Convention of the Left - Derry February 14th 2004

derry | miscellaneous | event notice Sunday January 11, 2004 12:28 by sea

For everyones information (from the SEA web site)

We are writing to invite you to a Convention of the Left to be held in Derry on February 14th 2004. The purpose is to discuss a united Left slate in the June 2004 European election.

We are writing to invite you to a Convention of the Left to be held in Derry on February 14th 2004. The purpose is to discuss a united Left slate in the June 2004 European election. The SEA sees it as an imperative that there should be a left alternative in the field in June. If no one else is willing to come along with us we are minded to go forward on our own. In that circumstance, Eamonn McCann is willing to stand. However, we realise that a broad alliance covering the North would be hugely preferable. We are very open to argument from others as to how best we can jointly achieve this.

We envisage an electoral alliance of different parties, campaigning groups and individuals offering voters a radical, anti-sectarian alternative to parties based on one or other of "the two communities." The results of the SEA interventions in Foyle and East Londonderry by Eamonn McCann and Marion Baur make plain that a credible, united left campaign can attract a level of support which cannot be derided or ignored. Without such an intervention, the European election, for practical purposes, will amount to yet another "dual referendum" to determine who will champion each community vis-a-vis the other. It will take a united, broadly-based campaign to make a Left intervention credible.

The issues bringing together socialists, environmentalists, defenders of the public sector, anti-racists, women's rights campaigners and anti-war groups in other countries affect us here too. Millions of Europeans rallied to these issues in 2003, particularly in anti-war demonstrations on February 15th. Our Convention marks the first anniversary of those huge protests - which saw one of the biggest ever marches in Belfast that did not reflect sectarian divisions.

We must break out of the circular argument which holds that Northern Ireland is so polarised along communal lines that there's no point trying seriously to challenge its communal politics. A June campaign would offer a chance to link day-to-day local concerns to major issues being fought out at European level. Issues of water charges and environmental protection cannot be understood other than in a European perspective. The rise in racism on our streets is connected to the "Fortress Europe" project. Local civil rights issues now arise in parallel with the crack-down across Europe associated with the "war on terror." Privatisation schemes in our schools and hospitals are entangled with European directives on freeing market forces. And so on.

It is only in the context of the fight for a social Europe and against a neo-liberal Europe that we can pursue these issues in Northern Ireland. The notion that a better Northern Ireland and a better Ireland is possible is an element in the broader notion that another Europe is possible. As to when and by whom a serious political effort is to be made to bring this about---if not now, when? If not us, who?

The Convention will be held at the Verbal Arts Centre, located on the City Walls at Bishop Street, Derry. A crèche will be provided. A more detailed Agenda will be issued shortly.

Yours sincerely


Marion Baur and Eamonn Mc Cann

http://www.seaderry.co.uk

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