9 April 2009 Edition

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Republicanising human resources

Sinn Féin line managers meet

Sinn Féin line managers meet

AN important seminar for Sinn Féin line-managers and heads of departments took place in County Meath last week to address the best effective use of the party’s personnel resources. Central to this strategy is marrying Sinn Féin’s voluntary ethos and broad activist membership with the reality and necessity of having a significant number of full-time, waged personnel.
Attending the meeting were those bearing the major share of personnel management responsibilities within the party.
Chaired by Sinn Féin’s newly-appointed Director of Human Resources, Martin Lynch, issues focused on were the rights and working conditions of full-time Sinn Féin employees as well as the needs of Sinn Féin as a party and a range of crucial related issues such as fund-raising and the responsibility to honour people’s investment in Sinn Féin’s political project.
Sinn Féin National Chairperson Declan Kearney provided an overview of Sinn Féin’s recently-unveiled, new organisational structure. Designed to ensure greater cohesion, efficiency and accountability across the party, a key change sees all party work now located within six national departments. These are headed by party President Gerry Adams, Vice-President Mary Lou McDonald, Chairperson Declan Kearney, Ard Rúnaí Dawn Doyle, Director of Publicity Rosaleen Doherty and Treasurers Rita O’Hare and Maurice Quinlivan.
The meeting was given an outline of financial changes by Director of Finance Des Mackin while Human Resources Manager Carol Jackson gave a report on employment best practice and procedures.
Martin Lynch introduced the meeting to the key concepts around the management of human resources. The party’s management tier were exhorted to understand their responsibility to the struggle and their need to set standards of best practice.
Lynch explained that a new, updated staff handbook is being put together and said that there is a need to introduce systems and guidelines to protect employees of the party and the party itself.
Statutory rules and regulations are there to protect people, Lynch emphasised, adding that it is important that Sinn Féin takes the concepts and best examples of human resource management and marries them with Sinn Féin’s republican ethos.
The meeting marked a further step in the evolution of Sinn Féin into a dynamic party with structures fit for purpose to meet the political challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

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