Irish language must be de-politicised before bi-lingual road signs can be considered

The recent consultation exercise launched by the Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy is laughable at best and financially irresponsible at worst at a time of economic crisis and budget cuts.

The financial costs of having staff actually prepare and research the proposals and then to print them, launch them and then sift through all the responses is time and resources much better spent elsewhere. That is before you come to the costs of making new signs and replacing old ones.

But then you come to the actual reasoning behind the road signs. Conor Murphy, Sinn Fein and the SDLP are claiming that it is about development and celebration of our native languages and about a “Shared Future” for Irish (and to a much lesser extent) Ulster-Scots speakers. However, especially in the case of Sinn Fein, the use of Irish language is to foster a sense of Irish identity amongst people likely to be supportive of them. Shared Future doesn’t come into it.

As I spent the first two years of my school life in a small school in rural Donegal, I am very familiar with the Irish language. I have memories of having whole lessons in Irish, having Irish reading books and being able to comprehend Irish. Unfortunately whenever I entered the state education system in Northern Ireland this ability all but left me.

If Conor Murphy was truly interested in Irish language from a Shared Future point of view, he would be looking to de-politicise the language and to make people from a unionist background feel comfortable with its use. For example, perhaps those who advocate an Irish Language Act would be better looking to make the DUP feel comfortable with the prospect rather than hacking into their website and changing it to Irish.

I have memories of occasions when at cross-community political events, Sinn Fein representatives would get up and make rousing speeches in Irish which were clearly unable to be understood by people with no Irish language experience (and quite probably those who had!). The sheer rudeness of addressing people with a language that half the room didn’t understand when everyone in the room understood English only created a further divide between those from Protestant or unionist backgrounds and the Irish language. Of course, those in the room supportive of Sinn Fein appeared delighted by it.

This is the sort of memory of Irish language that comes to light to many people from a unionist background.

Working to achieve genuine cross-community support for the Irish language would be a much longer game for Conor Murphy and Sinn Fein, but ultimately it would be the most productive one.

Then perhaps we could consider bi-lingual road signs…

UKIP entering fray in North Down

A constituent of mine has drawn my attention to the below leaflet which he received posted through his door in the Abbey area of Bangor yesterday.

Front page of leaflet delivered in Bangor by UKIP

Backpage of UKIP leaflet

Firstly I totally disagree with UKIP’s narrow minded view of immigration and the EU. To basically label immigrants as people who simply drain our public resources is abhorrent and neglects the important role that immigrants play in helping support public service delivery eg as doctors, teachers, nurses, police officers etc and in helping support our economy eg shop workers, cleaners, entrepreneurs. 

We even have in Northern Ireland an immigrant as an MLA and a very fine one she is too!

Bangor and North Down generally have good race relations with a number of very active ethnic minority community groups. The emphasis needs to be on helping support immigrants to adapt to life in Northern Ireland and to integrate them into our local communities. UKIP’s “close the door” mentality only inflames tensions; appealing to people’s fears rather than reality.

Secondly the leaflet demonstrates just how much commitment UKIP has to Northern Ireland. The White Cliffs of Dover – hardly a symbol that many people in Northern Ireland will identify with!

It also refers to 1000 people a day coming into Britain to settle. Last time I checked Northern Ireland wasn’t in Britain, it was in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

A local UKIP member has simply handed out the same leaflet here as I am guessing that they delivered in Buckinghamshire in last year’s Westminster election. I’m sorry but if you are serious about making gains in Northern Ireland then you are going to have to work harder than that.

UKIP will no doubt try to present itself as a “non-sectarian centre-right unionist party”. Although these “non-sectarian” credentials can seriously be drawn into question given their previous dalliances with the TUV.

Whilst I have been out delivering leaflets introducing myself to the people of Abbey and informing them what their local Alliance team is doing and what help we can offer them, UKIP is delivering leaflets designed to inflame tensions about immigration with no mention of who they are locally or what they are offering local people.

Northern Ireland has suffered from being a rather insular society. I welcome those coming to settle here with fresh perspectives a different world views. Reminding us that the world is bigger than Northern Ireland can only be a good thing.

A fresh start!

OK so with all the best intentions I started this blog after my selection as the Alliance Westminster candidate in West Tyrone. It turned out that I wasn’t able to devote enough time to maintaining this blog throughout doing campaign-related work for West Tyrone, plus my full-time job and campaigning in North Down where I live…

However I’ve decided to give blogging a go although time will tell how successful this will be! There are a lack of blogs in the Northern Irish blogosphere managed by Alliance-minded individuals so I feel it’s important that these opinions are given a channel to be aired.

My hope is that this blog will not simply be used for me to publicise press releases, but my thoughts and musings on current affairs from the angle of an Alliance activist and liberal thinker. Indeed I may at times stray from mainstream Alliance thinking…

Banning mephedrone isn’t the entire solution

The Home Secretary Alan Johnston was absolutely right when he announced that he was going to ban the “legal-high” mephedrone yesterday and upgrade to being a Class B substance. Mephedrone has reached a level of popularity that no other “legal-high” has achieved.  As a good friend of mine who works with young people said to me, “even those who don’t do drugs are on it”.

Mephedrone is unlikely to have killed anyone directly in isolation of other drugs and alcohol. However the psychological effects of mephedrone appear to be pretty extreme. There is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that mephedrone can trigger, and at least exacerbate depression and paranoia. The change in behaviour of users can be dramatic. Tragically it has been linked to a number of suicides across Northern Ireland in recent months.

However banning mephedrone is clearly not the whole answer. The NI Executive must direct resources to those organisations involved in providing treatment to mephedrone users and to those providing education on it and other drugs. Banning mephedrone at its point of sale in local shops and on the internet will allow agencies to begin to feel like they can cope with the huge volume of people presenting with mephedrone addiction and related mental health conditions.  Government must support these agencies to do so otherwise the long-term impact of having huge numbers of people addicted to this substance and with chronic mental health problems could be devastating.

It is therefore disturbing that many organisations across West Tyrone which specifically deal with young people in terms of engaging with them about drugs and alcohol related issues have had to close or are facing closure because of a lack of funding. I was told by one youth worker from such an organisation that the problem is that it is near impossible to get access to block funding which allows an organisation a relative amount of stability in terms of guaranteed long-term income. The emphasis is currently, however, on providing specific project funding – basically the government providing funding for what it determines that young people need.

It’s about time that we gave frontline organisations the support and security that they need to do the amazing work that they do, rather than trying to micro-manage them. By providing them with a bit of secure funding, we would be allowing them to concentrate on dealing with the mephedrone crisis and other issues, rather than desperately trying to look around for funding to just keep going.

An MP’s role is to serve the people, not their bank account

Well another day, another MP scandal, well actually two scandals today! Last night’s Dispatches programme revealed a number of prominent politicians and ex government ministers prepared to exploit their privileged positions and contacts for money (lots of it, at that). Then this morning I awoke to another scandal involving MPs who were treated by organisations, companies and governments to free foreign trips and then responded by doing favours such as asking Parliamentary Questions, tabling motions, lobbying ministers etc without declaring that they had trips to the respective country in question paid for them.

Great, more things to get thrown in my face on the campaign trail, I think to myself. As if the expenses scandal wasn’t bad enough?

You could be forgiven for wondering if politicians were simply in it for the money and the perks. What ever happened to people who get involved in politics because they are frustrated with injustice in society and want to make a positive difference to people’s lives? What ever happened to politicians who represent the people who elect them, not companies willing to pay them £5000 per day for advice and lobbying?

Of course, not all politicians are ego-centric and money obsessed. I am privileged to know many politicians who are genuinely involved because they want to make a difference.

However, especially in Westminster, there is undoubtedly a culture of secrecy and milking the system for personal gain. It is sad that, rather than MPs realising themselves that the entire system needed reform, it was the media who had to expose the system for what it was.

Certainly, Pat Doherty wasn’t running around telling anyone in West Tyrone that he was claiming £21 000 per year of second-homes allowance for accomodation in London, despite not taking his seat in the House of Commons.

In the upcoming election, we need a new generation to step forward to replace greedy and out of touch MPs.

A new generation of politicians whose priority is to serve the people who elect them rather than serving their personal desire for money and power.

A new generation of politicians who can inspire trust, provide leadership and restore credibility to a damaged political system.

Why I’m running in West Tyrone

Me with the Alliance Party leader David Ford MLA after being selected as the candidate for West Tyrone

Well there’s no turning back, the press release is out and I have been official announced as the Alliance Party’s candidate for the upcoming Westminster election in West Tyrone.

Indeed, I’m sure some will ask why Alliance would bother running in a constituency in which it hasn’t had much electoral success, certainly not in recent times. 

Well, first of all I am running because I believe that everyone should have the chance to vote for a progressive, non-sectarian party that prioritises building a shared future in order to make Northern Ireland one of the best places to live in the world. Having grown up in Omagh, I know the frustrations that many hold about traditional green/orange politics and the desire that many hold for a credible alternative to the type of politics that has failed not just West Tyrone, but Northern Ireland. West Tyrone has showed in recent times that is has been prepared to support Dr Kieran Deeny as an independent cross-community candidate and I will be seeking to attract similar support.

Secondly, I am standing in this election because I feel that I am best placed to serve all of the people living in West Tyrone. The other main parties prioritise making gains for their communities. Well I want to work for the entire community in West Tyrone. We all suffer because of a lack of jobs, we all experience poverty, we all pay the same taxes and we all suffer because of the years of neglect that West Tyrone has received. The demographics of West Tyrone have also changed dramatically in recent years. We now have thousands of people who have made their homes in West Tyrone who do not fit into a traditional Northern Irish cultural tradition. I promise that I will be an MP who serves everyone, be they unionist, nationalist or for those who don’t identify with our traditional cultural traditions.

As we enter into an uncertain period of dissident republican activity, now more than ever, we need politicians who can unite our community, rather than those who play on the divisions.

Thirdly, I believe that West Tyrone needs its voice heard in the House of Commons. The current MP’s policy of abstentionism means that the people of West Tyrone had no say over whether or not we went to war in Iraq or Afghanastan, on whether university tuition fees should have been raised or on whether or not the 10p rate of tax should have been abolished. It is doubtful if any of things would have changed if Pat Doherty had have taken his seat but at least the people of West Tyrone would not have been disinfranchised of their voice on those matters. I believe that I have the youth and vigour to both attend Westminster regularly and be an effective constituency MP.

The campign trail starts now and I am very excited to be embarking on it. I am not  a paper candidate, I will be actively seeking votes from right across West Tyrone in order to win this seat back for the people.