The Northern Ireland Assembly Elections will be held on Wednesday 7 March.
After all the false starts of the political process, the St. Andrew's talks and the recent Sinn Fein Ard Fheis it's hard to believe that we're actually here. Equally, it can be just as hard to get excited about another election.But politics does matter. Name any issue you have a concern about today - education, health, sport, water charges, rates, the environment - and you can be sure that politics has some part to play. And as people of faith we should be actively participating in discussions on these issues. Using your vote is just the first step in engaging with the public square.
Maybe you are wondering why you should be voting at all. Or maybe you're not sure how to use your vote.
www.nielection2007.blogspot.com is an initiative facilitated by Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland and CARE in Northern Ireland, alongside IFES Ireland and the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland. We've invited a range of interesting people to offer their thoughts on the issues of the day from a faith perspective in the run up to the election on 7 March. Posts from our guest bloggers will appear at lunchtime from Monday through to Friday. Please join the conversation.
We also have some thoughts on why you might vote and how you might think about using vote.
There are probably many posters up around your local area promoting different candidates from a variety of parties. A full list of candidates across Northern Ireland is available so you can see exactly who is running in your constituency.
We want to encourage you to think, reflect and pray about the election in your churches on Sunday 4 March. Here are some ideas for prayers, readings and reflections which you may wish to include in your Sunday service.
Follow the links below to connect to the various political parties, download their manifestos and read their policies.
Alliance Party www.allianceparty.org
Conservative Party NI conservativesni.wordpress.com
Democratic Unionist Party www.dup.org.uk
Greeen Party www.greens-in.org
Make Politicians History www.makepoliticianshistory.org
Progressive Unionist Party www.pup-ni.org.uk
Sinn Fein www.sinnfein.ie
Social Democratic & Labour Party www.sdlp.ie
Socialist Party www.geocities.com/socialistparty/
Ulster Unionist Party www.uup.org
Workers Party www.workers-party.org
