SDLP Set for U.S. Comeback

Northern Ireland’s SDLP party, founded by John Hume among others, comes roaring back on America’s shores with a major dinner on Thursday, March 29 at the Rainbow Room in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza.

The SDLP has been eclipsed in America by the Sinn Fein juggernaut. Sinn Fein have raised over $5 million on these shores in the past decade or so. The SDLP, long the leader because of Hume’s personal efforts, is now clearly staging a comeback.

The SDLP dinner comes at a critical time for the party, with the March 7 elections in Northern Ireland forming the backdrop. The SDLP is hoping to retain its position as a close challenger to Sinn Fein for the Nationalist vote, though some observers believe they will have difficulty doing so.

The $1,000 a plate event is a 70th birthday celebration for Hume, the Nobel Prize winner who transformed Northern Ireland politics and is the architect along with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams of the peace process.

The dinner certainly has a huge amount of clout behind it. John Duffy, chairman and CEO of Keefe Bruyette and Wood, the Wall Street firm he has brought back from the grave after it was devastated on September 11, is one of the co-chairmen. The other is Irish businessman and hugely successful billionaire Denis O’Brien, chairman of Digicell, who is recently stated to have made a huge personal contribution to the SDLP.

The invitation is a striking photograph of a young Hume addressing a crowd in Derry back at the beginning of the Troubles. It states baldly, “The right way then…the way forward now.” For more information call Carla Capone at 212-213-1166.

Election Outcome Critical

Interesting that the SDLP USA director is Sheila O’Malley, a long time senior figure with the American Ireland Fund and a media person in her own right through her involvement with Rockfleet Media.

O’Malley is a major fundraiser for political causes, including the Republican Party and the American Ireland Fund. The fact that she is on board with the SDLP gives them tremendous access.

But the success of the party’s American outreach will very much depend on how the election results go in the North. If there is no devolved government, it becomes very difficult for any party to raise funds in that environment, and the SDLP will be no exception.

So what are the chances then? By the March 29 date of the SDLP dinner we will know if there is a new government in Northern Ireland.

It is expected, obviously, that Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party, led by Reverend Ian Paisley, will be the largest parties, but can they do business together and thereby create an Executive that will include members from other parties, including the SDLP?

Paddy Power, the renowned Irish bookmakers, is now giving odds on that proposition.

They favor a government being formed by a 2-1 margin, which will boost those optimists who believe Paisley will come to the table. We’ll know soon enough.

McCain to Push Paisley

Meanwhile, Republican presidential contender Senator John McCain is getting in on the act in Northern Ireland.

The Robert Novak column in last Saturday’s New York Post reported that McCain, who has taken a deep interest in Irish issues, most notably immigration reform in recent times, has been asked by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to personally try to convince the Reverend Ian Paisley that a power sharing move is very much in his interest.

McCain is well thought of in British government circles, and they obviously feel that with his Scotch Irish roots that he could be influential with Paisley.

Bringing McCain in on the issue certainly indicates that Blair remains very committed and serious about making Northern Ireland peace a priority before he steps down.

Given the pace of the scandal involving knighthoods for sale which has come very close to Blair in the past few weeks, it is unclear how long more the British prime minister has before he must step aside for his likely successor Gordon Brown.

Irish peace process advocates are hoping the process will be finally bedded down before he goes. It is no more than he deserves.

Young Kennedy Backs Dodd

Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, son of Senator Edward Kennedy, has come out in favor of Senator Chris Dodd in the race for the White House, an interesting decision given the speculation about where Ted will end up in the endorsement stakes.

Young Kennedy and Dodd both share a Providence College alma mater, and the two men have been friendly since Patrick made it to Congress.

However, in the broader sweep of things, the endorsement of Dodd by Patrick Kennedy sends a message that father Ted is holding off on endorsing his old friend at this point until the situation becomes clearer.

Every candidate would give their eye teeth for the Ted Kennedy endorsement, which proved a winner for Senator John Kerry when he was floundering in Iowa last time out. Kennedy was backing Kerry again this time, but obviously that is no longer the case.

So we can expect Ted to be wooed from all sides in the race as the months go by, but it seems he will hold off until much later in the year when the great money imperative has ground many of the candidates into the dust.

By the middle of this year there may well be only two or three viable candidates left given the need for each of them to raise about $10 million a month between now and the election. Let’s see where Kennedy senior ends up.