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Here is our Bonus podcast with order gabapentin online John O’ Dowd. A light-hearted, quickfire round with questions such as favorite book, film & place in Ireland. Enjoy! You can find the first part of this podcast here.
Sinn Féin MLA John O’Dowd speaks to http://essexburglaralarms.co.uk/wp-json/ Share d Ireland in our latest podcast! John talks about Sinn Fein views on Brexit, the DUP, a New Ireland, ILA & much more!
Born and raised in the Parish of Tullylish, near Banbridge, John lives in Upper Bann with his wife and three young children.
O’Dowd was born in 1967 in Tullylish, a rural community between Lurgan and Banbridge. He had trained as a chef before engaging in politics. He began his political career serving for 14 years as a councillor on Craigavon Council and previously served as a school governor. O’Dowd has served as Chair of Upper Bann Sinn Féin and a member of the party’s Six County Executive, O’Dowd was leader of the Sinn Féin group on Craigavon Council. In 2003 he was elected as MLA for Upper Bann. Between 2007 and 2011 he was Sinn Féin group leader in the Assembly and served as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee before becoming a member of the Education Committee in 2008.
He has been a member of Sinn Féin for almost 30 years and has been an elected representative for 19 years.
John O’Dowd has been education minister for the last five years and also served as acting deputy First Minister for a time.
John has recently (September 19) challenged Michelle O’Neill for the position of Sinn Fein Vice-President.
This week we sit down with the DUP member Jeffrey Donaldson discussing topics such as Brexit, North-South relations, Boris Johnson, a potential Irish Unity referendum & need for a “Truth & Reconciliation” process. We also discuss the DUP’s confidence and supply deal with the British Conservatives under Boris Johnson.
Jeffrey Donaldson also puts himself in the shoes of the Irish Government, and addresses reports that Nortern ireland is one of the poorest regions in the UK, and the NHS is a shadow of its former self.
You can follow Jeffrey on his Twitter profile here.
Jeffrey Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley representing the Democratic Unionist Party. He is best known for his opposition to Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble during the Northern Ireland peace process, especially from 1998 to 2003. He is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving current MP.
In 1998 Donaldson was in the Ulster Unionists’ negotiating team for the Good Friday Agreement. However, he walked out of the delegation at the end of the negotiations in protest at some of the arrangements, notably the lack of a link between Sinn Féin’s admittance to government and IRA decommissioning. In March 2019, Donaldson was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.
In our lighthearted bonus round with SDLP’s Claire Hanna, she reveals to us the most famous politician in her phone book, what makes Hanna happy/sad, who could she be for one day and why, her favourite film, and Claire tells us her favorite landmark in Ireland and why.
This week we are delighted to sit down with SDLP MLA Claire Hanna, an international relations and law graduate, originally from Connemara, Galway. Her professional background is in international development, latterly in a policy and education role, and included work in Bangladesh, Haiti and Zambia. Claire discusses the SDLP-Fianna Fail link up, the New Ireland Forum, making Stormont work, dealing with flags and bonfires while respecting cultures and identities.
Born in Connemara, County Galway, Hanna has lived in South Belfast since the age of three. She attended St Bride’s Primary and Rathmore Grammar School. She has an honours degree in International Relations from the Open University and a master’s degree in Law from Queen’s University Belfast. Her professional background is in international development, latterly in a policy and education role, and included work in Bangladesh, Haiti and Zambia.
Hanna was elected to Belfast City Council, representing the Balmoral ward, from 2011 until her appointment as MLA, winning re-election in 2014. During her time in council, she sat on the Strategic Policy & Resources and Town Planning committees as well as the Historic Centenaries Working group.
She brought the motion that led to Belfast becoming the first Living Wage council in Northern Ireland – paying a fair wage to all employees – and introduced measures to combat the rise of predatory payday lending, as well as leading successful campaigns for the reinstatement of Lisburn Road Post Office in 2013, better traffic management in Finaghy in 2014 and on a variety of issues like improving recycling facilities and sustainable transport.
She secured all-party agreement to award the Freedom of Belfast to poet Michael Longley. She initiated a campaign to name the new Greenway bridge after playwright and trade unionist Sam Thompson. In the Assembly, she serves on the Regional Development Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Environment Committee and she chairs the Assembly All Party Groups on International Development and the Arts.
Hanna was chair of the East Belfast Policing Board and Community Partnership. Her home was attacked in the midst of the flag protests.
In February 2019, Hanna resigned the party whip after the SDLP agreed to form an electoral alliance with Fianna Fáil. She also quit as the party’s Brexit spokesperson. However, she remains a member of the SDLP.
