NICVA Question Time
Posted by Lisa on Feb 14 2007 under Election goings on |
Now I am having a cuppa and reflecting on this mornings question time. Normally when you organise an event its hard to relax and enjoy it. But this morning was different. I am often accused of being way too optimistic but it seemed to me that the people around the table this morning knew and cared about the issues that participants were raising.
In an era where we are told that everyone is sick of politics it was refreshing to see so many people gather in a room to ask questions about real politics. We wanted to know about things like social care to help people live in the community, support for actions to prevent suicide and promote good mental health, support for intergrated and Irish language medium education, overseas aid and development, how to realisticaly reduce our carbon footprint and how society in NI can deal with the past and move forward into a shared future.
When asked what one thing MLAs could do to make things better for the people of NI, Dawn Purvis said that she would eliminate poverty. The DUP wanted to secure a financial package to revitalise the economy. Paul Maksey from Sinn Fein felt that one of the biggest issues was crime, and in particular safety for older people. The Green Party wants to tackle climate change (no, really?) . Stephen Nicholl from the UUP focused on health and transforming the NHS. The SDLP wanted to cut the red tape at Stormont and make elected representatives more dynamic and accountable.
Does this all sound familair to anyone? Maybe the mint tea is going to my head but these are the kinds of issues that the voluntary and community sector has been talking about for years. There was no sectarian point scoring and even a suggestion that Sinn Fein and the DUP could indulge in a group hug.
Of course this could all be a case of electioneering and telling us what we want to hear. Or these rose tinted glasses might be a result of the sun streaming in the window, chocolate biscuits and Neil Young playing in the background. But for the moment I ‘m going to suspend the cynisism and enjoy this strange new feeling that maybe things might be ok….
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8 Responses to “NICVA Question Time”
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I agree, it was so refreshing to hear real issues discussed, rather than any of the old bickering creeping in.
An interesting point was made about the impact of climate change, not only on us but also, and more devastatingly, on developing countries. This needs both thought and action by all parties.
From the perspective of someone who works for a political party, yes the NICVA Q&A was refreshing - serious policy issues and questions. The same can be said of Q&As hosted by, for example, health professionals and the business community. Pity it’s not also the case with the mainstream media.
However, I do get worried when all the parties seem to be saying the same things on socio-economic policy. Real politics needs real debate. A cosy social-democrat consensus is not what NI politics needs. Although, admittedly, a NICVA Q&A may not perhaps be the best time to utter such heresy.
As for the suggested group-hug - I’d do a lot of things for my party, but I have my limits …
I agree that politicans saying they are for good things and against bad things isn’t really that helpful!
Naturally every party is against poverty. But are they prepared to make the difficult decisions needed to really eliminate it? Like getting rid of an education system that is failing the poorest members of our society? All the parties are for inclusion but the number of female candidates in this election is shockingly low.
We did hear some comments about needing to have local representatives make the hard decisions. When that decision means, for example, closing a hospital, are they really ready for it?
interesting times ahead. group hug anyone?
I was really sorry not to have been able to be at the event on Monday, but a work colleague who did go found it interesting and refreshing.
Brian, I like the UUP election website with the detailed biogs etc. I look forward to reading the campaign blog there too, and maybe you can point some of the candiates in the direction of this blog, and to some of the questions that are likely to be raised.
Pam
I am sorry to be the spectre at the feast, but I didn’t find anything particularly new at the Question Time. Politicians largely said the right things and waffled over issues they didn’t get. Everyone claimed credit for introducing free personal care, which is great, but as has been mentioned, are politicians ready to make the decisions which are required to implement good social and economic policy? And how will they come to those decisions? And will they take the blame as well as the credit when things go wrong?
Some parties have claimed in the past they are opposed to PPP/PFIs. But that didn’t stop them from signing on the dotted line when the time came. Instead of just going for the votes, politicians need to be prepared to show that they will make the right decisions for the country, not to make the right noises to get votes.
Ok ok I admit it. My inital warm and fuzzy glow has worn of a bit. My background music is now more Radiohead than Neil. I’ve been to several hustings events now and everyone is saying the same thing.
But is this not what we wanted? - political focus and/or consenus on bread and butter issues (hating that term by now.) Is this not better than politicans going over the same old ground?
The Irish News is calling this election dull. what do you think - is it?
Yeah, the election has been dull.
It has, of course, been helped along by the insightful, intelligent commentary and critique of socio-economic policy from our journalists.
I mean, it’s not as if one of our newspapers gave a list of 10 questions to party leaders without mentioning the economy …
The real test will be when (if?) we actually have an executive up and running - then we’ll see who is prepared to stand up for the claims they have been making over the past few weeks. I wonder how much will change when they have real pennies to count? Will we see implementation of the Anti-Poverty Strategy? Will we at long last see a Single Equality Bill? Or will it just be a case of same s*** different day???