SDLP conference: McDonnell sets out priorities
SDLP delegates took stock of Alasdair McDonnell’s first year in leading the party at their annual conference in Armagh. Frustration with their time in government is resulting in a new debate about going into opposition. Peter Cheney reports.
One year on from his election as SDLP leader, Alasdair McDonnell appeared to have found his stride when articulating his party’s values but internal dissent was not far away at the SDLP conference, in Armagh on 9-10 November.
The conference, in the socialist tradition, allows members to decide policy and this year’s decisions included a partial rejection of the leader’s plans to reorganise the party.
McDonnell is a more confident public speaker than Margaret Ritchie. His speech was long, and the expected applause did not occur at some points, but it did set out his stall on a wide range of issues.
“Violence achieves nothing but pain, heartache, loss and pits neighbour against neighbour,” he said, after paying tribute to prison officer David Black.
“Savage welfare cuts” would “consolidate and entrench inequality for a generation” and McDonnell, angry by his own admission, promised that the SDLP “will win this battle”. The party leader did see a case for welfare reform “to limit abuses and to focus available funds on those most in need” but claimed that the Coalition Government was disingenuous.
He challenged Sinn Féin to vote against the Assembly’s Welfare Reform Bill if it was sincere about opposing the changes. The “complacent and paralysed” Executive also attracted his ire, with Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness settling for “gestures and photo calls at sporting events” while delaying the cohesion, sharing and integration strategy.
Sinn Féin, he demanded, should tell the truth about republicans’ role in the conflict. McDonnell acknowledged that “the protection of the peace process has been used as a barrier to progress on truth and reconciliation issues” but said that this was no longer the case.
His most stinging criticism of republicans centred on the employment tribunal ruling against Conor Murphy over the appointment of Northern Ireland Water’s Chairman: “How’s that for civil rights?” Murphy disputes the ruling and says that he made the decision on merit.
Echoing the words of former Liberal leader David Steel, McDonnell called on members to “go back to your constituency, your branches, and your communities and work with me to rebuild the SDLP and do what is necessary to get us back at the heart of government again.”
The “new phase of politics,” noted by McDonnell refers to the collapse of Fianna Fáil and Michael D Higgins’ election as President, and the need for Ireland to regain its sense of pride and confidence as a nation. The party wants Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour to stay engaged with the North and sees a ‘tri-partisan’ common approach as vital for progress.
On the surface, the SDLP was in a more united mood than last year. McDonnell’s roll-out of 40 local representatives has proved popular as it raises the party’s profile in areas where it has few or no councillors; the recruitment of nine to cover Strabane is seen as a particular success. However, the fervour for localism means that members are sceptical of handing more power to the leader at the centre, hence their rejection of a central elections directorate.
Opposition?
As has been the case since 2007, the SDLP’s ability to deliver on its policies has been constrained by having just one Minister in the Executive.
Deputy leader Dolores Kelly attracted attention by suggesting that the party should consider going into opposition and risked losing its soul in government. Her view sparked debate but McDonnell was adamant that the Executive “won’t work if we’re not there.” Referring to Alex Attwood, he commented: “Our watchdog’s bite is every bit as bad as his bark.”
Kelly told agendaNi that her proposal had “gone down very well” while one of her allies, Craigavon councillor Joe Nelson, added it had the support of a “very large section of party”. However, he would not contemplate leaving government until the structures of a formal opposition were in place: “We’re not going to do anything rash here.”
Conall McDevitt was optimistic that the party could reach out to pro-Europeans (a third of the electorate in his opinion) who were not represented by the current Euro-sceptic MEPs. He saw no contradiction between the party supporting low corporation tax and strong public services; the current tax take in Northern Ireland was “very low” and the change would be phased in over time.
One observer noticed that McDonnell entered to the music of Margaret Ritchie (Let’s Get It Started Now, by Two Door Cinema Club) and left to the music of John Hume (We Will Overcome). The closing song, though, struck a deep chord with delegates. In an emotional moment during the speech, Hume stole the limelight with a standing ovation after McDonnell praised him for his papal knighthood.
Delegates seemed to warm to the conference theme of ‘Respect, Equality and Prosperity for All’. With no elections scheduled until 2014, time is on its side for now but the party has a long way to go to regain ground from Sinn Féin.
Northern support for The Gathering
SDLP branches should organise reunions for The Gathering, the Irish Government’s initiative to bring home tourists with Irish roots, according to one motion proposed in the conference debates. The programme runs through 2013 but Arlene Foster has declined to take part in it.
A total of 118 motions were tabled, many expressing frustration with decisions by fellow Executive parties. The UUP, though, came in for relatively little criticism, suggesting that the SDLP wants to find more common ground with it.
Despite “serious failures and issues”, the SDLP sees a continued role for the Housing Executive, itself a product of the civil rights movement. The party “accepts the constraints of parity” in social security, in the same way that Mark Durkan is cautious about full fiscal devolution to Stormont.
Members opposed the UK Government’s proposed National Crime Agency. They also re-affirmed their support for a 15-council model.
The party endorsed same-sex civil marriage, but SDLP representatives with conservative views will not be obliged to vote for the policy. A counter-motion held that the traditional definition of husband and wife was “the groundstone of society and the cement of its future development”.
Tensions were also visible in the elections and organisation committee’s annual report, with an appeal to all branches to register their membership fees immediately “or lose voting rights.”
