Irish Post commentator PETER KELLY attended the history-making Labour Party conference in Liverpool and witnessed a boost in Irish influence on the new Sir Keir Starmer government
IN THE peaks and troughs of political fortunes, Liverpool’s Labour Party Conference witnessed an historic high this week.
Not least the coveted 14-year long ambition of the party leader to finally address ‘conference’ as British Prime Minister.
But equally for the Irish in Britain, those gathered at the Mersey’s Albert Docks venues witnessed a renewal of confidence in the impact and influence of the diaspora voice on the apparatus of government. Politics as the saying goes, equals people, equals policies. And all three relationships are ‘inextricably linked’, to borrow a phrase.
Of the multitude of fringe events, Irish-promoted or affiliated gatherings attracted the highest A-listers and attendees.From Irish Embassy London meetings, to Stratham House security panels, many featured the new NI Secretary of State Hilary Benn and reflections on the North.
The formal lessons and legacy of the peace process and relationships were always to the fore of discussion. After all, the Good Friday Agreement is New Labour’s ‘baby’, its proudest domestic policy success. It is regularly cited as an international conflict resolution triumph, still celebrated globally.
Hillary Benn, Northern Ireland’s new Westminster supremo, has already made a difference. His surprise and welcome announcement of the hitherto persistently refused public enquiry into the Pat Finucane murder shows a brave and dramatic course change.
It mirrors the unexpected granting of the oft-refused Omagh bomb public enquiry by his Tory predecessor, Chris Heaton-Harris.
The Leeds MP and frequent cabinet member is the son of the late Labour grandee and arch-socialist Tony Benn. Yet Benn the younger is at pains to stress he is independent of his father’s deep red DNA, calling himself “a Benn but not a Bennite”.
Cordial mood music and networking were the order of the day in Liverpool. But the fanfare of the Labour Party Irish Society’s event remains the jewel in the crown of proceedings.
Boasting an estimated 500+ attendees. whiskey and wine fuelled political speed-dating with the dessert being the all-Ireland delicacy of Tayto crisps.
This annual Diaspora-empowered gathering provided the pride of influence and celebration within the new governing Labour structures. It was addressed by the Secretary of State, Irish ambassador and the Irish Labour leader.
Rousing afterthoughts from Derry singer Feargal Sharkey, proved he had found fellow good hearts. Irish Diaspora leaders and new charismatic MPs Liam Conlon, son of Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray, and Deirdre Costigan, former Trade Unionist and Ealing councillor, were celebrated as Westminster ambassadors.
Hillary Benn’s encouragement of “looking forward to a much, much brighter future” and the reset of the British-Irish relationship to be “thriving and succeeding in the months and the many years ahead” sets a determined course of travel to tackle a heavy In-Tray in Westminster.
How to navigate and sensitively replace the notorious Legacy Act left behind by the Conservatives will likely dictate how well Labour resets, thrives and succeeds in Northern Ireland, post-conference. Time will tell.