OPINION: Labour joy is not a victory for unionism or nationalism

WE HAVE finally cracked it and won the right to membership of the Labour Party for people living in Northern Ireland.

By a massive 86.15 per cent to 13.85 per cent margin, the Labour Party Conference in Bourne- mouth conceded to our long-running campaign.

It is 35 years since the Civil Rights Movement campaigned for one person, one vote in Northern Ireland.

It is five years since the Good Friday Agreement promised us the 'Human Rights and Equality Agendas'. We in Labour in Northern Ireland have supported all these developments.

But all of us, Protestant and Catholic alike, were still being denied the right to become individual members of the Labour Party - the party that actually governs us, whether or not there is an Assembly in place.

Yes, we have one person, one vote, but while we were denied the right to join the party that governs us, then it was a complete nonsense to think we have democracy.

Even if we have elections, if the party that forms our government refuses to run candidates and seek a mandate, then we do not have anything resembling democracy.

The Labour Party sets our taxes, decides what is to be spent on our health service, sets our minimum wage and takes us to war in Iraq, yet we have no say in the party. That is now changing.

So, the important thing to be said is that, above all, we have won a victory for democratic rights. This is an absolutely not a victory for either unionism or nationalism.

It is a victory for the ordinary people of Northern Ireland who have won the right to join the Labour Party.

I would like to pay tribute to those thousands of supporters who have contributed over the years to making this campaign a success. It has been the constant pressure coming from all directions, including from Andy McGivern's court case, that has caused the party leadership to concede.

Even more importantly, we have converted the party leadership and the party membership to our cause.

They are now our supporters. The overwhelming size of our majority reflects that.

It is this change in sentiment within the party that gives us all great hope for the future. We can now unite in the Labour Party and with Labour Party support fight for a future free from the sectarianism that plagues this society.

I hope that all Labour supporters will take their chance to join the party and work with us to build a fair and equal society.

Activists in the trade unions and in the voluntary and community sector have been doing a great job but we hope you will now join with us in the Labour Party to unite in fighting for a non-sectarian future.

Already, the word from the Labour membership office is they have been inundated with requests from people in Northern Ireland to join.

They say they have never known anything like it before. And this confirms our view that right across the community there are lots of people who recognise the need for a new political direction and whose political rights and activities have been suppressed in the past by the membership ban.

So the first thing to do is join at www.labour.org.uk

What next? First, we must not make the mistake the local Tories did and criticise the Labour Party leadership in public. That would be a terrible mistake.

Once we become members of the party, we should raise any difference over policy internally, not on the media. We must be disciplined.

For myself, I will have no difficulty giving full support to the party leadership and will urge others to do the same.

I have been a vehement critic of the Labour Party for nearly 27 years because of its denial of membership rights to the people of Northern Ireland. That is now in the past.

As far as I am concerned the Labour Party is now imple- menting the policies I was advocating 25 years ago, at a time when the Labour Party was was an unelectable shambles and way before the idea of New Labour had ever entered Tony Blair's head.

As a spokesman for a single issue campaign for Labour Party membership, I have had to keep my mouth shut on other issues.

Now, however, I can defend Labour Party policy across the board and I intend to do so with vigour.

What we need now is for the party leadership to meet up with the Northern Ireland membership as they join up to discuss with us th next steps.

We have to learn to walk before we can run. But, make no mistake, we intend to run.

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