A Fairer Way to Recovery
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A Fairer Way to Recovery 74ú Ard-Fheis | 26th-27th April 2013 The closest DART (local Dublin Rail) station to the RDS is Sandymount, and is approximately a 5 minute walk away. From the Sandymount Dart Station: Follow the Exit signs and turn right onto Sandymount Avenue. Continue until you reach the traffic lights (Bewley’s Hotel and the Four Seasons Hotel will be directly in front of you). For the RDS Main Complex (Hall 1 – 7) then turn right onto Merrion Road and the Main Complex is situated on the left hand side (Merrion Road). The RDS is serviced by bus numbers: Merrion Road Stops: 27X, 4, 45, 4A, 5, 7, 7A, 8, 18 Anglesea Road Stops: 63, 84 There are also a large numbers of routes serviced through the Donnybrook Bus Garage stop which is located only 10 minutes walk from the RDS. Bus routes include: 10, 10A, 116, 118, 145, 25X, 37X, 39B, 39X, 46A/B/C/E/X, 47, 66X, 67X, 70B, 746, 7B, 7D, 84X. Schedule ........................................................................................................................3 Message from Micheál Martin TD .........................................................................6 General Secretary’s Welcome .................................................................................8 Membership Information ......................................................................................10 Córú Fhianna Fáil ......................................................................................................11 Ógra Fianna Fáil ........................................................................................................14 Local Area Representative Scheme ....................................................................16 Understanding New Media ...................................................................................18 Dates for your Diary .................................................................................................19 Fobairt na Gaeilge ....................................................................................................21 Ard-Fheis Food Outlets and Prices ......................................................................22 Current Ard Chomhairle .........................................................................................23 Contents Parliamentary Party Contact Details ..................................................................24 Fianna Fáil in Europe ...............................................................................................30 Fianna Fáil Futures Group ......................................................................................32 Honorary Secretaries’ Report .................................................................................34 Cumann Registration Figures ...............................................................................40 Honorary Treasurers’ Report ..................................................................................43 Ard-Fheis Elections ...................................................................................................49 Resolutions .................................................................................................................64 Organisation .................................................................................................66 Political & Constitutional Reform ...........................................................70 Northern Ireland ..........................................................................................71 Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht ............................................................73 Education & Skills ........................................................................................74 Children & Youth Affairs ............................................................................77 Justice & Equality .........................................................................................78 Defence ...........................................................................................................83 Finance ............................................................................................................84 Public Expenditure ......................................................................................87 Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation ..................................................................88 Agriculture, Food & the Marine ...............................................................89 Environment, Community & Local Government ...............................92 Health ..............................................................................................................95 Foreign Affairs & Trade ...............................................................................98 Transport, Tourism & Sport .......................................................................99 Communications, Energy & Natural Resources ............................... 100 Social Protection ....................................................................................... 102 Soldiers of the Legion of the Rearguard ......................................................... 108 74ú Ard-Fheis Clár 1 Important Note on the Clár A number of the Ard Fheis sessions will be running parallel to one another. We will be using three rooms during the Ard Fheis: • The Shelbourne Hall - This will be the main hall. • The Minerva Suite - This will host a number of the motions workshops, along with the Treasurers’ Report, and will be used on both Friday and Saturday. • The Concert Hall - This will host a number of fringe meeting and the organisation workshop, and will be in use on Saturday only. Please consult the updated clár, which will be available throughout the Ard Fheis weekend, and note any changes to times and locations. For your convenience, we have colour coded the Ard Fheis schedule on the following pages. The main stream of the Ard Fheis is denoted by the events in black, while fringe meeting are coloured in blue. www.fiannafail.ie Ard-Fheis Schedule Friday, 26th April 2013 7:00pm - Official Opening by Uachtarán Fhianna Fáil, Micheál Martin TD Venue: Shelbourne Hall 7.20pm - Reforming How Ireland Works: Towards a Renewed Republic Venue: Shelbourne Hall 8.00pm - Honorary Treasurers’ Report: Financing our Party Venue: Minerva Suite 8.40pm - The Challenges Ahead for FF Renewal with Professor Tim Bale Venue: Shelbourne Hall 9.00pm - Motions Workshop: Social Protection Motions Venue: Minerva Suite 10.00pm - Social function: with music from ‘The Boys from the Black Stuff’ Venue: Ballsbridge Hotel Saturday, 27th April 2013 9:00am - Education & Children: Cherishing our Future - Motions to be taken Venue: Shelbourne Hall Schedule Ard-Fheis 10:30am - Justice: A Safer Ireland Venue: Shelbourne Hall 11:45am - Finance: Solving the Mortgage Crisis Venue: Shelbourne Hall 12.30pm - Reimagining Rural Ireland: An Ireland we still Dream of? Venue: Concert Hall Voting will take place in Hall 4 from 10.00am - 3.00pm on Saturday 27th April 2013 72ú Ard-Fheis Clár 3 1.00pm - Creating Employment by Driving Enterprise Venue: Shelbourne Hall 2.00pm - Agriculture, Food & Fisheries: The Future of Irish Agriculture Venue: Shelbourne Hall 2.00pm - Discussing Dublin: The Future of our Capital Venue: Minerva Suite 2.00pm - Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Gender Balance in Politics Venue: Concert Hall 3.00pm - A Quality Health Service for All Venue: Shelbourne Hall 3.30pm - Joint Honorary Secretaries’ Report, Organisation Motions and Workshops Venue: Concert Hall 6.15pm - Youth Participation in Politics: Does Politics Matter? Venue: Shelbourne Hall 7.30pm - Members’ Awards Venue: Shelbourne Hall 8.30pm - Leader’s Address Venue: Shelbourne Hall Sunday, 28th April 2013 9.30am - Counting of Votes for Ard Fheis Elections Venue: Ballroom, Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin 4 www.fiannafail.ie Motions Workshops - Venue: Minerva Suite Each workshop will discuss and vote on the motions contained in this Clár. Check updated Clár, available on the Ard Fheis weekend, for exact timings. • Constitutional Affairs and Political Reform; Northern Ireland; Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht • Justice, Equality & Defence • Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform; Enterprise, Jobs & Innovation • Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Environment, Community and Local Government • Health; Foreign Affairs & Trade; Transport, Tourism & Sport • Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Please note: Social Protection Motions will be debated on Friday 26th April, at 9.00pm in the Minerva Suite Ard-Fheis Schedule Ard-Fheis Exhibition Area Workshops 11.00am - Utilising Media to Promote the Party Message - Repeated at 2.00pm 12.00pm - Active Campaigning - Repeated at 3.00pm 1.00pm - Cúltúir agus Gaeilge: An Teanga agus Cúltúir na Gaeilge in Éireann 74ú Ard-Fheis Clár 5 Message from Micheál Martin TD, Uachtarán Fhianna Fáil Fáilte go dtí an 74ú Ard Fheis Fhianna Fáil. Tá súil agam go mbualfaidh mé libh i rith na deireadh seachtaine agus sinn ag plé na dúshláin tábhachta atá os comhair ár dtír agus ár bpáirtí. I am looking forward again to meeting members new and old from all over the country. There is no doubt we will have stimulating debates and discussions on motions that will help Ireland achieve a fairer and fuller recovery. Fine Gael and Labour are now over two years in government and unfortunately their list of broken promises is getting longer. Despite promising to protect Child Benefit, they have cut it along with the Respite Care Grant, Mobility allowance as well as