1 February 2001 Edition
Conor Murphy ready for Westminster battle
BY CAITLIN DOHERTY
``By-election results across the North in the past year and our own experience of rising support on the ground, especially among young people, prove to us that we can win this election.''
It is this message that Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy brought to several hundred republican activists gathered at the Canal Court Hotel in Newry last Thursday for the launch of the Newry/Armagh 2001 Westminster election campaign.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, Education minister Martin McGuinness and Cavan/Monaghan TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin were all there to offer their support to Conor Murphy in what could turn out to be one of the closest races of the forthcoming Westminster elections. Murphy is set to mount the strongest challenge yet to SDLP incumbent Seamus Mallon.
Conor Murphy's republican roots stretch back to the 1920s, when his grandfather was imprisoned in Crumlin Road jail. After eight years as a councillor, he was elected to the Assembly in 1998 and has been an important member of the party's negotiation team.
He is currently one of the engines behind Sinn Féin's drive at the Assembly. While spokesperson on equality, he is also a party whip and chairs the Assembly's Procedures Committee.
``Seamus Mallon knows and the British government knows and I think the media also know that Sinn Féin can win this election,'' said Conor Murphy.
In recent years, Sinn Féin's growth in the constituency has been one of the most vivid illustrations of the party's electoral success across the island.
The party's vote has more than doubled in the past eight years and in the last Assembly election the SDLP lead on Sinn Féin was reduced to four and a half thousand votes.
The growing support is also a result of the outstanding constituency work carried out in the five advice centres in the area. Since January 2000, over 10,000 individual requests have been processed.
Britain's military occupation of South Armagh is top of agenda. ``We will not let up on the issue until the entire British military apparatus is removed, not only from this constituency, but from this island.''
Martin McGuinness also stressed the importance of defeating the securocrats who are intent on blocking any progress on the issue and the need for garnering electoral support in that context.
He recalled how Mo Mowlam, frustrated at his insistence of the need for demilitarisation told him to write out on an A4 size paper what exactly he wanted done. He handed the sheet back and told her that she would never be able to close down and British military installations because of the securocrats.
``The big test will be whether our lives will continue to be dominated by securocrats or whether there is a political will at Downing Street to face them down,'' said McGuinness.
Other issues, including the development of all-Ireland policies and institutions are another key priority, particularly in areas of health and education.
He also stressed that the election of an MP would allow Sinn Féin to work at a higher level for the entire constituency, thus reversing the consequences of historical economic neglect.
``This constituency attracts among the smallest amount of IDB-funded inward investment in the Six Counties. If you remove the retail sector, this area has been starved for investment,'' said Conor Murphy.
``People of this area don't see any peace dividend and they don't see any inward investment. We have the energy, the focus and the vision to address this deficit in the context of the emerging all-Ireland economy.''
``By-election results across the North in the past year and our own experience of rising support on the ground, especially among young people, prove to us that we can win this election.''
It is this message that Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy brought to several hundred republican activists gathered at the Canal Court Hotel in Newry last Thursday for the launch of the Newry/Armagh 2001 Westminster election campaign.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, Education minister Martin McGuinness and Cavan/Monaghan TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin were all there to offer their support to Conor Murphy in what could turn out to be one of the closest races of the forthcoming Westminster elections. Murphy is set to mount the strongest challenge yet to SDLP incumbent Seamus Mallon.
Conor Murphy's republican roots stretch back to the 1920s, when his grandfather was imprisoned in Crumlin Road jail. After eight years as a councillor, he was elected to the Assembly in 1998 and has been an important member of the party's negotiation team.
He is currently one of the engines behind Sinn Féin's drive at the Assembly. While spokesperson on equality, he is also a party whip and chairs the Assembly's Procedures Committee.
``Seamus Mallon knows and the British government knows and I think the media also know that Sinn Féin can win this election,'' said Conor Murphy.
In recent years, Sinn Féin's growth in the constituency has been one of the most vivid illustrations of the party's electoral success across the island.
The party's vote has more than doubled in the past eight years and in the last Assembly election the SDLP lead on Sinn Féin was reduced to four and a half thousand votes.
The growing support is also a result of the outstanding constituency work carried out in the five advice centres in the area. Since January 2000, over 10,000 individual requests have been processed.
Britain's military occupation of South Armagh is top of agenda. ``We will not let up on the issue until the entire British military apparatus is removed, not only from this constituency, but from this island.''
Martin McGuinness also stressed the importance of defeating the securocrats who are intent on blocking any progress on the issue and the need for garnering electoral support in that context.
He recalled how Mo Mowlam, frustrated at his insistence of the need for demilitarisation told him to write out on an A4 size paper what exactly he wanted done. He handed the sheet back and told her that she would never be able to close down and British military installations because of the securocrats.
``The big test will be whether our lives will continue to be dominated by securocrats or whether there is a political will at Downing Street to face them down,'' said McGuinness.
Other issues, including the development of all-Ireland policies and institutions are another key priority, particularly in areas of health and education.
He also stressed that the election of an MP would allow Sinn Féin to work at a higher level for the entire constituency, thus reversing the consequences of historical economic neglect.
``This constituency attracts among the smallest amount of IDB-funded inward investment in the Six Counties. If you remove the retail sector, this area has been starved for investment,'' said Conor Murphy.
``People of this area don't see any peace dividend and they don't see any inward investment. We have the energy, the focus and the vision to address this deficit in the context of the emerging all-Ireland economy.''