Ireland’s water is going green, yet the EU just approved YET another nitrates derogation...
Rural communities have spoken: they want clean rivers, not more pollution.
Science and public health are clear. It’s time to enforce the rules and safeguard Ireland’s waters.
Press release & letter below👇
Some people on this island are voting to elect their head of state
Others are digesting the fact that their state deployed paratroopers as peacekeepers - an oxymoron in itself, who killed children in broad daylight & then frustrated justice to the point that it was impossible. Such a stark contrast
List of new PES Presidency members
As the SDLP’s International Secretary and representative, it was a great privilege to be elected to the PES Presidency for the next mandate which I endeavour to represent the party and the people of Northern Ireland to the best of my ability.
Photo of all PES Party Leaders
Skyview photo of PES Leaders dinner
While there, I had the unique opportunity to attend the PES Leaders Dinner with SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP and be included in one of the rare times so many world leaders sit down to break bread.
SDLP and Irish Labour Party delegates with former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh
Congress provided the occasion to hear from many leading figures of our global family such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern.
a view of the delegates in the Congress main hall
Pól in front of the Congress main stage
Last weekend I attended the Congress of @pes.eu in Amsterdam, kindly hosted by @groenlinks-pvda.bsky.social, as a @sdlp.bsky.social delegate. It was a vibrant congress that brought together heads of state, leaders, elected representatives, trade unionists and party activists from across Europe.
Finally some movement on Israel from Ursula von der Leyen but you'd almost forget about Climate Change from that #SOTEU
Left MEPs stand wearing shirts supporting Gaza for this section of #SOTEU.
🇪🇺President von der Leyen condemns Israel’s “man-made famine” in Gaza & Netanyahu's “clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution.”
For this she is loudly heckled by far-right MEPs in the back.
Absolutely horrifying that headlines like these haven't stopped for almost 2 years.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Kallas not only displaying a shocking level of ignorance about Ireland but also the sheer hypocrisy in her position. I wonder who is committing "atrocities, mass deportations, suppression of culture and language" today?
Alina Bohdan fled war in Ukraine. She has young children and is suffering from cancer. Last night she was huddled in fear reading the Bible to them as a baying racist mob swept down the street, seeking whom they might devour. What sickening insanity.
President criticises UK arms investment and US’s ‘monstrous attacks’ on universities
🌍📣 European Coordination Via Campesina denounces the use of starvation as a weapon of genocide against Palestinian people and complicity of Europe 👉 https://www.eurovia.org/press-releases/ecvc-denounces-the-use-of-starvation-as-a-weapon-of-genocide-against-palestinian-people-and-complicity-of-europe @ECVC1 @via_campesina @UAWC1986
📣 European Coordination Via Campesina denounces the use of starvation as a weapon of genocide against Palestinian people and complicity of Europe
👉 www.eurovia.org/press-releas...
The @landworkersuk.bsky.social's are calling on UK Gov to:
Call for immediate & unconditional lifting of Gaza aid blockade
Join humanitarian convoy by dispatching diplomatic missions to accompany the aid into Gaza
Immediately suspend arms sales to Israel
Demand full & unconditional ceasefire
The SDLP strongly condemns those who seek to undermine the essential work of UNRWA and stand in solidarity with the UNRWA workers on the ground as the heartbreaking death toll of those UNRWA workers killed in Israel’s war on Gaza surpasses 300.
The attendees of a roundtable discussion with Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, Sam Rose.
Our presence in Brussels also presented the opportunity to attend a roundtable discussion with Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, Sam Rose. This discussion highlighted the operational and political challenges currently faced by UNRWA as they continue so provide essential life services in Gaza.
Cover of the SDLP'S Our European Future report
The political project of the European Union has always been a core part of the SDLP’s DNA and we are hard at work securing our European future. You can read Our European Future report here: www.sdlp.ie/our_european...
Group meeting of the S&D
On Wednesday the @sdlp.bsky.social returned the group meetings of @socialistsanddemocrats.eu in Brussels.
Our inclusion in these group meetings secures a voice for Northern Ireland in Europe again within the second largest grouping in the European Parliament.
Shameful
SDLP delegate and DAPSY Malaysia delegate raise fists for the Internationale.
Group photo of World Council delegates.
At this meeting of the World Council the SDLP re-affirmed our solidarity with those who are facing dispossession, ethnic cleansing and a denial of the right to self determination in Palestine, Kurdistan, Artsakh and Western Sahara.
A panel on EU enlargement featuring Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, Member of Kosovan Parliament Arjeta Fejza and former Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou.
Delegates voting on a resolution, showing their delegate cards.
This was the first representation of the party within IUSY for many years and signals our intention to see our youth section take its place within IUSY as an active participant. It was a pleasure to connect with many friends from across the globe, including the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.
Tote bags with "IUSY World Council" branding.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti addressing the delegates of IUSY World Council
At the weekend just passed I had the privilege to represent the Social Democratic & Labour Party (@sdlp.bsky.social) at the World Council of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) in Prishtina, Republic of Kosova (Kosovo), kindly hosted by Rinia për Vetëvendosje (RVV).
The 87-year-old widow of murdered GAA official Sean Brown has said she is “terrified” by the “secrets” the British government is hiding after Secretary of State Hilary Benn sought leave to take her husband’s case to the Supreme Court in London
“Destroy Creation and Creation will destroy us”. It’s almost exactly 10 years since I wrote this piece for @thejournal.ie on Francis the #climate champion and fierce critic of neoliberalism.
He wasn’t wrong.
www.thejournal.ie/readme/pope-...
Pope Francis obituary: Outsider pope who championed those at the margins
A graphic highlighting Rory McIlroy's win at the Masters, giving him the career Grand Slam
RORY MCILROY HAS DONE IT‼️
He wins the Masters and becomes the sixth men's golfer to complete the career Grand Slam 🏆
An independent public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown must be established without further delay, the Court of Appeal has declared.
Trump is imposing a 10% tariff on the Heard and McDonald Islands.
The Heard and McDonald Islands are uninhabited.
A screenshot of a UK Labour post celebrating the highest number of deportations since 2018
Celebrating the increasing scale of deportations “to secure our borders”, what an absolutely mortifying state UK Labour are in.
Plenty of horror in GB at Trump but policy and statements like this don’t warrant any consideration or reflection?
