{"id":26022,"date":"2022-04-26T11:52:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T15:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26022"},"modified":"2022-04-27T11:55:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T15:55:07","slug":"eastwood-highlights-poverty-in-the-north-at-sdlp-manifesto-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26022","title":{"rendered":"Eastwood Highlights Poverty In The North At SDLP Manifesto Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SDLP leader Colum Eastwood (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stormont\u2019s leading parties are using rows about the Brexit protocol, ministerial titles and border polls to distract from the \u201cscandal\u201d of poverty in Northern Ireland, the SDLP leader has claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colum Eastwood accused the DUP and Sinn F\u00e9in of presiding over 15 years of failure as he launched his party\u2019s manifesto for the Assembly election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The manifesto majors heavily on the cost-of-living crisis, with a series of policy proposals aimed at supporting families struggling with spiraling bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SDLP says it would allocate an emergency payment of at least \u00a3200 to every household in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It suggests larger payments for those in most need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the party\u2019s plans, a family with two children eligible for free school meals would receive \u00a31,200 between May and December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other proposals include the provision of 30 hours of pre-school childcare per week and a \u00a31 billion investment in the health service over the next three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outlining the manifesto at an event in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, Mr Eastwood referenced the campaign wrangles involving the DUP and Sinn F\u00e9in on issues such as the Northern Ireland Protocol, the prospect of a referendum on Irish unity and the potential of the republican party taking up the first minister\u2019s job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SDLP had proposed the \u00a3200 emergency payment prior to the election campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Sinn F\u00e9in unveiled a manifesto that included a pledge to allocate \u00a3230 to every household in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Eastwood suggested his nationalist rivals had \u201ccopied\u201d the SDLP \u2013 a move he described as \u201cflattery\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe social democratic principles that are laid out within this manifesto are the politics that get us out of bed in the morning

2pharmaceuticals.com<\/a><\/div> ,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd while other people want to talk about protocols and polls, we\u2019re determined to lift people out of poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cThe reality is though after 15 years of crisis and failure and walking in and walking out of government, the two parties that are at the very top have failed this community, and they don\u2019t want you to talk about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t want to talk about the issues that are in this manifesto. They want to talk about protocol. Nobody\u2019s ever mentioned the protocol to me in all the conversations I\u2019ve had with voters over the past four or five weeks. Nobody, not one, has mentioned the protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s mentioned who\u2019s going to be first minister, who\u2019s going to be deputy first minister, nobody\u2019s talking to me about \u2018we\u2019re going to move this nameplate from here to there and move that one over there\u2019 because they know the offices in Stormont are all pretty warm and the ministers in Stormont are all very comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut they also know that they\u2019re going out and doing a shift every single day and coming home and having to keep their coats on because they\u2019re absolutely foundered in their own homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a scandal in today\u2019s society and no talk of what position somebody\u2019s going to get (at Stormont) is going to fix that problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the launch, Mr Eastwood was also asked about the status of the SDLP\u2019s link-up with Fianna F\u00e1il in the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parties unveiled a cross-border partnership in 2019, but uncertainty surrounds the future of an alliance that has proved unpopular with sections of both parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Eastwood was not drawn on the current status of the link-up but insisted previous engagement with Fianna F\u00e1il leader Miche\u00e1l Martin had helped secure \u20ac1 billion worth of investment on north-south projects through the Irish Government\u2019s Shared Island Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the legacy of those conversations and we\u2019re very proud actually that over the next five years you\u2019re going to see real change on the ground across the border and in border communities because of the work that we did there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SDLP deputy leader Nichola Mallon also addressed the launch event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter 15 years of broken promises and failure to deliver, I can understand why many people believe that change in this place isn\u2019t possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut with the cost-of-living emergency, people literally cannot afford for politics here not to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnough is enough. It doesn\u2019t have to be this way and this isn\u2019t as good as it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n

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