Claudy report findings are sickening

Colleagues have spoken eloquently and powerfully about today’s Police Ombudsman’s Report into the Claudy bombings. None more so the Ivan Cooper.

Its findings are sickening. The victims and their families were let down by the police, the government and the church. The so called republican’s – IRA men – who planted the bombs have never had the courage to accept responsibility for their actions. Even today Sinn Fein spokespeople are spinning on the report’s findings rather the facing up to their responsibilities.

Today’s report tells us one thing we already knew. That there was collusion to protect a priest who deserved to be tried and subjected to the full rigours of the justice system.

There are also lessons for the new Northern Ireland in this report.

The first is that political policing always fails. The RUC were wrong to ‘protect’ the church and the lack of accountability made that possible. That’s why the SDLP wants MI5’s involvement in security here ended. As long as there are those who are not accountable with influence over policing there will always be the possibility of another cover up.

The second is that the legacy of the past is the present. We need to develop a mechanism to deal with the past and provide truth to those who seek it. Ignoring the problem or simply wishing it away will never address the right to some sort of closure victims and their families have.

SDLP Leader, Ritchie: Time for North – South fightback against dissidents

Margaret Ritchie has asked for urgent meetings with Taoiseach, Brian Cowen and Secretary of State,  Owen Paterson to press the need for new approaches to dealing with the threat of dissident violence.

In a statement issued this afternoon the SDLP Leader said:

It is time for everyone to face up to some inconvenient political truths about this violence. It is now very clear that MI5 is not up to the task of leading intelligence-gathering in the north. By sidelining or standing down their political wings the dissident gangs have cut the flow of human intelligence.

This internal security strategy, which also involves deliberate avoidance of mobile phones, is being driven by ONH which is now acting as a secure superstructure for all the groups. And that brings us to the most inconvenient political truth of all, because enhanced security and reduced danger of informants is permitting and encouraging a flow of Provisional expertise into all the dissident groups. This reality must no longer be denied just because it makes some people uncomfortable, for it has raised the threat level enormously.

There is no evidence that MI5 puts a high priority on the dissident threat beyond providing some signals and background intelligence, which may amount to nothing more than listening to gossip and monitoring a few dodgy websites. The whole point about MI5 intelligence primacy since 2007 is that it was really just a political fix designed to ease Sinn Fein’s path onto the Policing Board and thus into power in the Executive. Nor does MI5 have to explain its deplorable lack of effectiveness because it operates beyond our policing accountability structures.

The SDLP believes we need an aggressive, high-profile, all-Ireland intelligence-gathering operation based on the bond of trust which has grown between police and public. We believe the relative success of An Garda Siochana demonstrates the need for a new approach and that the PSNI should again lead intelligence-gathering in the north. We believe the people will rally to protect their accountable, representative policing service if they are asked properly.  I will be pressing An Taoiseach and the Secretary of State to raise north-south policing and intelligence-gathering to a new level now, before we suffer another major tragedy.

What next for progressive politics and positive nationalism

I spoke with Alan in Belfast at the Slugger breakfast about the possible reaction writing unionism to this election result.

Will there be a super unionist party by the end of the summer? And what will it trigger a counter reaction?

Conall McDevitt challenging civil society to engage … quickly from Alan in Belfast on Vimeo.

The SDLP, renewal and a new nationalism

Carmel Hanna has announced she will be stepping down from the Assembly in the coming months. The party owes Carmel a lot. She has excelled in office and as a constituency representative. The party’s representation has grown in South Belfast during her tenure and the SDLP is now the largest party in the constituency with Alasdair McDonnell MP for this increasingly diverse part of the city.

There will be an internal party process to replace her which will culminate on December 9th. All members resident in South Belfast will have a say in who takes up the role. That’s over 300 people and I know there will be great debate over the coming weeks about who should take on this important role. I will be asking members whether they think I am the sort of person they would like to see succeeding Carmel. So far the feedback has been very positive.

In today’s Belfast Telegraph I argue the SDLP does have a big future if it renews polticially and in personality terms.  The full text is below.

SDLP starts hunt for new MPs

The SDLP has written to all party members asking anyone interested in being considered for a nomination to contest the next Westminster election to apply now.

This is the first time to my knowledge that the an open application system has been used by a major Northern party and is taking place under the stewardship of the party’s CEO, Michael Savage.

To date candidates were picked following a nomination process within constituencies with all nominees going forward to convention. The new process which has two new stages, written application and interview, will lead to a short list on which members can vote at convention.

Similar systems have been used by parties in GB for many years and have been credited for the renewal that took place in the British Labour Party in the 90’s and is currently taking place in the Conservative Party.

The feedback I have received from inside the party has been positive. Many members welcome the creation of an open application system.

The process is being conducted by constituency. The applications for Foyle and South Belfast close on September 7th whilst members considering a run in  North Down or East Belfast have until October 26th.

Interviews will be complete for all eighteen constituencies by November 9th allowing selection conventions to take place in the run up to Christmas and early next year.

New nationalism now needed

What is obvious about Sinn Fein’s current woes and the SDLP’s stagnation is that a new nationalism is needed on the island of Ireland. You could of course argue a similar case to modernise British nationalism (unionism) here but ill dedicate this blog to the former. .

No major political party is seeking to recast the old nationalism’s which have shaped 20th century Irish politics into relevant expressions of identity and ambition fit for the 21st century.

As Belfast academic Richard English notes in his recent tome, nationalism remains one of the most succesful forms of political expression around the globe for good reason. It transcends, class and generation. It has the capacity to bridge creed and often provides a shared space for those of differing (left-right) ideological outlooks. Whilst Connolly said the cause of Labour is the Cause of Ireland,  it is also true for the very many of a ‘nationalist’ outlook on this island the cause of business or indeed the cause of science are also the cause of Ireland.

Unity is the central objective of Irish nationalism. The lack of agreement between the large nationalist parties on this island about what a united Ireland might look like is arguably the greatest threat to it ever achieving its central objective.  Because of the absence of an agreed vision of unity, it has become a party political issue with different nationalist parties seeking to ‘out green’ each other on an issue which should really unite them.

There is a constituency looking for a new Ireland.

Younger generations are disinterested in re-running the old battles of the past. Old ideologues are looking increasingly out of touch and old ideologies feel more and more irrelevant to the lives and challenges facing ordinary working people and families across this island.

The time has come for some positive and progressive nationalism. Credible on unity but not solely defined by it. Capable of speaking to working families, business people and international investors in language they understand. Strong on conversation and not confrontation, with sustainability at its heart and innovation in its DNA. A modern politics for a 21st century Ireland. in short a politics that can ignite conversations and unlock ambition in every county at the same time as being respectful and credible to unionism.

Before we can develop a stratgy fro unity we need a vision for this island not just in 2016 but in 2026 and beyond.

This is the great opportunity for a new generation of Irish politicians ansd civic leaders.

We need an SDLP – UUP alternative

Patrick Murphy had a typically thought provoking piece in yesterday’s Irish News about the need for an ‘Opposition’ at Stormont which was also covered on Slugger.

Mr Murphy’s central premise is that some day the North will need to consider whether compulsory power sharing is working. This is not a new argument. Last year Mark Durkan raised the issue in the context of a debate around a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights.

The Irish News columnist has a point:

In the old Stormont, the opposition was ignored.  In the new Stormont, the opposition has been abolished.  How democratic is a parliament without an opposition?  Advocates of the new system argue that it brings political benefits.  But does it?  It gives constitutional authority to sectarianism and promotes political schizophrenia.  Both the DUP and Sinn Féin claim the other is the enemy, within a supposedly partnership government.  Do nationalists benefit by having nationalist ministers?  For example, would our roads policy be different if Arlene Foster replaced Conor Murphy as regional development minister?

But does a focus on the structures of government take away from other significant weaknesses in Northern politics?

Adversarial, winner takes all, politics with clear governments and opposition is the way here in the UK and Ireland but not everywhere. The American system is much more complex as is the French one. Not to mention Isreal or Belgium, both of which have systems in which power is effectively shared between different offices which may or may not be held by representatives of the same party.

Our system doesn’t make politics more difficult it just makes it different. What is worrying is that the weakness of our political parties may be the real issue which is undermining the opportunity for government here.

Neither SF or the DUP will score well on their record in Government. To date the Executive they both lead has distinguished itself for inaction rather than results and this is very unlikely to change in the run up to the 2010 UK General Election and the 2011 Assembly poll. This is not because they have a free run in institutional terms with no opposition breathing down their necks - it is because they are being measured by their support base on their ability to stand up to each other rather then work together. That said we do need to ask whether to some extent the SDLP and UUP are letting them away with it.

I see no great public desire to see instability return to Stormont. As much as it pains many who are ambitious for the North, the basic threshold for success in the public mind appears to be stability. The vast majority of Northern voters seem willing to reward parties who stay together. That they are achieving very little whilst doing so is not an issue as there is nobody offering an alternative which would also be stable.

So heads down and do nothing then?

With the exception of the 60,000 who support the TUV the other million voters in NI seem supportive of powersharing and devolution.

If either the SDLP or UUP were to leave the Executive they would stand accused of fostering instability. But that does not mean they cannot change they way they work together and inside and outside the Executive. Right now is not so much a debate about opposition but one about alternatives.

There is nothing in the structures of government which would prevent the UUP and SDLP from developing common positions on key issues.

Education is an obvious example. Agree the basic principles of a workable system based on academic excellence and social justice, possibly with pupil choice at 14 and at least both parties could demonstrate that Irish and British people who call this region home can agree on important issues.

Tackling our divisions is another. Commit to a shared future and stand together against sectarianism and racism.

Even on the economy there is very little on which the DUP and SF agree.  This creates yet another opportunity for the UUP and the SDLP. They should agree a real Green New Deal and have the courage to publish it as an alternative response to the current recession.

All this does not in any way prejudice either party’s nationalism or unionism. No more than it would prejudice the Green Party, Alliance or PUP if they were to support agreed positions. What it would illustrate is that our two communities and their representatives can work together and share a commitment to the success of this region and its people. This would be a real platform for change.

The system can be reviewed till the cows come home but real change will come when nationalists and unionists start really sharing power and working together for the betterment of all.  The DUP and SF seem unable or unwilling to do this. The question is whether the SDLP and UUP could?

Bloggers launch

Heading over the SDLP bloggers’ launch at ten.

Will post from the gig with the party PPB on YouTube.

Who is serious about unity?

The word on O’Conall Street is that the Irish government does want a border poll this side of 2020. Sinn Fein are trialing all over the North outlining their ‘Strategy for Unity’. Can’t tell you what the strategy is because they don’t let the press attend these public meetings and they have never published a policy paper on the matter, unlike the SDLP did in 2005.

But this is a debate which extends well beyond nationalism. For a United Ireland to become a reality, Irish nationalists will need to have convinced a significant part of the unionist community that a yes vote is not such a bad thing and that their identity, rights and economic status will not be affected by a unitary state. In other words unity will only be true when it unites people and their representatives have a lot of talking to do before they can claim to be united. The divisions are not just in Northern Ireland. There is a fault line between North and South built on seventy years of jurisdictional disparity. In the South church and state coexist in a way which has worked well for the 26 counties but would be unsustainable in a united Ireland and several generations have ignored the North, wishing it away with the coarse remark that ‘you are all the same up there’. Southerners do not understand northern nationalists and despite a constitutional claim over the territory which lasted until ‘98, bizarrely see unionists as foreigners.

Stephen King, the former UUP advisor, tells the story of when Bertie Ahern apologised to the UUP delgation after they were asked to remove their poppies before a meeting with him. That was back in the run up to the agreement. Ahern was right. The poppy is precious to very many people on this island and that is something we simply need to accept. It is also means something to tens of thousends of Irish nationalists who lost their ancestors in the First World War.  To describe it as offensive is to stand there waiting to be offended. There are very many symbols, British and Irish, which will not survive in the new Ireland. I think the poppy will and so it should. But poppies won’t put money in your pocket no more than you can eat a flag.

When communities prosper they have the opportunity move on. When people’s standard of living goes up their insecurities go down. The south maybe be more postnationalist today then twenty years ago and that is partly down to its  recent prosperity. The north will prosper too and with increased wealth, spread across the whole community, attitudes will change and priorities will shift. A stakeholder society will replace and dependency one.

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.