Turascáil Bulletin SinnAn Fómhar 2014 Féin Upper Bann Sinn Féin Sinn Féin Uachtar na Banna www.upperbannsf.com MINISTER JOHN O’DOWD MLA - ONWARDS AND UPWARDS - PULLING EDUCATION FORWARD P10 MARTINA ANDERSON MEP TOPS EURO POLL P6/7 SUPPORTING THE PEOPLE OF GAZA - SAOIRSE DON PHALAISTÍN P12 1ST EVER SF DEPUTY MAYORS PIC: Cllr Catherine Seeley, Deputy Mayor Craigavon, Cllr Pól Ó Gribín, Vice-Chairman Banbridge, Cllr Darren McNally, Vice-Chair of the new Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon Council Sinn Féin take top posts as old Councils end History Makers ing and new Councils, Sinn Banbridge District Council be elected as Chair of the new Féin took significant numbers and in the new ABC (Armagh, Council within the next number The summer months have been of Committee Chairs, as well Banbridge & Craigavon of years. huge months for the develop- as Council Mayors and Dept Council). Also over the last month, and ment of Sinn Féin across Ireland. Mayors; many of which for the The recently elected ABC in the final year of Banbridge and A ‘watershed’ result across first time, having been deliber- Council (name to be official- Craigavon Councils, Cllr Pól Ó Ireland was followed up by ately excluded for decades. ly confirmed) elected a DUP Gribín and Cllr Catherine Seeley unprecedented appointments These monumental changes Council Chair and Sinn Féin have been elected as Vice-Chair to local Government positions, were no more prevalent than Dept Chair, with the D’Hondt and Dept Mayor respectively. north and south. In the exist- in Craigavon Borough Council, system guaranteeing that SF will Continued on P4 2 www.upperbannsf.com An Fómhar 2014 Sinn Féin Thanks to Voters There is no doubt that Sinn Féin magh, Banbridge & Craigavon ning seats for the sake of winning Clár Ábhair/ have made another huge step for- Council. All their efforts have seats. We are about winning seats ward in terms of national support contributed to the advancement to maximise change and to build Contents following the recent local govern- of equality and the progression of towards our objective of achiev- ment and European elections change in this area. Go raibh céad ing and winning a ‘Yes’ vote at a P3 - Ireland’s Largest maith agaibh. Border Poll. Party Thanks to your support and vote, Sinn Féin now have representa- Tá Sinn Féin an-bhuíoch as bhur Over the next number of years P4 - SF Meet Health tives in every county in Ireland; 4 gcuid tacaíochta agus as bhur Sinn Féin plans to develop fur- MEPs representing every constit- vótaí ar ár son. Níl amhras ar ther, north and south. Your sup- Trust Management uency in Ireland; 259 Councillors bith ach go bhfuil athrú i ndiaidh port and vote is crucial to this de- along with 29 MLAs and 14 TDs. teacht ar chúrsaí polaitíochta in velopment. Help us make change, P5 - New Youtube Éirinn mar gheall ar thoradh na register to vote now and ensure The Sinn Féin organisation and dtoghchán áitiúil agus Eorpach, ó that the strongest possible voice is Channel Launched leadership would like to thank thuaidh agus ó dheas. always returned to represent you. you for taking the time to go out P6 - SF in Europe - and vote, and for making this Cuidígí linn an fhorbairt seo den possible. pholaitíocht a chothú is a chosaint Anderson Euro Poll agus muna bhfuil sibh cláraithe Topper We also pay tribute to those go fóill, cláraigí bhur vóta anois. elected representatives who have worked hard for Sinn Féin and Without your support the change P7 - SF Meets Portug- the people of this constituency we want to deliver for the ben- ese Consul for a long period of time but are efit of people’s lives is not pos- not continuing on to the new Ar- sible, but we are not about win- P8 - Ag téamh Theach O’Connor Praises Palestine Activists an Fhuachta Sinn Féin Cllr Tommy who have supported these events PIC O’Connor has paid tribute to all highlighting the plight of Pales- P9 - Stop Tory CUTS those active in the recent Pales- t i n e .” tinian solidarity campaign. “They have successfully raised Activists and members of the the profile of these issues in the P10 - Education communtiy have organised a area, especially the need for an number of events in recent times effective Boycott of Israeli prod- P11 - News in Brief to highlight events in Gaza. ucts.” Cllr O’Connor said, “Great Cllr O’Connor continued, “I credit and respect must be paid encourage everyone - Stand With P12 - Free Palestine to the organisers and to those Gaza.” More on P12 Upperbannsf Upperbannsinnfein @upperbannsf An Fómhar 2014 www.upperbannsf.com 3 LARGEST PARTY IN IRELAND Best Election result for national basis. SF since 1918 General Speaking in the aftermath of the election success Sinn Féin Election President Gerry Adams TD When the dust settled on the thanked all those who voted for recent Council and European Sinn Féin and pledged to use the Elections, few in the establish- electoral mandate wisely, ment parties north or south “I want to thank all those who would have enjoyed the reading. voted for the party and all those Sinn Féin emerged from the “The huge vote for PIC: SF Party President Gerry Adams TD 22/23 May polling days electing torate.” is clear that increasing numbers 4 MEPs (European Parliament) Sinn Féin marks a He continued, “Sinn Féin is in- of citizens are seeking a new kind and 259 Councillors; adding to profound change in volved in an historically unprec- of politics. the strong national team of 29 edented effort to build genuine “Some combination of Fine MLAs in the Assembly and 14 the Political Land- republican politics in both states Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil has TDs already in the Dáil. scape” - Gerry Adams on this island. Building capacity been in government since the Many, including joint First and resources and membership, foundation of the southern state. Minister SF’s Martin McGuiness, who stood for Sinn Fein through- is a big task for us and we will The old way of doing politics, have called the election result a out the island, North and South continue to grow. as practiced by these parties has ‘watershed election’ with Sinn and all our party workers. I also “The island-wide election failed. People want change. Féin returning their strongest want to thank the families of all result is also an endorsement of “The Government dismisses number of 1st Preference votes our candidates.” Sinn Fein’s message of the need this as a protest vote or, as the since the 1918 General Election “Sinn Fein’s newly elected to reinvigorate the Peace Process Taoiseach claims, a sign of frus- and the establishment of the 1st MEPs will stand up for Ireland. and for an agreed, united Ire- tration by the electorate. This is Dáil. Our councillors will fight for l an d .” wrong. Returning elected represen- genuine community interests Referring particularly to the “The Government has been tatives for every province and which put the needs of citizens swell of support for the party in sent a very clear message. They county in Ireland, Sinn Féin are first. Sinn Féin will use the man- the 26 Counties Mr Adams said, do not have public support for now the largest party on the is- date that people have given to us “The huge vote for Sinn Fein the damaging policies they are land, as well as the only party to wisely. “We will keep the com- marks a profound change in the implementing.” organise and fight elections on a mitments we made to the elec- political landscape of this state. It News in Brief sion to this consultation and we would en- Welcome for Consultation workers covered by zero hour contracts are courage other interested individuals and trapped in low paid jobs with poor working groups to do likewise.” on Zero Hour Contracts conditions and this must be addressed.” Sinn Féin Councillor Mark O Dowd has welcomed the announcement of a public He continued, consultation into the use of zero hour con- tracts. His comments come after Employ- “All employees should be guaranteed a mini- ment and Learning Minister Stephen Farry mum number of hours or else paid an on- made the announcement to the Assembly. call retainer and not prohibited from taking up employment opportunities elsewhere as is Cllr O’Dowd said, often the case at present.” “The use of Zero Hour Contracts needs to Cllr O’Dowd concluded, be governed and regulated in a way that sup- ports the rights of working people. The pres- “As part of the consultation Minister Farry ent use of Zero Hour Contracts has a nega- will contact 500 local employers so that we tive impact not only on the workers involved, get a picture of the situation across the North. but also on the wider economy. Thousands of Sinn Féin will be making a detailed submis- 4 www.upperbannsf.com An Fómhar2014 1st Ever Sinn Féin Vice-Chair of Banbridge Council Continued from P1 tribute positions across all parties so that as we move into the new super council every- “Cllr Curran also called for one can feel an equal part of it,” a call that was Craigavon Council to adopt a fulfilled just a week later when Cllr Catherine Seeley was elected as the first ever republican similar approach - Dept Mayor in Craigavon. a called that was fulfilled just Sinn Féin Council Group Leader in 1 week later” Craigavon Gemma McKenna congratulated her colleague and pointed to how power- Speaking of Pól Ó Gribín’s election as the sharing can work for all in local Government, first ever SF Dept Chair of Banbridge Coun- “I congratulate Catherine Seeley on her ap- cil, party colleague Cllr Brendan Curran said, pointment as Deputy Mayor of Craigavon “Councillor Pól Ó Gribín has created history