SDLP Youth

SDLP Youth
Chairperson	Andy Doherty
Vice-Chairperson	Seamas DeFaoite
Headquarters	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Ideology	Irish nationalism, Irish reunification, Social democracy
Mother party	Social Democratic and Labour Party
International affiliation	International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) (observer)
European affiliation	Young European Socialists (ECOSY)

SDLP Youth is the youth group of the Northern Ireland political party the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). It is organised throughout Northern Ireland and plays an active role within the SDLP at all levels of the organisation.

It consists of party members aged 30 and under and is entitled to representation on the Party's Ruling Central Executive. Among its members are included councillors and party officers.

The first attempt to set up a Youth Group was in 1973 when an article written by John Mooney, a member of the Falls Branch appeared in the SDLP newspaper, following a discussion between Mooney and Dan McAreavey (then General of the Party and editor of the newspaper). There was little interest but a meeting was held in SDLP Falls Branch offices on the Andersonstown Road, attended by seven people, including Alban Maginness who would later become first nationalist Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1997. John Mooney and one other delegate put the proposal to a meeting of the Organisational Committee of SDLP at a Dungannon restaurant. The SDLP decided it was not a wothwhile venture at that stage.

Executive

• Andy Doherty- Chair
• Séamas de Faoite- Vice-Chair
• Christine Wilson- Secretary
• Daniel Hendrie- International Secretary
• Dermott Henderson- Public Relations Officer
• Kyle Boyd- Universities & Colleges Officer
• Aaron Rice- Campaigns Officers
• Conor McNeill- Treasurer
• Gareth Brown- Policy Officer
• Cliona McCarney- Equality Officer

Campaigns

Campaigns include:

• One President, One Island, One Vote- aimed at securing a vote for northern residents in Irish Presidential elections
• Working to abolish the political protocol at the University of Ulster which bans political organisation on campus
• Opposition to university fees
• Student Safety & Welfare
• Fairtrade Further
• Anti-Slave Labour
• Workers' Rights
• Supporting the Irish Language
• Opposition to cluster munitions
• Opposition on the ban on active gay men donating blood in the North.

Former party Leader Mark Durkan MP commended SDLP Youth in his speech to SDLP Party Conference 2009 for running a lively campaign against cluster munitions - including "a striking YouTube video". He said, "Today I want to particularly commend SDLP Youth. While Ógra Shinn Féin glorify atrocities in our country, young SDLP members put their commitment into stopping atrocities in other countries."

Past activities have included a campaign urging the closure of the Sellafield Nuclear Power Station in Cumbria, and a campaign called One Island, One Currency urging greater acceptance of the euro in Northern Ireland, through the establishment of a dual currency zone.

Whilst choosing to endorse Margaret Ritchie in the February 2010 Contest for the SDLP Leadership, SDLP Youth chose to remain neutral in the 2011 race for the Leadership of the Party.

Former Chairs

• Eamon McAuley (2010-2011)
• Matthew McDermott (2009-2010)
• Peter Armstrong (2008-2009)
• Gary McKeown (2007-2008)
• Claire Hanna (February-April 2007)
• John O'Doherty (2005-2007)
• Thomas O'Hanlon (2004-2005)
• Mealla Bratton (2001-2004)

...

• Ronan McKay (1998-1999)

...

• Gemma Attwood
• Joleen Cunningham
• Eilis Haughey
• Mickey McKernan
• Joanne Murphy

External links

• Official homepage of SDLP Youth