Stats

Posted on November 16, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

This has obviously been a highly political week. And I have been blogging a lot ….not just on “Czar”.

As a consequence, views on this site have been the highest ever. Thru Facebook and Twitter, SDLP colleagues have posted links to this site. As I will be in Texas in February, some folks over there have bookmarked the site as part of their studies on Conflict Resolution.

I have warned them not to take everything……or indeed anything I say……too seriously.

It is actually interesting that a Blog runs the danger of compromising…….to facilitate a changing readership. As there is no financial reward in this site….then I am spared compromising for “commercial” reasons. But somehow it is a different dynamic when blogging for a larger number of people that I anticipated when I started out more than a year ago.

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The Slugger Gift Horse

Posted on November 16, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

An odd thing happened today when I signed into Slugger O’Toole. I was asked to take part in a survey about Slugger O’Toole…….with the prospect of winning a new cell phone.

As I am the Sea-Green Incorruptible….I declined to take part in the survey. I have made my views on the letsgetalongerist liberal unionist discussion board very clear on a number of occasions and on a number of places. I do not see any point in taking part in a pretty pointless survey.

Meanwhile………a number of Nigerian folks have emailed me to advise me of how rich I will become very rich by helping them with some means of getting some cash out of Nigeria. It all sounds above board. What could possibly go wrong?

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Does SDLP “Need” Journalists?

Posted on November 16, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

I have often thought that I would make a great Press Officer. I dont know what the SDLP Press Office looks like. I hope it has a kinda public counter…….where the great and the mediocre of Norn Iron journalism get the latest “press release”.

That is my kinda job. “Let me just check if you are on the list, Mr Mallie”. “Do you have any identification Mr Devenport?”. “Mr Emerson, I have removed you from the list because you have a potty mouth”. “Im sorry Mr Slugger O’Toole, that is not journalism”.

I have put my theory on SDLP-Press Relations to more than one SDLP politician. It has been suggested to me that I am the kinda person who should not be allowed anywhere near a Press Office. I “dont have the right qualities”…….well I think I have exactly the right qualities.

I bought the “Irish News” three times this week. That is £2.10 I will never see again…..Tom Kelly, Brian Feeney and Newton Emerson all wrote about the SDLP Conference. And Tom, Brian and Potty Mouth were not complimentary.

The layout in Armagh City Hotel provided a perfect illustration in how journalism works. Standing or sitting at the back of the Hall I observe that  it seems normal practice for a journalist to leave a speech or debate about one minute before it ends. In the foyer…..or lobby……they ambush SDLP figures, some of whom seem ambushed by appointment. Incidently journalists are distinguishable at SDLP Conferences. They are the people who wear the poppies.

Then a few minutes after the ambush, it is possible to log on to Twitter and see a journalist tweet “SDLP sources say….” .

How helpful is all this?

Iam not for one moment suggesting SDLP need to break off contact with journalists. I am merely suggesting that things should be put into perspective. There is inevitably a core group of politicians at the heart of the SDLP, backed up by councillors, executive members, staffers, active and passive members and 95,000 voters who are entitled to know more about what is going on in the SDLP  than any journalist.

When all is said and done, “Mark”, “Eamonn”, “Potty Mouth”, “Malachi”, “Ken”, “Suzanne”, “Fionnualla”, “Sam” and the rest dont pay a £20 annual subscription.

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P A MagLochlainn RIP

Posted on November 15, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

The SDLP was saddened today when news filtered thru that “PA” had died eraly this morning.

He was unable to attend the SDLP Conference at the weekend. Perhaps it is fitting that SDLP passed a resolution on Equal Marriage. “PA” was of course better known in the wider Norn Iron community as a leading activist for Gay, Lesbian & Transgendered Rights.

Probably, one of the most popular SDLP members, he will be sorely missed…especially in South Belfast. One of those people I only really chatted to on two occasions. He was….as we say……”good craic”.

He has left a legacy. The SDLP is much more diverse. We tend to throw words like “diversity” around. It is a buzz word. But “PA” was diverse before it became fashionable.  And almost single-handedly he has widened our appreciation of Human & Civil Rights. To his partner, Barry and family, I extend my sympathy.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. May he rest in Peace.

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“Irish News” Today

Posted on November 14, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

I have received a couple of emails asking me to comment on Brian Feeney’s colum in the “Irish News” today. This necessitated me walking down to the local shop at 6pm. I spare no effort on behalf of my readers.

Essentially Brian Feeney ridicules the SDLP Conference and like his fellow columnist Tom Kelly (“Irish News” on Monday) paints Dolores Kelly, Deputy Leader of SDLP as the villain of the piece. As Brian puts it, she undermined Alasdair McDonnell by bringing up the subject of  “Opposition” …….and thus set the tone for the series of after-Conference interviews where Alasdair appeared uncomfortable.

I regard Brian Feeney as an honest commentator. Indeed for nearly a year, I refused to correct the Alliance contingent on Slugger O’Toole…….they actually believed I was Brian Feeney.

There is no point in trying to bluff him into believing that relationships within SDLP are always or even occasionally or indeed ever harmonious. He could write a book about the SDLP….or to put it another way…..he HAS written a book about the SDLP.

Where his colleague, Tom Kelly is certainly right…….there are RETIRED SDLP figures who are addicted to plotting and intrigue and use proxies to further that. That tends to irritate me. It irritates a lot of people.

But this is actually different from the “Opposition” debate. About this I am neutral. The extent to which the SDLP can cling to the Good Friday Agreement is questionable. So much (Irish Language Act, Bill of Rights, Victims) has not been implemented and so much has been implemented badly. Easy to say that SDLP & UUP in charge would have been better…….I actually doubt that. But really only SDLP had the intent of operating it with a degree of good grace. They hopelessly over-estimated Unionism. And frankly that was naive.

And of course an agreement founded on Creative Ambiguity is possibly doomed to fail.

As Seamus Mallon put it……the Good Friday Agreement is “Sunningdale for Slow Learners”. As I put it a few years ago The St Andrews Agreement is “the Good Friday Agreement for slow learners”. And as I put it now ….there is another agreement waiting to be signed……in five or ten years time and probably the SDLP will come to a point where they decide to work towards the next agreement rather than try and save the Good Friday Agreement.

Opposition is something the SDLP MIGHT choose…..and that would be a debate. But on the other hand the collapse of the Executive thru external forces might force the choice.

As I have said….Brian Feeney is an honest commentator who not only has the pulse of the nationalist voter. He is also a leader of nationalist opinion. It would be folly to dismiss his opinions.

Where is perhaps wrong is to think that SDLP is in terminal decline. Many people.including Brian Feeney himself formed or joined the SDLP in its early days. They joined in BAD TIMES…not good times. Just like a lot of younger folk are doing these days.

There is all to play for.

 

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Poppy Gate (James McClean)…A Guest Post

Posted on November 14, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

This is a guest post from Mr James FitzjamesHorse (who is related to Mrs FitzjamesHorse and  me ….thru being born)

When will James McClean learn? The Republic of Ireland international and son of Derry just loves rubbing unionism up the wrong way. The poppy bullies were out in full force this weekend along with McClean’s no 1 detractor Gregory Campbell to widely condemn his “abuse” of freedom of choice.

In Campbell’s defence the young Sunderland winger has made a habit of making personal choices not popular with the DUP member from East Derry. The vitriol in the aftermath of the incident is something I’m sure McClean was prepared for which makes his decision all the more brave.

The young lad is from Derry where, unless you’ve been living in England (judging by people’s reactions on twitter) for the past 40 years, you will be aware that British paratroopers murdered 14 innocent civilians in 1972.  This is not debatable…. it is a historical fact. I think McClean’s association with the city of Derry entitles him more than most to decline to be seen supporting a charity which helps services and ex-services of the British armed forces. Or does the poppy appeal only help the good ones that don’t kill innocent civilians?

And here in lies the problem. The rest of the worlds view of the British army (or indeed of all world powers) may not be the same as the high esteem they are held in at home. In other words they don’t always fight the good fight. For every Kosovo there is an Iraq. For every D-Day there is a Dresden. It seems only non-Britons are able to understand this.

I think great credit has to be given to McClean’s manager Martin O’Neill. Although O’Neill himself wore a poppy after the game, he made McClean’s decision much easier by not dropping him which I’m sure McClean’s detractors would have thought justified. It was good to see. I myself am not inclined to wear a poppy but had I been in McClean’s shoes with a less understanding manager it may have influenced my choice. O’Neill afforded McClean his own choice.

There has been a complete air of inevitability about this situation since Premier League teams were required to wear poppies (2010 I believe it was required or a least convention). And while most teams opt for the simple understated poppy some clubs opt for poppies twice the size with “lest we forget” emblazoned across them. One if those clubs is Rangers(both pre 2012 and current). Now this may well be a coincidence but as club traditionally associated with loyalism this could be said to play on that tradition? The point being, just as the British armed forces have a mixed reputation, the poppies have a mixed meaning to people even within Britain. Some wear it to remember the fallen, some to support those in contemporary wars, some DO wear it as a badge of unionism and some as a pointless fashion accessory(see the oversized sparkly ones on tv). The rest choose not to wear it, again for varying reasons. By not respecting James McClean’s right not to wear one, the poppy doesn’t lose meaning, it just loses the meaning that the very critics who are outraged by McClean’s decision tell you it is.

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SDLP Pottinger

Posted on November 14, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

I hope my good friend Seamas de Faoite does not mind me using this Pottinger SDLP “logo”. I was struck by the quotation. I am increasingly convinced we are in a new phase.

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Around The Councils

Posted on November 13, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

A few snippets from around the Councils.

Mickey Coogan, Chair of Down Council, has left Sinn Féin. Seems it is nothing more than the usual in-fighting and personality clash. Sinn Féin is a minor player on Down Council. I dont see any real legal problem. It is a power-sharing council. It was SFs turn to take the Chair in May. The other councilors fully expected him and SF to be there until May next year. Nor is it likely that SF will object to a man from the same  political “gene pool” chairing the Council.

Of course, it is always a bit of a laugh when people in same party fall out. Down Council area……partly in Strangford and South Down constituencies is not a big SF area……one of the few areas where SDLP is dominant. Coogan was a candidate in the 2010 Assembly Election (Strangford) and it could be he is being eased out in favour of Naomi Bailey from the Ards Peninsula.

This story merits a thread on Slugger O’Toole.Which is fair enough………but a double standard…..for as yet Slugger has not noted that Cllr Frank McCoubrey, previously of the UDP (which spoke for the terrorist organisation UDA) has now joined the DUP on Belfast City Council.

A fellow member of the UDP was John “Coco” White……….who as a UDA/UFF man stabbed Cllr Paddy Wilson (SDLP) to death in North Belfast in 1973.

UPDATE: A thread on Frank McCoubrey has now been posted on Slugger O’Toole.

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Strabane Branch SDLP

Posted on November 12, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

The Dan McAreavey Trophy is awarded annually to the SDLP Party member who has made a  significant contribution to the Party. The winner is announced just before the Party Leader’s speech.

This year it was a joint award……..honouring an Individual and a Branch.

Just before the 2011 Council/Assembly Elections, it was widely predicted that SDLP would be wiped out on the Strabane Council. It was a prediction that almost came true. Patsy Kelly taking a seat in Mourne DEA.

As readers of this blog will know, I only re-joined the SDLP in August 2011, after a thirty year sabbatical. The nature of being an “independent pan-nationalist” blogger is different from being a “SDLP” blogger………and yet I have to maintain a certain credibility. I am occasionally privy to information that only a SDLP member knows…….and a recurring topic of SDLP conversation during 2012 has been that something remarkable has been happening in Strabane.

Put simply, the local SDLP wanted to know where they had gone wrong. And the message they got from the Strabane doorsteps was that the people of Strabane never left the SDLP………..”the SDLP had left the people of Strabane”, that was the honest message delivered in his acceptance speech by Daniel Wray McCrossan (pictured above).

I am privy to numbers but I wont discuss them here. Suffice to say that the Miracle of Strabane is that local people have signed up in droves. Why? Because Sinn Féin have taken local votes for granted. Because people, especially in times of Civil Rights abuses…and welfare cuts …people actually need a strong SDLP.

This of course resonates with the SDLP. It resonates with me. I did not join the SDLP aged 59 because it was a success story. I joined because it was at a low point. I had to do something. Just like the people of Strabane…..and of course Strabane is only the most obvious example of revival. A number of “new” SDLP members in Strabane are among forty or so “local representatives” appointed to target seats in several DEAs and assist MLAs and Councillors.

I am actually quite pleased to be able to publish this in a blog. People have been asking. “where is the evidence for SDLP revival”. It has happening quietly under the radar across the North.

And for good measure Daniel was elected to the SDLP Executive.

 

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Fergus Gets Recognised

Posted on November 12, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

The Dan McAreavey Trophy is awarded annually to the SDLP Party member who has made a  significant contribution to the Party. The winner is announced just before the Party Leader’s speech.

This year it was a joint award……..honouring an Individual and a Branch.

I was sitting at the back of the Conference Hall………and as it emerged that the individual award was “a man from Mid Ulster”…….there was an audible whisper “its Fergus!”. And yes it was Fergus Quinn. An extremely popular winner because he represents what the SDLP is all about. If you really want to understand the SDLP………..its not about Alasdair, Dolores, Alex, Patsy and Conall………..it is about Fergus. Fergus (from Maghera)is a member of the Sperrin Branch. I first met him at a SDLP Youth Quiz in Belfast in March this year. He had travelled up from Mid Ulster with a team to support the Youth Group. As I was leaving Lavery’s Bar, he came up and said “You’re Fitzjames Horse……..I just want to tell you that youre doing a great job on the blogging”.

I have to be honest here. That meant a lot to me because I was wondering who actually reads this stuff. And somehow Fergus made me feel that I was getting thru to REAL people in the REAL SDLP. I am grateful for that.

And he is a deserved winner of the Dan McAreavey Trophy.

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