SDLP Youth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SDLP Youth
ChairpersonKarl Duncan
Vice-ChairpersonKaty Crawford
HeadquartersBelfast, Northern Ireland
IdeologySocial democracy
Irish nationalism
Mother partySDLP
International affiliationInternational Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) (observer)
European affiliationYoung European Socialists (YES)
Websitewww.sdlpyouth.org

SDLP Youth is the youth wing of the social democratic[1] & Irish nationalist[2] political party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Membership of the organisation is entitled to SDLP party members of the age 30 and under.[3] It is organised throughout Northern Ireland and plays an active role within the SDLP at all levels of the organisation.

Organisation[]

SDLP Youth is currently organised across much of Northern Ireland, including University societies. The group is split into a number of branches with the executive committee acting as the governing body of the organisation.

Executive[]

SDLP Youth is organised at a national level by the Youth Executive. The Youth Executive is responsible for the day-to-day running of SDLP Youth. It consists of 7 Officers elected at the annual Youth Conference, usually held in the spring.

The current Officers of the Youth Executive elected in March 2021 are:[4]

Executive Position Officer Constituency
Chair Karl Duncan Foyle
Vice-Chair and Campaigns Officer Katy Crawford East Derry
Secretary General Vacant Vacant
Communications Officer Andrew McAnallen East Derry
Equality Officer Ellie-Jo Taylor Foyle
Membership and Recruitment Officer Oisín Donnelly West Tyrone
Policy Officer Inez Murray Upper Bann
Under 18's Officer Ruairí Ryan Wexford
Women's Officer Brónach Crabtree Foyle

Branches[]

The current SDLP Youth branch organisations[5] are:

Former SDLP branch organisations include:

History[]

A youth section of the SDLP was first floated in late 1973 which led to the short lived group “the Young Social Democrats” which organised from 1974 to 1976.[10]

The current youth wing started organising in the early 1990s bringing motions, such as the decriminalisation of marijuana,[11] to party conferences but it wasn’t until June 1995 that SDLP Youth became a distinct section of the SDLP when it was added to the party constitution.[12]

International[]

SDLP Youth are full members of the Young European Socialists (YES),[13] formerly the European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth (ECOSY), having been admitted at the 1994 conference in Munich.[14] At this 1994 conference future SDLP MLA for South Belfast Conall McDevitt was elected as an ECOSY vice-president after being elected the National Secretary of Labour Youth in 1993.[15] At 2021 YES Congress Leah Rea became the first member of SDLP Youth to be nominated and elected to the YES Presidium as Vice-President.[16]

In 2016 SDLP Youth and YES held a joint seminar in Belfast on "far-right extremism and Brexit" which was attended by young socialist activists from across Europe.[17]

SDLP Youth are also observer members of International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY).[18]

References[]

  1. ^ SDLP Website
  2. ^ SDLP Website
  3. ^ SDLP Constitution clause 18.4a
  4. ^ @SDLPyouth (27 March 2021). "Congratulations to our new executive elected at #SDLPY21 this afternoon! Chair: @KarlWDuncan Vice-Chair and Campai…" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-03-27 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Branches".
  6. ^ https://www.facebook.com/sdlp.magee
  7. ^ https://twitter.com/strab_sdlpyouth[bare URL]
  8. ^ @SDLPlive (13 December 2010). "SDLP South Down youth formally launches tinyurl.com/38uavho" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ https://twitter.com/sdlpu?lang=en-gb[bare URL]
  10. ^ Public Record Office for Northern Ireland, Reference D3072/1/32/3, collected 20th of October 2020.
  11. ^ "Sense of the task ahead dampens conference euphoria Delegates emphasise the need for fledging peace to be underpinned." The Irish Times. Published 19 November 1994. Accessed 20 October 2020
  12. ^ "SDLP decides to hold annual vote on leadership" The Irish Times. Published 12 June 1995. Accessed 20 October 2020
  13. ^ YES Members list, collected 17th of May 2020.
  14. ^ ECOSY 1994-1996 Report
  15. ^ 2010 MLA Profile
  16. ^ @MissTwice (3 October 2021). "I cannot believe I am typing this, but I am so honoured to say that #YESCongress has put their faith and trust in m…" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-10-03 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ @SDLPyouth (17 October 2016). "We're excited to be welcoming @YESocialists to Belfast next month. Get in touch if you'd like to attend their event…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ IUSY Members list, collected 17th of May 2020.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""