Naomi Long MLA @naomi_long@respublicae.eu
Unofficial automated mirror. No copyright asserted. ∎ Alliance Party Leader | East Belfast MLA
email: naomi.Long@mla.niassembly.gov.uk | Facebook: Naomi Long
Check in when I can. No DMs. Email for a reply 🙂
Joined Apr 2022
@RichardJGrant @HeavenScentxs @StephenFarryMP Richard, we do have a position in terms of how we will address the question when put.
We also have a position on what needs to happen to inform those discussions.
What we don't and won't do is adopt an ideological position when there is no proposition to consider.
@kingbrianconnor @RichardJGrant @HeavenScentxs @StephenFarryMP We've never said we won't discuss it. Quite the contrary. Misrepresentation isn't conducive to sensible exchange.
@KinleyDesmond @na_croi @HeavenScentxs @StephenFarryMP I think both are pretty depressing and disturbing, as is the whataboutery facing anyone who mentions either.
Took the opportunity this afternoon to pay our respects and lay flowers in Creeslough on behalf of my @allianceparty colleagues.
Extending our continuing and heartfelt thoughts and prayers to all those who lost loved ones and bade them farewell this week.
@Uinseann13 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP I'm Irish. I've as much right as anyone to an opinion on what happens in Ireland.
And all we've made clear is that we're open to discussion on a without prejudice basis, which is all the more reason to be interested.
@HarriettmooreB2 @HeavenScentxs @StephenFarryMP Actually, there is a live investigation into the effigies, with a view to prosecution. Rightly so.
@SpunkyMonkeyIre @Reunify32 @Steven_OConnor1 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP As someone who finds triumphalist loyalism pretty off-putting, I'm struggling to feel differently about triumphalist republicanism.
There's always space in politics, even when in the ascendancy, for humility, grace and inclusion.
@_Archie_88 @Reunify32 @Steven_OConnor1 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP Ah, come on, Archie. We have regularly condemned not just the singing of sectarian loyalist songs but even the playing of their melodies under conver of being "hymn tunes".
We've been absolutely consistent on this.
@realLangerDan @Reunify32 @Steven_OConnor1 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP It's all so reductive and destructive on all sides. And it does nothing to offer people hope of a better future.
Sorry I have to duck out at this point - I have a stack of stuff to do this afternoon! Speak soon.
@realLangerDan @Reunify32 @Steven_OConnor1 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP I'm not holding them to different standards, no.
The inability/unwillingness to address this kind of ingrained sectarianism is a key factor in assessing how we best build a better future.
I'm frankly weary of the hatred, of the casual way people inflict hurt on others here. >
@Reunify32 @Steven_OConnor1 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP We haven't. And I focused on the more recent island-wide mandate as one supersedes the last.
We can't undo the wrongs of the past: we can try to build a better future.
Anyway, enjoy your Sunday. I've a few pressing things to get done this afternoon.
@Emmett_O_Neill @bjhbfs @HeavenScentxs @StephenFarryMP We debate the issues and take positions based on votes of the membership? It's how most democratic parties work. They endorse our manifesto and vote on our policies via Party Council. We actually have a more detailed policy platform than most other parties in Northern Ireland.
@HeavenScentxs @StephenFarryMP So we can't give our view in case someone we disagree with on most things agrees with our view on one thing?
You can't see how wrong that would be?
That's the reductive argument of unionists who attack us for "voting with SF" on issues where we agree.
@Reunify32 @Steven_OConnor1 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP So, poking each other in the eye is what confident nationalism has to offer in your view?
I'd credit them with better judgement than that, in fairness.
And the will of the people in 1998 was that constitutional change requires a majority in NI to agree. This won't deliver it.
@HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP And I don't need reminding about targets on walls and hate fests - I was hanged in effigy, our posters were burned and our members targeted in acts of hatred.
We weren't the only ones, either, and we condemned it all without equivocation or whataboutery.
@HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP You drew the parallel: I pointed out that we condemn all sectarianism irrespective of where/how it manifests.
This is just another in a long line of disappointing episodes which demostrate a lack of regard for our neighbours.
And I'm not outraged. I'm just depressed by it all.
@sara_endipidy @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP There's hypocrisy from some, I grant you.
However, we've been pretty consistent in our approach to this regardless of source.
Some incidents come to prominence due to visibility: others happen behind closed doors or are never exposed.
But we'd take the same view, regardless.
@SeanMcC1967 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP No issue with people singing Irish songs. But I think you know that already.
@Steven_OConnor1 @HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP I'm very sorry you lost your uncle at the hands of the UVF and I'm glad you've found the strength not to be affected by such chants.
But they do cause real harm and hurt to others, and there's no disparity on our part in condemning both. Others may be selective: we haven't been.
@HarriettmooreB2 @StephenFarryMP What on earth has Carla got to do with us?
Suggesting people aren't genuinely upset by the chant in the song is being in denial.
We haven't been silent on all of the other hatred on display across the community. Why would we be for this?
Unofficial automated mirror. No copyright asserted. ∎ Alliance Party Leader | East Belfast MLA
email: naomi.Long@mla.niassembly.gov.uk | Facebook: Naomi Long
Check in when I can. No DMs. Email for a reply 🙂
Joined Apr 2022
