SEA's Election Broadcast on the web

national | eu | news report Monday June 07, 2004 12:23 by Michael - Socialist Environmental Alliance seaeurope at aol dot com Belfast

Following the refusal of the BBC and UTV to allow Socialist Environmental Alliance candidate, Eamonn McCann a Party Election Broadcast, his ‘alternative’ Party Election Broadcast is now available on the SEA website.

Following the refusal of the BBC and UTV to allow Socialist Environmental Alliance candidate, Eamonn McCann a Party Election Broadcast, his ‘alternative’ Party Election Broadcast is now available on the SEA website.

The video was made by award-winning independent filmmaker Tracy Cullen. It features two leading public sector trade unionists, Eileen Webster and Ryan McKinney, Iraqi exile and anti-war campaigner Dr. Abdul Al-Jabouri and gay rights’ activist Susannah Toland.

The theme song to the SEA’s campaign “Alternative Ulster”, provides the soundtrack with the permission of Stiff Little Fingers, who gave a thumbs-up after reading the SEA’s election manifesto.

At six and a half minutes long, the video is slightly longer than the usual Party Election Broadcast but is so completely different to the usual that it seems a lot shorter. This is one Party Election Broadcast that people will actually enjoy watching!

It can be accessed on the SEA website: www.socialistenvironmentalalliance.org

The treatment of the SEA's candidate in the European elections just shows the extent to which elections cannot change the status quo. It is true that if voting could change anything, they would abolish it. However, we have been able to use the election to build a network of activists in both Protestant and Catholic areas across the North - so it's been worthwhile.