Comments on South Belfast Diary: Political support and voting in Northern Ireland

Ciaran - Perhaps I shoudl have made it plainer tha...

2008-06-18T19:59:00.000+01:00

Ciaran - Perhaps I shoudl have made it plainer that I'm talking about the Irish LP not the British LP, so our problem might be more the opposite, i.e. that we'd be seen as a nationalist party. But we're trying to get away from being defined in these terms, see:

http://www.labour.ie/northernireland/statement2006.html

It's not that we try to ignore the border, but it's increasingly irrelevant to the lives of everyone on the island at the moment - although of course for many (not all) it's important culturally to be seem as Irish or British. There's more in the link, but perhaps I should expend on this fuether in a separate post? But to start - I've said in various forms that I have yet to have it explained to me how my life will be better or worse depending upon which capitalist state I live in, the Republic or the UK.

Is Labour considered a 'third space' party? It's s...

2008-06-18T10:44:00.000+01:00

Is Labour considered a 'third space' party? It's seen in Scotland and Wales as a unionist party, why would that be any different in the Six Counties?

DC - good points, but where does the new start sta...

2008-05-02T22:43:00.000+01:00

DC - good points, but where does the new start start? 'Peace' provides new opportunities for people to get involved in politics who quite understandably wouldn't have before, but in the short term they will have to engage with the poeple who are in power now. This requires vision and a long-term approach.

And I don't think we'll ever get rid of egotistical politicians, which is why every party needs a strong grass roots to keep them in order.

I think Northern Ireland requires new approaches p...

2008-05-02T11:18:00.000+01:00

I think Northern Ireland requires new approaches post-GFA Jenny. I have been thinking along those lines like you suggest Centrist constitutional positions with a left-social policy.

However, current politics is still very egotistical and that is prevalent throughout all the parties, a case in point is the zealous guarding of the 'Opposition' which is not a good idea and is something that stood out to highlight the egotisticial nature of things.

It's a good post, well worth further debate but I cant help but think a working up from grassroots sown from new seed is required. Schools, university and onwards, utilising the space from political peace to hatch new ideas. It's getting the stickiness to create momentum and people really are pressed for time and that's when leadership and good interpersonal skills come into play.

Our egotistical politicians hamper the interpersonal approach. New start if you ask me.

Yes, perhaps I was a little harsh there! It'll be ...

2008-04-30T22:24:00.000+01:00

Yes, perhaps I was a little harsh there! It'll be interesting to see how the new few years go, with the Greens, Alliance (getting more radical IMO, and very good on diversity) and possibly Labour coming along too. Maybe between us we can form a 'radical centre' i.e. radical in a left/ right sense but centre in a community background sense. If that makes any sense.

I think at the time NIWC appealed to me because th...

2008-04-29T13:13:00.000+01:00

I think at the time NIWC appealed to me because they seemed to be the only party talking about issues in a non-secular way. My willingness to quickly jump on their bandwagon is perhaps a testimony to the need for more independent parties.

There must be a lot of people in your situation, F...

2008-04-28T20:10:00.000+01:00

There must be a lot of people in your situation, FG - I'm sure some people aren't telling the truth about who they vote for, and others of course vote tactically at the time (I've certainly done this - but of course this still leaves lots of others, as I said. Not sure about the NIWC myself, they were a great catalyst in the GFA negotiations but I wasn't quite sure what else they had going for them apart from being women, which might be why they didn't survive 'peace'.

I am using similar information in one aspect of my...

2008-04-28T11:25:00.000+01:00

I am using similar information in one aspect of my research. It is such an important issue for me both professionally and personally. Although I am not entitled to vote in NI until the end of this year, my husband 'shares' his vote with me - we discuss the issues and make a decision together. I can't tell you how difficult we find choosing a candidate who we feel represents us. If only we still had the Women's Coalition!