Time for a Real Debate on Irish Unity

It's time for the nationalist parties of Ireland to get serious about Irish unity. We need to move beyond the bland, meaningless rhetoric voiced by some and begin a real discussion about the way forward.

Mark Durkan has called for The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation to be reconvened to discuss unity. The forum was working on a paper on unity but at that time Sinn Fein refused to accept the principle of consent. They have now accepted consent through their support for the Good Friday Agreement.

The SDLP has a vision for a united Ireland. Our vision is based on the principle that minorities must be protected and included in future constitutional arrangements. This is why we believe that the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement must remain in some form as a way of ensuring that unionism feels part of the new Ireland we want to build.

The SDLP's role up to now has been as a persuader for peace and equality now we must become a persuader for unity. At a time when many of our marginalised young people are being lured by violent extremists posing as patriots we must offer them an alternative vision for Ireland. We need to show them the value of our republicanism. Our republicanism is based on uniting the people of Ireland through peace. It's about respecting the two great traditons on this island and uniting them under a new banner of peace, equality and social justice.

We are not interested in bullying, cajoling or out-breeding unionism. We want those people who identify themselves as British to feel comfortable living in a united Ireland. Our job is to persuade protestants that that they will be treated as equals and that their culture and history will be celebrated as part of a new, diverse united Ireland.

The people of Ireland, north and south, need to be persuaded of the value of a united Ireland. This is why we must reconvene the Forum. We need to agree a vision and a strategy for uniting Ireland. We can hardly expect to persuade unionism of the value of unity if we can't come up with a coherhant strategy for nationalism.

Sinn Fein have organised meetings around the world on Irish Unity, they are talking about 2016 as a date for completion. They need to get real. Would it not be better to hold meetings here in Ireland with the people who can actually deliver it. Let's leave out the stunts and the slick PR. Let's forget about the headline grabbing dates and let's get down to the serious business of building a country.

Dissidents and Sinn Fein need lesson in democracy

Dissidents in Derry today disrupted a meeting of the DPP. It is clear that the people involved in this protest have no respect for the democratic process. In a democracy people are entitled to protest against whatever they like. They are not, however, allowed to intimidate or bully people taking part in meetings such as this.

The public meeting was advertised to begin at 11.30am. In fact the meeting began at 10.45am. SDLP members of the DPP and ordinary members of the public began arriving at around 11am. At this point they were refused entry to the room and when they finally got in they were informed by the Sinn Fein Chairperson that the meeting was over. In my view the meeting was invalid and needs to be run again.

We can not allow anti-democratic elements within dissident republicanism to stop us from going about our daily business and contributing to the democratic life of our city. Equally, in standing up to these people, we can not go down the road of holding supposedly public meetings at a different time to that publicly advertised, quickly running through the business in a way that can only suggest that we are ashamed of what we are doing.

Sinn Fein excluded the SDLP from today's meeting. This is undemocratic and it is not within Sinn Fein's gift to unilaterally decide to change the time of these meetings.

Before Sinn Fein joined the policing board our party members faced intimidation from SF activists at meetings such as this. The SDLP faced them down and we will face these people down. We will not accept sham meetings nor will we be excluded.

Tragic crash in Culmore

A man has died in a tragic road accident in Culmore. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.

The stretch of road where this happened has claimed other lives recently. We must now learn any lessons from this and ensure this never happens again.

Changed times?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been up to my eyes with this election and couldn't seem to find the time to update the site. I'm going Blackberry shopping tomorrow though so the blog will be updated much more regularly.

We're all anxiously awaiting the results of Thursday's European Election. With differing accounts of tallies coming out of the verification on Friday it's difficult to make sense of what happened. What I know to be true however is that Alban Maginness and all SDLP activists fought a very good campaign.

Hopefully we can take a seat but I'm not going to speculate on that - we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. What is clear is that the SDLP is determined to stay on a constant election footing. We are certain that with continued hard work we can improve our electoral position.

Tomorrow's results will, I'm sure, have massive consequences for Unionism and for the political system here. If Jim Allister has polled has well as some people are suggesting and if he can transfer that into a significant number of seats for the TUV at the Westminster and Assembly elections then things have changed and changed utterly.

What now for the arrogance and swagger of the DUP? What now for the devolution of Policing and Justice? What now for power-sharing? The numbers will be very interesting!

Time For Decent Bus Service For Culmore

Culmore is an area that has grown rapidly in recent years. However the population growth has not been matched by an increased provision of public services. In particular, Culmore is the largest area of Derry not to have a proper bus service.

Translink do not operate a service to Culmore as the licence has been granted to a private operator. Translink is the public operator that provides the bus service right across the city and as such should be granted the licence to operate in Culmore. People in Culmore are entitled to the same service as people across Derry.

I have had discussions with the relevant ministers and put the case for Culmore. I am aware that Translink has again applied for the licence for Culmore. It is now imperative that they are granted the license so that the people of Culmore can enjoy the same level of public transport provisions as the rest of Derry.

Culmore Gatherings Must End

The large-scale gatherings of teenagers in Culmore at the weekends has to end parents who know that their children are visiting or congregating in the area should exercise more responsibility.

Residents in Culmore have been tortured every weekend by huge groups of teenagers many of whom are drinking and causing mayhem. They are standing in the middle of the Culmore Point road and intimidating local residents.

It is understandable that residents are fed up with this activity and want an end put to it.
I have spoken to Foyle Commander Chris Yates about this and he has assured me that he will be mounting an operation in the area to put an end to this activity.

These young people are coming from all over Derry and congregating in the area.
They are being dropped off in taxis or by their parents. I am calling on all parents who know that their children are visiting or congregating in Culmore to exercise more responsibility.

We have to stop this activity. However, the police can’t be expected to have all the answers. It is also up to parents to do their bit to help stop this sort of activity happening in the first place.