Danny Donnelly is the Alliance candidate for East Antrim in this Assembly election. We caught up with him to talk the election, bonfires and more.
What can you tell people who don’t know you about yourself and what you could do for the people of East Antrim?
I’m a nurse in the health service. I have lived in Larne most of my life. I’ve been a member of the Alliance Party for 6 years. I joined from the Green Party because I was impressed with Anna Lo’s work on environmental issues and equality in the Assembly.
While I’m passionate about protecting the environment I also want to make East Antrim a more attractive place to do business. To attract new investors and to bring jobs to the area. I want to help local businesses to succeed and grow. We have a lot to offer here both for the tourist market and businesses. Larne harbour is increasingly seen as the gateway to NI for those importing to or exporting from it.
With only 54.9% of the electorate voting in last year’s Assembly Election, the lowest of all Assembly Election’s, how do you think we encourage people to engage in politics and vote? Especially young people.
If I knew the answer to that I’d be in great demand! I understand voter apathy when presented with what passes for politics here in NI but not voting isn’t neutral. It means that the parties mired in scandal and sectarian bigotry are one vote less unopposed. If you want to make a change you have to get out there and vote for it. Find a party that fits you and vote for them. Tell your friends and family about why you’re voting and what you hope will happen. Naturally I hope it will be the Alliance Party or at least someone progressive !
In the case of young people I also get it. I voted for the first time in the GFA as I believed it would make a real difference to NI and it has. Although there are still plenty of issues in NI that need addressing we are not in the same place we were before the GFA. Other than that I was mostly uninterested in politics until my mid twenties – so I completely understand young people not engaging with politics. That said I have encountered plenty of young people during elections and I enjoy chatting with them on the street or on social media. Social issues like equal marriage seem to really resonate with them and it’s heartening to find that most of them don’t seem to have an in-built tribal mentality that is often associated with NI politics. I think that’s progress.
As a nurse I’m sure you have seen first hand some of the troubles that our NHS faces. What are some of the steps you think our government should be taking to tackle these problems?
As a nurse I see the effects of successive government policies on our Health system locally & nationally. It’s not exaggerating to say that at times it’s in a state of crisis. We were badly in need of the reforms.
Please check out the 2017 Alliance Manifesto health section bullet points below.
As a supporter of integrated education, you must have been disappointed at the news that Education Minister Peter Weir has failed to spend £47m in the last year that was earmarked for integrated education in NI and that will now go back to the UK Treasury. Are we to believe this is incompetence, or is something more sinister at play here?
I am a strong believer in Integrated Education. I know it won’t solve all our problems in NI but I believe educating our children together helps to remove suspicion and fear about people from different backgrounds. Surely this is of huge importance in a society recovering from decades of conflict ? The GFA contained a clause that enshrined support for the development of IE as the responsibility of Assembly. This has yet to be realised.
Successive polling shows more than 70% of the NI public support I.E. yet only 7ish % of our children attend an IE school. This is a clear failure of our government.
I fully support the IE fund’s #IntegrateMySchool campaign. This is a great way of empowering parents to encourage their children’s schools to transform to Integrated status.
You spoke last year at the disgust you had when you saw your own face, via an election poster, on a bonfire for an 11th night celebration. How do we stop the burning of election posters & religious effigies among other things? Is it a matter of government getting more involved in these particular celebrations, like giving more funding towards bonfires?
It was chilling to see my election poster on top of a bonfire – 2 minutes from my home. I had been warned that it was a possibility but nothing quite prepares you for that. Thankfully the kids didn’t see it – they would have been confused & upset.
I don’t know how this sort of thing could be stopped. The police investigated it as a hate crime. So I was the victim of a hate crime in my home town. That feels a bit weird. I know that it wasn’t personal and it was probably just some idiots put it there but the fact that it wasn’t taken down by the organisers suggests to me that these public events are allowed free rein on offensive and or threatening behaviour. I find that hugely concerning.
There have been a litany of concerns at these events that suggest they are wilfully sectarian in nature and unsafe. In 2017 I find that hard to understand. I recognise that bonfires are part of some people’s culture and i have nothing against them. But wouldn’t they rather have one that is safe and free from public sectarianism?
Are you concerned that with such a climate change denier in the most powerful position in the world, President of the US, the struggle to slow down climate change faces big challenges?
I believe the election of Trump is a disaster for the planet. Right at the time when we seemed to be finally getting serious about addressing this most pressing of issues Trump says he wants to bring back coal mining in the US! It’s sick. Personally I don’t think he’ll be able to avoid getting impeached for something. Hopefully sooner rather than later before he does too much damage to the planet or American society.