Councillor McGrath Visits Pakistan

In May 2006, SDLP Down District Councillor Colin McGrath was chosen to participate in a study visit to Pakistan. Organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the trip brought together young politicians from Britain, Ireland and Pakistan to discuss issues around relationships between muslim and western communities. Colin was the only person from the North to participate in the project. [read more...]

International Union of Socialist Youth

International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is made up of socialist and social democratic organisations from 100 countries all over the world. IUSY's goal is to put into practice and defend the ideals of democratic socialism, by promoting freedom, human rights, equality, and political solutions to problems. We work with IUSY and it's member organisations to promote mutual understanding and solidarity, to gain a greater understanding of people and nations across the world, and to better inform our international colleagues and comrades about the situation in the North of Ireland.

IUSY World Festival

This July a 6 strong SDLP Youth delegation will travel to Spain for the IUSY World Festival, joining over 7000 activists from across the world for a week of workshops, debate and informal discussion. Former SDLP leader John Hume will be a keynote speaker at the festival.

SDLP Youth member Claire Hanna travelled to Israel and the West Bank as part of a delegation examining citizenship issues and community work of a region in conflict. Claire then travelled to Cyprus to facilitate discussions between Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese women.

Forums

SDLP Youth are active participants in the North South and Inter Isles forums. Set up to reflect the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, the forums are policy weekends that bring together Youth members of political parties from throughout Ireland and Britain. Organised by St Columb’s Park in Derry, sessions take place in various locations, tackling a different issue at each event.

The North South brings together parties across Ireland, while the Inter Isles body incorporates the East West dimension. The themes for discussion are mutually agreed on and events are designed to give delegates the opportunity to explore social policy areas of common concern, and enhance contributions to policy-formulation within their own parties. Conferences include case studies, guest speakers, study visits, and group work and debate, and provide an understanding of the key issues and agencies involved. Each conference takes place from a Friday to a Sunday and include a good social element.
SDLP Youth welcome these events as opportunities to developing good working relationships with other parties, and as opportunitues to contribute to the party’s policy development.

In June 2003 we travelled to Galway to examine ways of Tackling Poverty in Ireland. Representatives from Youth Wings north and south heard from a range of speakers and visited the Simon Community and Traveller halting sites within the city. Subsequent events were held in Derry and Glasgow, continuing work on this theme.

February 04 took us to Liberty Hall in Dublin to discuss the Future of Europe on an Inter Isle basis. Just three months before the accession of ten new states to the European Union, various speakers addressed the group about the challenges and opportunities of future enlargement. With 17 parties and a diverse range of opinions represented, SDLP Youth maintained a strong pro-European line, working hard to persuade other delegations of the benefits of increased co-operation while warning against the dangers a European shift to the right.

In March 04 we returned to Dublin to discuss Racism with members of every party on the island. We visited the main Irish holding centre for arriving immigrants, and debated the causes and effects of racism in Ireland North and South. SDLP condemned racism in all its forms, and linked it to the scourge of sectarianism in the North. We strongly critisied discriminative policies at all levels and challenged other parties reject the use of race issues for electoral gain.

Examining Drug and Alcohol Policies was the topic up for discussion at the NS Forum in Kilkenny, February 05. St Columb’s had arranged visits to a local nightclub, a Garda Station and the local A & E on what proved to be an illuminating if sobering day.

In June 2005 we headed to Liverpool for an Inter Isles discussion on the ‘War on Terror’ and Civil Liberties. In a fascinating series of discussions we spoke with representatives of civil liberties lobbying groups, Muslim community workers, government intelligence organisations and heard messages from hard line Islamic representatives. Major differences were apparent between parties of the right and the left at this event, though some common ground was established.

The North South Forum met again in September 2004, to discuss ‘The Good Friday Agreement – Where do we go from here?’. Group work, panel discussions and polling of the public all involved some areas of agreement, but also much rehashing of tired lines from many quarters. The SDLP Youth position was supported by all the democratic parties represented in the south.

The Inter Isle Forum in November 2005 took place at the Centre for Alternative Technologies in Wales, a perfect venue for discussions on the impact of Climate Change. The CAT project functions as sustainably as possible, and uses innovative methods to show the impact of human activity on the environment. Following talks from Friends of the Earth and the Nuclear Fuel lobby, all parties worked together to discussed ways to reduce carbon emissions in Britain and Ireland.

Is Freer Trade Fairer Trade? SDLP Youth said ‘No’ at the April 05 forum in Derry. Just months before we travelled to Edinburgh for the Make Poverty History rallies we heard from a diverse range of speakers representing International Development agencies and the farming and business communities. SDLP Youth urged all parties to lobby at every level for Fairer Trade across the world, and for radical changes to the bodies that perpetuate global inequality.

June 2005, Belfast: Criminal Justice This session consisted of visits to Maghaberry Prison and Restorative Justice projects in Belfast and discussions on the current and possible approaches to these issues. SDLP Youth restated our strong support for the principals of restorative justice, but shared our concerns at the way it was being manipulated by Sinn Fein.

Edinburgh, November 05: Models of Democracy Looking particularly at the Scottish experience we visited the National Parliament and discussed various voting systems and aspects of devolution. An interesting look at different voting methods, the event increased our frustration at the stagnation of real politics here.

The most recent forum, March 06, took place back in Galway and centred on the Role of the Media, including a possible model for an Irish Press Complaints commission, independence, and whether or not the media has too much power. After hearing from several speakers, including Labour Party President and former Culture Minister Michael D Higgins, we visited a local commercial radio station and took part in a workshop with Indymedia journalists.