Commemorating Civil Rights Movement

The International Affairs Unit of the Labour Party (IAU) hosted a seminar in Drogheda in early July to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. As Chair of the IAU I organised and chaired the event, and welcomed speakers including Party Leader Brendan Howlin, Senator Gerald Nash and Councillor Deirdre Kingston, as well as Colin McGrath MLA, Ethel Buckley of SIPTU and Professor Yvonne Galligan of QUB.

The IAU felt that it was important to mark the 50thAnniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. 1968 saw some of key events of the last century, which have shaped the last fifty years. These worldwide events included the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy in the US, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia and the Student Protests in Paris. Closer to home we saw the start of the Civil Rights demonstrations in Northern Ireland, which called for equality in relation to housing provision. The world of that time was alive with change and possibility.

Our seminar aimed to explore how things have improved since then, but also to discuss what areas still need to be worked on.

The seminar was opened by a keynote address from Brendan. In his address he expanded on his recent speeches in relation to the future of the island of Ireland. He spoke with passion about how we need to ensure that our vision for the future encompasses all sides and philosophies of this island. He repeated the point from before that the Labour Party is uniquely placed to lead and shape the debate about the future status of the island, given the non-sectarian history of our party.

We were also joined by the SDLP spokesperson on Education, Colin McGrath MLA. Colin outlined his party’s approach to education in the north, particularly focusing on the contentious issue of the integration of education across the different communities.

A union perspective on workers’ rights was provided by Ethel Buckley, Deputy General Secretary of SIPTU. Ethel spoke about her involvement in campaigns for workers’ equality, including providing us with a commentary on her perspective of the recent events at Clery’s Department Store.

Senator Nash updated the seminar on the work that he has been doing in recent months, including his successful efforts to get the government to offer an apology to all those who were prosecuted under the Republic’s anti-homosexuality laws.

The seminar also heard from Professor Yvonne Galligan of Queen’s University Belfast, who gave us an insightful presentation on the link between gender and democracy on the island.

Councillor Deirdre Kingston, the Party’s Spokesperson on Equality, gave a summary of the history of the eighth amendment in the Irish constitution right up to the repeal campaign of two months ago. She also set the scene for what remains to be done in the area of equality, including the proposed referendum to delete the reference to a women’s place in the home from the constitution. Currently Article 41.2 states that the State “recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved”. The referendum to remove this is to take place within the next year.

Attendance at the seminar came from Louth, Meath and Dublin and included public representatives such as Councillor Paul Bell. It was also good to see some non-aligned local people attending the event. The seminar had been well advertised both on local papers as well as on social media. Senator Nash additionally had put up many posters and distributed thousands of leaflets in the local area, which helped to increase the crowd.

The seminar marked the last event of the IAU for the summer. It will reconvene again in September for its final session before it is re-formed at the party conference in the autumn.