Fortnight Publications Ltd.

Making It WorkAuthor(s): Quentin OliverSource: Fortnight, No. 371 (Jun., 1998), p. 7Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25559465 .

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~poitical column

Making it work

Quentin Oliver

"It should be borne in mind that there is nothing more difficult to arrange, more doubtful of success, and more dan>gerous to carry through, than initiating changes in a state's constitution. "

Machiavelli had it right in The Prince, in terms of last month's Referendum on the future of Northern Ireland.

Hoping against hope that the politicians locked away in Castle Buildings would do a deal by Easter, a few of us wondered how we might help. First we started researching referendums around the world. Why had Norway twice voted against European Union membership? How did New Zealand vote overwhelmingly in favour of proportional representation? What caused the change in Denmark's view, as one year it voted against the Maastricht treaty and the next in favour? What happened in South Africa in 1992

when, in the last all-white referendum, there was a big vote in favour of giving up power to the black majority? And, of course, closer to home, what happens in the South after their frequent referendums and what happened in Scot land and Wales in the Autumn of 1997?

I had some personal involvement in the 1979 campaign in Scotland, when, with some friends, I helped run 'Youth for Yes, Youth for Scotland'! But because of our political incom petence, we managed to alienate the other youth groups

who ran a separate campaign and we didn't manage to

connect with any of the political parties working for a Yes vote.

So, armed with the research and focus group material from the week running up to the Good Friday Agreement,

we set off around the seven political parties engaged in the multi-party talks process who were in favour (Sinn Fein were still consulting at that stage) and the three outside who were also in favour (Democratic Left, Green Party and the Work ers Party).

They were all mightily relieved that somebody had had the time to think about the Referendum, had done some research and had some idea on how a campaign might be

structured and managed. But there was still caution. Al though the parties had crafted the deal together, they knew that they would shortly be pitted against each other in the subsequent elections to the Assembly. One party, in particu lar, felt unable to associate with a united front. Others were concerned about the logistics of ten political parties work ing together, with an untried and untested 'bunch of ama teurs' providing co-ordination and ideas. Again there was the spectre of what would happen if and when Sinn Fein came on board and would that upset the delicate applecart thus assembled?

And so, the non-party (rather than cross-party) "Yes" Cam paiegn was born, bred and launched, as a sort of people's

campaign, running parallel to the political parties, in liai son, but neither guiding, or being guided by them.

Of course we lacked political legitimacy. In Scotland last

Autumn the three main political parties (Labour, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party) hadworked through Scotland Forward, in what is called a 'unified campaign', where the non-party ideas, creativity and energy were di rected and fronted by the heavyweight politicians.

For us that was not to be until the very last week, after what has been described as "the week from hell", startingwith the Balcombe Street gang, continuing with

Michael Stone's appearance at the UDP _ .......

Ulster Hall rally and ending with the _ ... .... -i yi d f i-. .. . ....

announcement that the two British sol . .. .......... s diers involved in the killing of New Lodge youth Peter McBride might be released _ i on polling day.

We noticed the turn-around on the

Monday morning of the last week, as

13,600 first-time voters received a video produced by Mark Chichester-Clark (yes, of that ilk,-which none of the

press seemed to notice!). Our phones were buzzing with young people wanting more copies and saying that it had motivated them to vote in the Referendum which they might otherwise have shunned as another demonstration of the old tribal politics. By Tuesday, as we unveiled a massive banner in front of the Europa Hotel, we found people crossing the road tous rather than away from us. By then the

SDLP's coup of gettingAsh and U2 on to the stage withJohn Hume and David Trimble was public and the excitement was mounting. On the Wednesday Tony Blair came again to deliver his famous hand-written pledges and accepted a breakfast invitation with Trimble and Hume, appearing presidentially on the Dunadry lawn. By then we were on an unstoppable roll. As our Ad-vans toured 54 towns in North ern Ireland even No 10 had to ask our permission to borrow

one of them for the five pledges, since we had hired all the available ones in Northern Ireland!

The result was, of course, convincing and overwhelming. The week before in London, only 72% had voted in favour of a Mayor, with no significant political opposition and we were within four percentage points of Scotland's eventually triumphant 75% in September-again achieved without any significant political opposition.

Now the challenge is to make it work. "Make it work"

has become something of a slogan as we enter the

Assembly elections. As The "Yes" Campaign itself is voluntarily decommissioned, we are urging voters to support and transfer votes to 'make it work' candidates and parties.

As Machiavelli also had it: "The innovator makes en emies of all those who prospered under the old order, and only luke-warm support is forthcoming from those

who would prosper under the new." Oh, how true. *

June 1998 F O R T N I G H T 7

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