On Friday evening and 
Saturday, Labour Youth Conference (yes, that’s me in the front left of the photo, sitting beside my comrade and NEC opponent Paul Dillon!) took place in the ATGWU, attended by over 100 members of Labour Youth. The Conference passed a range of motions, from support of legalisation of cannabis to support of an academic boycott on Israel, and from a call for Noel Dempsey to resign to a call for Labour to present themselves as a Labour-led coalition of progressive parties in the run-up to the next election.
The Conference also elected a new National Youth Executive, and after serving two terms as Vice-Chair & Campaigns Officer of Labour Youth, it was time for me to step aside and allow a new generation to take over. It really has been a privelege and an honour to have been permitted to serve in this role by the members of Labour Youth for the last two years, and I’m very grateful to them for the opportunity. I got the chance to lead campaigns, to learn how to issue press-releases and deliver speeches, to hone my political debating skills, and to learn the art of dissolving tensions in a room. And I got to really get stuck into the kind of political campaigning I had longed for to that point. In particular, I’d like to wish the best of luck to my replacement, Gary Honer from Dublin South-Central.
The weekend also saw Eamon Gilmore deliver an excellent speech (unfortunately that link is for a heavily edited version of the speech, as I suspect some of the original content may make it’s way into his speech to Party Conference) to Labour Youth Conference. One complaint I’ve heard a couple of times from Labour members in relation to Eamon’s leadership thus far, was that they had yet to hear any of the big-picture visionary type of speeches at which Pat Rabbitte always excelled. This speech changed that, as we began to see the formation of a political narrative that will allow Eamon to move beyond the impressive Dáil performances – a narrative that will allow non-aligned voters to see the appeal of the Labour Party.
Even more interestingly, was the Q&A session that followed between Eamon and LY members. The last few Labour Youth Conferences have been marked with Q&A sessions during which the Party Leader was gruff, disengaged, distracted and occasionally downright grumpy. This year was likened to a breath of fresh air, as Eamon was engaging, interested, jovial and friendly, and unafraid to coherently outline his views on a range of issues. His answers may not always have been those desired by the Labour Youth membership, but he always went on to outline a convincing reason for his stance. Undoubtedly, he’s enjoying the honeymoon period of his leadership, but long may that period continue!
Finally, I ended off the weekend with a trip down to South Tipperary, where Cllr. Seanie Lonergan is doing some terrific work defending mushroom pickers who have been found to be paid less than the minimum wage on many occasions. It’s that kind of local campaigning that really stands to the Labour Party, and enormous credit is due to Cllr. Lonergan for taking the lead on this issue.
