Alliance Party Conference Saturday 14 March 2015, Abridged President's Speech
A céad míle fáilte to the Alliance Party’s 45th Annual Conference
The
Alliance Party’s conference is an annual opportunity to celebrate our
achievements to date and discuss how we advance onwards.
Since
foundation and our first Annual Conference on 27 March 1971 in the Ulster Hall society in Northern Ireland has changed beyond
recognition.
In
the current situation, it is understandable that people feel despair and
frustration at the political process but it is important to take time to stand
back and understand the journey undertaken and the road ahead.
In
the sixties, people marched for civil rights, in America, Northern Ireland and
beyond.
In
the seventies, government raised the profile and dignity of women through the
Sex Discrimination Act and other legislation.
In
the eighties, former Alliance Leader Bob Cooper was at the forefront of
ensuring workplaces respected religious and political diversity.
The
status of lesbian and gay people also started to transform in the 1980s from
criminalisation because of who we love towards full and equal citizenship,
hastened by the election of a new Labour Government in 1997.
In
the nineties we also managed to craft tentative peace and power sharing in
Northern Ireland with ceasefires in 1994, the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and
devolution intermittently from 1999 to 2002 and then 2007 onwards.
Things
have changed. No
longer do we see protests against ecumenical church services nor, as we have seen this week, is it
acceptable to disbar and discriminate against people with disabilities.
Many
of us now work together with people of different religious belief.
Nationalities
have also changed with Northern
Ireland enjoying a mix of people identifying as
British, Irish, Northern Irish, Polish, Lithuanian, Slovakian, Indian, Portuguese,
Chinese and many more.
We’re
all minorities now in a complex and diverse Northern Ireland.
These
are the facts. Society has changed. Social attitudes have also changed. But
sadly, few of our politicians have. It’s
time for our political system to catch-up.
The
Alliance Party welcomes and embraces the new Northern Ireland emerging from the
shadow of our past and has no time
for old, out dated, discriminatory attitudes irrelevant to modern day society.
That’s
why you won’t find any sectarian or homophobic jokes about yogurts or cakes at
our conference. Nor
will you find talk of equality being used as trojan horse.
Such
language and attitudes have no place in modern day Northern Ireland, never mind
a major political party.
The
time to end sectarian politics and successive political crises has long since
passed.
That’s
why Alliance exists. We seek to build a better future where we move forward
building upon the gains achieved towards a new society where we live, work,
socialise and learn together, moving forward, not back.
As
Alliance Party President I am extremely grateful for the opportunities to serve
the people and the party, whether today as President or since 2010 as a
Councillor or in recent times as Mayor and now as Westminster candidate for
North Down.
These
opportunities have provided me with fantastic scope to build an open and
inclusive future, champion the environment and open up our political
institutions.
But
yet, when other politicians are given similar opportunities they select a much
more negative approach choosing instead to criticise the cost of division and
the duplication of services but then vote to send millions to an unsustainable and divided teacher training system.
But
it doesn’t end there. Others, speak one day about tough budgets and the need to
make savings but then support nightly protests at Twaddell costing us over £1million
per month whilst community relations deteriorate and people suffer.
When
other parties assume positions of responsibility, they take the rights but not
the responsibilities. Happy to play fast and loose with Northern Ireland’s
economy and public finances.
Instead
of political leadership, they treat legislation on welfare reform as a
political tool to win votes.
When
legal rulings don’t suit their own personal prejudices money is wasted on
fruitless legal battles.
Northern
Ireland can be better than this.
Alliance
in government has shown what real political leadership looks like. Governing
for everyone, speaking up for everyone, delivering for everyone, moving
Northern Ireland forward not back.
I’m
proud to be associated with Alliance and our leadership team, headed up by
David Ford as our Leader, Naomi Long MP as our Deputy Leader and Stephen Farry as
Employment and Learning Minister.
5
years ago people from across East Belfast chose change and elected Naomi as
their MP.
Let’s
repeat this positive step forward and ensure Naomi’s re-election by signing up
at the stall outside to help the campaign fight ahead.
Just
think about the powerful message this will send when Naomi is re-elected on 7
May this year.
Northern
Ireland moving forward, not back.
Today we send a clear message, "Yes She Can".
On
the 50th Anniversary of Selma’s Bloody Sunday March last weekend, Congressman
John Lewis, a civil rights leader who helped organise the voting rights marches
in Selma, said, “When people tell me nothing has changed, I say come walk in my
shoes and I will show you change … Be hopeful. Be optimistic.”
Today
is the day when, despite the grim appearance of politics here, we remind ourselves
of that.
