SDLP Youth

SDLP Youth
Chairperson	Aobh Hollywood
Vice-Chairperson	Ben Gilmore
Founded	10 June 1995; 29 years ago (1995-06-10)[1]
Headquarters	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Ideology	Social democracy Irish nationalism
Mother party	SDLP
International affiliation	International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) (observer)
European affiliation	Young European Socialists (YES)
Website	www.sdlpyouth.org

SDLP Youth is the youth wing of the social democratic[2] and Irish nationalist[3] political party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Membership of the organisation is entitled to SDLP party members of the age 30 and under.[4] It is organised throughout Northern Ireland and plays an active role within the SDLP at all levels of the organisation.

Organisation

SDLP Youth is currently organised across much of Northern Ireland, including University societies. The group is split into a number of branches with the executive committee acting as the governing body of the organisation.

Executive

SDLP Youth is organised at a national level by the Youth Executive. The Youth Executive is responsible for the day-to-day running of SDLP Youth. It consists of nine Officers elected at the annual Youth Conference, usually held in the spring.

The current Officers of the Youth Executive elected in May 2023 are:

Executive Position	Officer	Constituency
Chairperson	Aoibheann Kennedy	[[Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)|Newry and Armagh]
Vice-Chairperson and North-South Officer	Ben Gilmore	Strangford
Secretary General	Eilidh O'Connor	Foyle
Campaigns and Communications Officer	Morna Mooney	Foyle
Equality Officer	Matthew Taylor	Lagan Valley
Membership Officer	Tony McCann	North Down
Policy Officer	Seán Starrs	Belfast South
Under 18's Officer	Megan McKay	Lagan Valley

Branches

The current SDLP Youth branch organisations[5] are:

• SDLP Youth Antrim Branch
• SDLP Youth Belfast - Paddy Wilson Branch
• SDLP Youth Derry Branch
• SDLP Youth East Derry Branch
• SDLP Youth Mid Ulster - Paddy Heron Branch
• SDLP Youth Newry and Armagh Branch
• SDLP Youth West Tyrone Branch
• Queen's University SDLP Society
• Ulster University SDLP Society

Former SDLP branch organisations include:

• Magee SDLP[6]
• SDLP Youth Strabane[7]
• SDLP Youth South Down[8]
• SDLP Youth Upper Bann[9]

History

A youth section of the SDLP was first floated in late 1973 which led to the short lived group "the Young Social Democrats" which organised from 1974 to 1976.[10]

The current youth wing started organising in the early 1990s bringing motions, such as the decriminalisation of marijuana,[11] to party conferences but it wasn’t until 10 June 1995 that SDLP Youth became a distinct section of the SDLP when it was added to the party constitution.[12]

International

SDLP Youth are full members of the Young European Socialists (YES),[13] formerly the European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth (ECOSY), having been admitted at the 1994 conference in Munich.[14] At this 1994 conference future SDLP MLA for South Belfast Conall McDevitt was elected as an ECOSY vice-president after being elected the National Secretary of Labour Youth in 1993.[15] At 2021 YES Congress Leah Rea became the first member of SDLP Youth to be nominated and elected to the YES Presidium as Vice-President.[16]

In 2016 SDLP Youth and YES held a joint seminar in Belfast on "far-right extremism and Brexit" which was attended by young socialist activists from across Europe.[17]

SDLP Youth are also observer members of International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY).[18]

References

1. Moriarty, Gerry (12 June 1995). "SDLP decides to hold annual leadership vote". The Irish Times. No. 44, 235. The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
2. "SDLP Website". Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
3. "SDLP Website". Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
4. "SDLP Constitution clause 18.4a" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
5. "Branches". SDLP Youth. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
6. "Sdlp Magee". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
7. "@strab_sdlpyouth" on Twitter
8. @SDLPlive (13 December 2010). "SDLP South Down youth formally launches http://tinyurl.com/38uavho" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. "@sdlpu" on Twitter
10. "Search Page | ECatNI | Public Record Office of Northern Ireland". apps.proni.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
11. "Nexis Uni® - Sign In | LexisNexis". signin.lexisnexis.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
12. "Nexis Uni® - Sign In | LexisNexis". signin.lexisnexis.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
13. "YES Members list, collected 17 May 2020". Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
14. "CONGRESS REPORT". 9 October 1997. Archived from the original on 9 October 1997.
15. "Conall McDevitt MLA | Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)". 29 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010.
16. @MissTwice (3 October 2021). "I cannot believe I am typing this, but I am so honoured to say that #YESCongress has put their faith and trust in m…" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 October 2021 – via Twitter.
17. SDLP Youth [@SDLPyouth] (17 October 2016). "We're excited to be welcoming @YESocialists to Belfast next month. Get in touch if you'd like to attend their event…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
18. "Member Organisations". Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2020.

External links

• Official homepage of SDLP Youth Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine