.

I’ll be blogging from the ‘Pearl of Africa’ and really cannot wait to get there.

We are of course fundraising. If you would like to donate please do so here.

Captain Underpants to the rescue

I have been meaning to blog for sometime about Captain Underpants. He dominates my eight year old son’s reading list and made quite an impact on a twenty eight year old in the office last month when OIsin brought a couple of books in. 

Written by Dav Pilkey, the books chronicle the adventures of two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, and the aptly-named superhero they accidentally create by hypnotizing their principal, Mr Benny Krupp.

Rude, fast paced and very funny and exceptionally well written they have a way getting into the minds of young male readers. 

The titles say it all: The Adventures of Captain Underpants (1997), Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (1999), Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from  Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) (1999),

Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants (2000), The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o’ Fun (2001), Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman (2001), The All-New Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book o’ Fun 2 (2002), The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (2002), Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy#Part One: The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets (2003), Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy#Part Two: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers (2003) and Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (2006). I have listed them all to give a true sense of the series!

We were messing around last night and I managed to record a couple of clips of Oisin in his own words describing some of the Captain’s adventures:

Oisin on Captain Underpants

Tell us more Oisin

The next book, Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers, is out in May and a countdown is underway at the local P5 class. I can wait to hear how Dr Diaper (the principal villan) is defeated this time. Or whether the Talking Toilet, Zorx, Clax, Jennifer, the Dandelion of Doom, or Professor Pippy Pee-Pee Poopypantys get their way.

Dav Pilkey’s story is good one too. A disruptive kid, he spent a considerable proportion of his school days in detention. This led to lots of cartoon drawing which led to college and a professor who spotted the talent. Secondary school, however, did not agree with Dav:

“One day my principal took me out of class and said to me, ‘I know you think you’re special because you can draw, but let me tell you something: artists are a-dime-a-dozen. You will never make a living as an artist!’ Those words haunted me for many years. How delightful it was to prove him wrong.”

Lots more on Pilkey.com where you can read a comic strip biography.

Warning – the boys might get hooked!

I would just like to thank him for making an eight year old love books.

Yellow card for non-registered voters

The team here at Weber Shandwick in Belfast has had great fun this week working on a campaign to raise awareness about the need to register to vote on behalf of the Electoral Commission.

A team of referees took to the streets of Derry and Belfast during the week handing out yellow cards to anyone who was not on the electoral register.  

We were there to capture it for You Tube

As was TG4.

An island on the brink?

This morning’s southern GDP figures are expected to tell a story of crisis as the Irish financial system also lurches from bad to worse.

On an aside, I worked for the now infamous Michael Fingleton at the beginning of my career nearly twenty years ago. He did not impress much then and his behaviour over the past month does not surprise one bit. 

The Irish Government is meeting today to discuss the supplementary Budget which will be introduced in two weeks time. Ministers held a similar preparatory meeting on Tuesday and another is expected to be held tomorrow morning.

Meantime North of the Border the Executive seems entirely unconcerned about the gravity of the situation. Last Sunday several leading economists spoke out on the BBC about the  £1billion shortfall in the NI budget (thanks as always to Pete Baker at Slugger for the YouTube link).

When asked to defend his Finance Minister, Simon Hamilton MLA of the DUP gave an uncharacteristically weak answer. He simply said the Executive would not be taking any lectures from Economists and that the people would judge the DUP – SF coalition on its record. Maybe so, but he must have had his toes crossed inside his shoes that the economy does not become the issue on which records are judged at election time. This being the North, he may get lucky and the electorate might be more happy to judge the DUP and SF on their ability to defeat whatever it is they are out to defeat at that particular moment in time.

Meanwhile, there is still a £1billion hole in the public finances!

Cross border musings from the First Minister

Lots of cross border musings at the Stormont Hotel this morning where the Centre for Cross Border Studies is launching its Journal.

Director, Andy Pollack, has a good article in this morning’s Irish Times saying it is time to drop the ‘unpatriotic’ tag on trading with the North. The story is picked up in the Irish News.

This year’s Journal also includes an in-depth interview with First Minister Peter Robinson who comes across all warm and cuddly about the Republic. Mr Robinson says there is work to be done on a cross border basis on this island.

“I don’t think the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic has ever been better than it is at the present time,” Mr Robinson said.

Commenting on relations with his counterparts in the Republic of Ireland, Mr Robinson said he accepted that by working together – particularly in these tougher economic times – there could be payoffs for everyone on the island.

“I’m not sure that people in the United States or India or the Far East will particularly distinguish which side of the border on the island they’re on…So the more stable and inviting the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is, the better for both of us,” Mr Robinson said.

“There are many areas where cooperation just makes sound sense…” Mr Robinson said. He also sees plenty of reasons Northern business should be looking south “I think in the current economic climate all the advantages lie with Northern Ireland. The cost of doing business in Northern Ireland would be very significantly cheaper than it is in the Irish Republic. So from the point of view of costs, there are significant advantages in people [from the South] setting up in Northern Ireland”

Register to vote

The Electoral Commission is calling on thousands of ‘missing’ voters to secure their vote in time for the European Parliamentary elections on 4 June.

The appeal came yesterday – the start of ‘Register to Vote Week’, in which a series of activities will take place across Northern Ireland to raise awareness of the need to register to vote.

The elections watchdog will be spreading the ‘register to vote’ message across Northern Ireland all this week, building on a major advertising campaign launched earlier this month that carries the slogan “Secure your vote or lose your voice”.

Séamus Magee, Head of the Electoral Commission’s office in Northern Ireland, said:

“If you don’t register to vote, you won’t have a say on the issues that affect you. It’s that simple. The European Parliamentary elections are coming and we want to see an electoral register that is as accurate and as comprehensive as possible – so that everyone eligible to vote can have their say on 4 June.”

“We want to encourage all eligible voters to make sure they are registered. You can download a registration form from www.aboutmyvote.com or call 0800 0323 700 to check your details on the register.

A survey carried out for the Electoral Commission revealed that almost 200,000 people in Northern Ireland could lose their voice in this year’s election – or in any future election – if they fail to add or update their details on the electoral register. Those aged between 18 and 24 and those that have recently changed addresses are most at risk of losing out, according to the figures.

SDLP proposes education solution

The SDLP is proposing an interim CCEA test and the establishment of a new educator led working group to break the deadlock in the current education crisis. The Party has tabled an amendment to an Alliance Party motion which will be debated in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The amended motion reads:

That this Assembly notes that schools may choose to use an examination as part of their entry criteria under the Minister of Education’s 2010 guidelines; calls on the Minister of Education to ensure the provision of a CCEA test, as she previously proposed, for a maximum period of two years; believes that no school should be allowed to admit its full year 8 pupil quota using the outcomes of that test alone or using any other test; recommends also admission criteria outlined in the Minister’s document transfer 2010 and welcomes the first criterion as a means of ensuring all schools help to tackle social deprivation; and further calls on the Minister of Education to set up a new educator-led working group tasked with building a sustainable consensus on non-selective transfer whose recommendations the Executive and the Assembly would use as the basis for legally binding regulations from 2011 at the latest.

This move will be welcomed by educators and parents who have been placed in an impossible situation since the Minister’s unilateral decision to end the 11plus without having any replacement system in place. It will be interesting to see how the other parties react to what appears to be a genuine attempt to show some leadership on this issue.