‘Nicola Mallon & Caral Ni Chuilin: The Battle for Hearts & Minds In North Belfast’ by Donal Lavery

 
I think it’s important to write about things which are near and dear to people. Without doubt, the most popular articles are those with a local edge to them because people can fully relate to the context therein. And a subject which has crossed my mind a lot lately is how the reduction in MLAs will impact on my own area of North Belfast.

The truth is, no party wanted to see the number of Assembly seats reduced because ultimately it means fewer colleagues sitting on the blue benches on the hill. But following Mrs. Foster’s refusal to step aside for an investigation, republicans asserted the will of their own electorate by collapsing the very institutions which were keeping her in office. This happened with the knowledge that an early election could mean some loss in terms of seat numbers, but on principle it was the right thing to do to ensure some sort of accountability and the expressed wishes of the electorate. It would undoubtedly have been very easy to “keep the show on the road” by remaining in office with an inquiry ongoing, but that would raise questions about how impartial such an investigation could be given the patronage each Minister has in their own departments.

Now, come March 2nd you are going to be asked to elect five MLAs instead of the previous six seats which existed. Anyone who knows North Belfast is conscious of the demographics, the inequalities, the problems and indeed the positives, which make up the community there. This is an area which has been impacted enormously by the legacy of the Troubles and decades of Unionist misrule since the inception of the Orange state. There is barely a home you could visit where someone hasn’t been affected by the conflict in this part of Ireland. But likewise, many people in the area, including in the more affluent suburbs, have also been impacted by the flaws in the economic model which Britain imposes on Ireland.

The pundits have predicted, and perhaps with some foresight, that the battle for the last seat in North Belfast could fall between Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the DUP, but that it will likely be a contest between the two nationalist parties. I’m a young person and I’ve read with interest all the election literature which has crossed my door, as well as having spoken to all the candidates who have been seeking votes. Sinn Fein have been to my door three times already and have answered any points I’ve put to them, and it hasn’t just been ordinary party members but also the people seeking election have been there on cold dark nights. Yes I’m a Sinn Fein voter but I make use of my transfer vote and want to hear what everyone has to offer accordingly. The SDLP haven’t canvassed my street once and the election is just a week away.

But who I vote for is based on two things – track record and objectives if elected. From a young age, Caral Ni Chuilin has always been a friendly face about the area. The first time I met her was when my youth club organised a community breakfast for the older people in the area, whereby they would come to a local community hall to have tea and pastries which we fundraised  to tackle isolation, and could tell the youth a bit about their lives in the area. We put the invitation out to all the elected representatives and only Sinn Fein bothered sending someone to meet with us and the elderly.

From then on in, I’ve encountered Caral at many things – whether it’s helping to lift glasses and clear up after Fleadh music events in the old Saint Kevin’s Hall (I don’t think many other MLAs would do that); or working with mental health groups and community organisations in the area; and also trying to ease tensions at all the local interfaces each marching season. She has a detailed track record, namely;

– A new Irish language school for North Belfast; helping to retain free medical prescriptions; the granting of unprecedented levels of funding to youth clubs; standing with staff and users to defend the Mater Hospital; working to get a parading deal resolution in Ardoyne; fighting to keep the Everton Complex open; securing a large number of social housing units at Girdwood; securing a leisure and football facility at Girdwood; ensuring more money for mental health; advocating on behalf of ex-prisoners; fighting to prevent any increase in student fees (having also voted against the SDLP and UUP implementing fees here in the first place); job creation via the University of Ulster redevelopment; rehousing families who find themselves homeless and holding the police to account in providing a community-oriented service. She also stood with the children and families affected by Holy Cross and with the many women’s groups throughout this constituency.

Having a son who is university age, she knows the sort of issues which students face. And culturally, she doesn’t just say she supports the Irish language, her children have attended Irish language schools and actively promote it. Some people are looking at the candidates for this area and thinking that Miss Mallon is young and of a new generation, but without taking note of the fact that her views and record really don’t account for much in respect of defending the interests of all the people in this area. Politics is about the clash of ideas and who will do right by you in office; it’s about who people stand with when the going gets tough; so don’t cast your vote for someone because of their age or their gender, with the naivety that those factors will make them a good advocate on your behalf when their party and record don’t exactly indicate that at all.

The difference between Miss Mallon and Caral Ni Chuilin is perhaps best highlighted by the fact that Caral actually lives in the working class areas who elect her to represent them; She isn’t sitting in the cosy confines of an MP’s office in South Belfast, or enjoying a new middle-class lifestyle funded by the tax-payer. She’s an ordinary person with a family of her own and thus knows what it’s like to struggle and what working class people need locally in order to thrive. Likewise, she demonstrably understands the sort of challenges which ex-prisoners face, as opposed to someone (who comes from a republican family) but who is a member of a party (the SDLP) which is vehemently anti-ex-prisoners in allowing the passage of Jim Allister’s rotten SPAD legislation. Likewise, on the same-sex marriage issue, Caral has always been one of the biggest advocates for it in the Assembly when some of Miss. Mallon’s party colleagues have helped to block it.

However, when it comes to the scrutiny of Miss Mallon’s record, if I’m honest there really isn’t a lot to scrutinise. She seems to think that by moving her office to the top of the New Lodge Road people are automatically going to deem her a champion of the working class in North Belfast. Anyone who follows community developments and campaigns here, particularly in our local newspapers, can see firsthand that Nicola Mallon’s presence in this area is usually lacking.

What you’re voting on come March 2nd is who you want to sit down and negotiate for your best interests with not just all the other parties but with the British and Irish Governments, to broker the best possible deal for ordinary people. So the question falls to you – Do you want someone who works for a limited average industrial wage and is an experienced Minister, from North Belfast, of North Belfast, and for North Belfast; or do you want to elect someone who is evidently out to simply make a political career for herself, while receiving scores of thousands of pounds in a full MLA’s salary? Ask, who genuinely represents the people of North Belfast in this election?