Stakeholder

Jack McConnell, Scotland’s longest serving First Minister has been announced as the inaugural speaker for Northern Ireland’s new public policy forum, ‘Evolve’. 

Speaking at the Ulster Hall on 8^th September, Mr. McConnell, who was Scottish First Minister for six years, will give an address on the theme of ‘How can Devolution Deliver?’  Scotland’s experience of Holyrood is often cited as example of what devolution can deliver and close links already exist between the administrations in Belfast and Edinburgh. 

Organised by Stakeholder Communications, one of Northern Ireland’s leading public affairs companies and sponsored by IT solutions provider, Steria, Evolve’s remit is to spark debate between Government, business and academia, and provide a platform for both public and private discussion.  Senior representatives from the Northern Ireland Executive are also expected to speak at the event.

Jack McConnell said:  “I am pleased to be speaking at the first Evolve seminar, and particularly pleased to be talking about devolution. Scotland and Northern Ireland have a strong bond and while we took different paths to devolution, we have much to learn from each other about making it work.

“I believe that Scotland’s young parliament has changed our country for the better, with an increased population, better schools, more jobs as well as improvements in services and our legal system.

“And we have forged a new, stronger relationship with the rest of Europe and elsewhere in the world.

“This is the real test of devolution and its institutions – not whether the process of government works for politicians and civil servants, but whether it delivers for the people. I have no doubt that devolution has been good for Scotland and will be good for Northern Ireland.”

Tom Kelly, CEO of Stakeholder Communications, added: “The First Minister, Peter Robinson recently said that it was time to sell the benefits of devolution and we agree with his mission to do that.  Gerry Adams once said that politics was too important an issue solely to be left to politicians. We believe it is the responsibility of all people of goodwill to spell out those benefits of devolved government through debate and discussion based on experiences from home and abroad and the concept of ‘Evolve’ is our contribution to that process. We hope over the next twelve months to provide fora, both private and public, which will encourage debate, responsible decision-making, idea generation and the sharing of best practice in the pursuit of bolstering confidence and good governance on behalf of everyone in Northern Ireland who believes in the benefits of devolved government.’

“The Ulster Hall has been the scene of some famous debates, dating back to the visits of both Randolph Churchill in 1886 who was against devolution and in 1912 his son, Winston Churchill, who was for devolution – although Winston never actually made it because a crowd blocked his way.  Thankfully the debate has moved on and we now have a fully functioning, widely supported local Assembly.  What more apt place to host a discussion about how our new institutions can improve the social, economic and political life of Northern Ireland?

Tony Rice, Client Director for Steria in Northern Ireland said: “Steria is delighted to be a strategic partner in the Evolve public affairs forum project that promises to break new ground by initiating debate and discussion on devolved government in Northern Ireland.   As a company that works closely with the public sector here Steria sees first-hand the progress that is being made under the devolved administration.  This series of events will help us all learn more about what has been done, what is being done and what can be achieved in the future.  

“Providing cutting-edge IT solutions to the public sector means we in Steria have to maintain a focus on how markets and technologies change.   How the Northern Ireland Government may react to changes in social, political and economic environments could have a huge impact on our business.   Evolve is therefore of great interest to us and we look forward to engaging with what promises to be very interesting and informative debate and discussion.”

Evolve will run a series of seminars throughout the year to discuss how devolution has evolved to the present day, how it operates now and how it may change in the future.  As well as wider constitutional issues, Evolve will also discuss local government, the economy, arts and culture, health, education and constitutional affairs.

Anyone wishing to attend should contact breda@stakeholdergroup.com or visit www.evolveni.com.