Last class- meeting the UUP

So today we met a representetive from the Ulster Unionist Party. We were supposed to meet a Sinner (that's totally not how it's spelled, is it? I'm going to leave it that way anyway) too, but he chickened out or something and didn't show.

It was good to meet the UUP guy, though. The UUP foams at the mouth a lot less than the DUP does-- about several things, but mostly about Sinn Fein. Their approach to unionism, as today's speaker put it, is unionism with a small u-- they believe that remaining a part of the UK is the best thing for all of Northern Ireland, including its Catholic population. Unlike the DUP, they don't give the impression that they're still fighting for dominance. They know they've got a diverse population, and they want to represent the interests of all of it.

But today was our very last class-- my very last time seeing our programme director until next September. I'm leaving in less than two weeks. I wish I wasn't still up to my ears in paper rewriting (this is me on break right now) so that I could actually focus a bit on the time I have left.

Elections

So campaign posters have been springing up all over the city like crocuses these last few days. Campaigns here in Northern Ireland only run for a few weeks, instead of months on end like we see in the states (the elections, for anyone just joining us, will be on March 7th). I personally think that's a much better plan, because it means officials are spending more time doing their jobs and less time campaigning.

I'm finding it a little amusing that Sinn Fein's got all their Irish-language posters up on the waterside and their English ones up in the city centre. That seems a little bit backwards because the waterside area is mostly Protestant. In the end, though, I suppose it doesn't really matter. L/Derry's pretty much an SDLP town, near as I can tell.

It's a very exciting time to be studying the situation here. Northern Ireland has been under direct rule from Westminster since 2002, and as I understand it, they were also under direct rule prior to 1998. What's that mean? Think of the situation DC's in, and you've pretty much got Northern Ireland (though NI does elect members of parliament, which is more than DC can say about congress). Politicians that are not in any way accountable to the people of Northern Ireland get to make decisions about their taxes, their schools, their health care... even the structure of their government. They can choose to start initiatives (like the water tax) that everyone here hates. And why not? Northern Ireland is not their constituency.

If these elections go off without trouble, Northern Ireland is finally looking at a long-term devolved government. No matter which side of the conflict you're on, being able to vote the people who levy your taxes in and out of office has got to be pretty nice. And for me, having a court-side seat as history unfolds is pretty nice too.

I'm going down to Belfast tomorrow for my interview at the integrated school. Everyone wish me luck!

Foyle Women's Aid and Sinn Fein's Master Plan

So today, our 'Representing Women' class trekked down to Foyle Women's Aid to hear about their work. Their main focus is support services for battered women and children, but they also run educational programs and training services.

It's been interesting hearing from the different women's groups in L/Derry, because their work is very non-secterian. Even if the people doing the work have very strong political views, they're able to set them aside and work together to achieve what they see as a more important goal. In the case of Foyle Women's Aid, stopping and preventing domestic violence. There's also a women's coalition that tackles a veriety of non-secterian issues. Right now they're looking at the water tax (which is noncontentious because, near as I can tell, everyone L/Derry hates it).

In class, we've been hearing about Sinn Fein's long-term goals. Everyone knows that they support a united, independent Ireland. But what's the next step? Apparantly if you ask them about it, they get very tetchy and don't answer. But our professors tell us that their long-term plan involves a single-party, marxist-style socialist republic (with them as the single party). That's a little scary when you take their history into account, but maybe I just have a cultural aversion to single-party government structures (I'm not much for dual-party systems either, though, so go figure).

Just as a heads-up, I'll be away from the computer this weekend because the group's going on a retreat. On the picture front, my laptop has died a rather spectacular death, so it's going to be a while before I can upload more. My wonderful family has worked out a way to get me another one for the rest of the program, but it won't be here until sometime next week (I'm guessing. It's coming from London).