Diwrnod Gweithredu | Day of Action

Ar Ddydd Sadwrn yr 21ain o Ebrill, bydd Plaid Cymru Ifanc yn cynnal Diwrnod Gweithredu. Bydd nifer ohonom ar y Pwyllgor Gwaith yn treulio’r diwrnod yn ymgyrchu yng Nghaerdydd. Mae 4 aelod o Blaid Cymru Ifanc yn ymgeisyddion yn ward Cathays, ac mae’n dda gen i’i ddweud bod nifer helaeth o ymgeisyddion ifainc gyda Phlaid Cymru ar draws y wlad. Mae’r etholiad hwn yn hollbwysig i Blaid Cymru ac i’r wlad; dyma’n cyfle ni i ethol byddin o bencampwyr lleol i amddiffyn cymunedau ledled Cymru a’u gwasanaethau cyhoeddus.

Bydd Llywydd EFAy, sef adain ieuenctid Cynghrair Rhydd Ewrop, y blaid y mae Plaid Cymru’n perthyn iddi yn Ewrop, yn ymuno â ni yn y Brifddinas ar yr 21ain. Os hoffech chi ymuno â ni, byddwn yn cwrdd am 10.30 y.b. o flaen Undeb Myfyrwyr Prifysgol Caerdydd ar Blas y Parc. O’r fan honno, byddwn yn canfasio o amgylch Cathays hyd nes 13.00, pan gawn cinio. Yna, am 14.30, byddwn yn symud i lawr i Benarth i helpu canfasio lle mae Osian Lewis, sy’n aelod o’r Pwyllgor Gwaith, a Luke James, sy’n gyn-gadeirydd ar fudiad ieuenctid y Blaid a nawr yn Lywydd ar Undeb Myfyrwyr Prifysgol Abertawe, yn ymgeisyddion dros y Blaid.

Os nad ydych chi’n gallu ymuno â ni yng Nghaerdydd, ‘dw i’n eich annog i ymgyrchu yn eich cymuned leol chi. Mae’n bwysig dros ben ein bod yn lledaenu neges y Blaid yn ystod yr etholiad hwn lle bynnag, pryd bynnag ac at bwy bynnag y gallwn!

On Saturday 21 April, Plaid Cymru Youth will be holding a Day of Action. Many of us who are NEC members will spend the day campaigning in Cardiff. Four Plaid Cymru Youth members are candidates in the Cathays ward and I’m happy to say that Plaid Cymru has a large number of other young candidates all across Wales. This election is extremely important for Plaid Cymru and for the country; here’s our chance to elect an army of local champion to protect communities across Wales and the local services they value so much.

The President of EFAy, which is the youth wing of the European Free Alliance, to which Plaid Cymru is affiliated in Europe, will be joining us in the Capital on the 21st. If you’d like to join us, we’ll be meeting at 10.30 am outside Cardiff University Students’ Union on Park Place. From there, we’ll be canvassing in the Cathays ward until 13.00, when we’ll stop for lunch. Then, at around 14.30, we’ll move down to Penarth to help canvass with Plaid Cymru’s candidates there – Osian Lewis, who’s a member of our NEC, and Luke James, our former Chair who is now President of Swansea University Students’ Union.

If you’re not able to join us in Cardiff, I encourage you to campaign in your own community. It’s essential that we spread Plaid Cymru’s message for this election wherever, whenever and to whomever we can!

Yng ngeiriau ein arweinydd / In the words of our leader - YMLAEN!

Cerith Rhys Jones
Cadeirydd Cenedlaethol | National Chair

Plaid Cymru Cathays

Nominations for local elections officially closed on Wednesday 04/04/12. In the Cathays ward of Cardiff 3 members of the Plaid Cymru Youth national executive have put their names forward, myself (Glenn Page), Cerith Rhys Jones, Emyr Gruffydd and Andrew Pearce all of whom are under 30 and are active members of Plaid Cymru’s student and youth movement. Elsewhere across Wales numerous young candidates have come forward to represent Plaid Cymru, from Menai-Bangor to Penarth.

In total there are 563 Plaid Cymru candidates hoping to represent our communities from May 3rd, 18 of whom have already been elected unopposed. This constitutes the largest number of Plaid Cymru local election candidates ever put forward, indeed, there is no record of this many candidates standing for Plaid Cymru in any election, a clear indication of the growing support and momentum behind our Party.

Cathays is currently represented by four liberal democrat councillors. If the 2011 local elections are anything to go by we can expect the Lib Dem’s will suffer huge defeats. Indeed, Nick Clegg himself has admitted that the elections are going to be “tough”. Perhaps in Cathays especially, an area populated mainly by students, we can expect a large decrease in Lib Dem support. What we need to do in Cathays is to show disaffected students that Plaid Cymru is a party that will fight for them. We must galvanise support across the ward if we are to increase turnout, which sadly was only 16.35% in 2008.

Regardless of what happens in Westminster these elections are local elections and they should be fought on local issues. In Cathays there are plenty of issues that need our attention. Recycling and litter is still a problem that hasn’t been solved. My sympathies to those of you who have been unfortunate enough to walk through Cathays on a Wednesday morning, you no doubt watched your step. Terraced houses, such as those located off Cathays terrace, are without black containers for their litter bins, with black bins being collected once a fortnight people often resort to storing their litter in their gardens which inevitably attracts rodents. Supplying terraced houses with containers for their back gardens would be a simple yet practical solution, which Myself, Andrew, Cerith and Emyr would support.

One issue that I firmly believe needs our immediate attention is that of student housing, an issue largely ignored by Cathays councillors. Having lived in Cardiff now for almost 3 years I can say with first-hand experience that students are being exploited by letting agencies. Over-priced rent, extortionate late fees and poor service are but some of the realities that students can expect when they leave university-owned accommodation. As a solution I would propose the creation of a support group that could offer independent specialist advice to students on how best to act, whether it is legal advice or simply which company is best suited to their needs.

With just over 3 weeks to Election Day it is vital that candidates, activists and supporters of Plaid Cymru continue to do all that they can to support our communities. Together I have no doubt that we can improve our areas and the lives of ordinary people. We ask that you join with us and support our campaign to help us deliver for you, your family and for your community.

Glenn Page

EFAy General Assembly in Friesland / Cynhadledd Flynyddol EFAy yn Ffrisia

Emyr Gruffydd, Is-Gadeirydd Cenedlaethol / National Vice-Chair

English version below

Yr wythnos diwethaf ces i'r cyfle i gynrychioli Plaid Cymru Ifanc yng Nghynhadledd Flynyddol EFAy, neu Ieuenctid Cynghrair Rhydd Ewrop. Cynhaliwyd y gynhadledd yn Ljouwert, sef prifddinas Ffrisia. Yng Ngogledd yr Iseldiroedd y lleolir Ffrisia, ac mae iddi ei hiaith, ei thraddodiadau a'i senedd ei hunan. Cyhaliwyd y gynhadledd yr un pryd â Chynhadledd Flynyddol EFA, a welodd dros 150 o bobl yn dod at ei gilydd o dros 30 mudiad gwleidyddol o bob rhan o Ewrop.

Roedd y cyfle i gwrdd a nifer o gynrychiolwyr ifanc o bleidiau ar draws Ewrop yn un gwych. Bum yn siarad a chymdeithasu gyda phobl ifanc o Gatalwnia, Fflandrys, yr Alban, Mallorca, Ffrisia, Corisca ac o leifafrifoedd ieithyddol megis Daniaid yr Almaen. Cafwyd cyfle i rannu ein profiadau fel ymgyrchwyr ifanc, gan gymharu technegau ymgyrchu a sefyllfaoedd presennol ein mudiadau ieuenctid. Yn wir, roedd hi'n ddiddorol gweld bod rhai gwledydd ymhell ar y blaen, yn ymgyrchu dros annibyniaeth, (megis yr Alban a Chatalonia) ag eraill dal heb sicrhau statws swyddogol i'w hiaith (fel y Ffrisiaid). I mi, prif fwriad y gynhadledd oedd i ddysgu rhywbeth oddi wrth ein gilydd. Dyliai'r rhai hynny sydd yn dal i frwydro dros statws swyddogol i'w hiaith neu i'w lleiafrif allu dibynnu ar gefnogaeth y gwledydd bychain mwy llwyddiannus o fewn EFAy - y rhai hynny sy'n brwydro dros gyrraedd annibyniaeth, hynny yw.

Roedd y gynhadledd yn diddorol yn ei hun - er hynny, credaf y gallai mwy o amser wedi cael ei rhoi i drafod cynllun gwleidyddol hir-dymor i'r sefydliad, a buasai'n dda bod wedi gweld rhagor o gynigion a thrafodaeth arnynt. Y flwyddyn neaf, buaswn i'n hoffi gweld hyd yn oed mwy o gynrychiolaeth o ystod ehangach o fudiadau gwleidyddol ifanc ar draws Ewrop yn dod i'r gynhadledd, gan ychwanegu at ddyfnder y drafodaeth.

Er hynny, does dim amheuaeth bod EFAy ac EFA yn werthfawr iawn fel mudiadau. Er ein bod ni, er engrhaifft, yn gallu dysgu llawer oddi wrth Gatalwnia, lle mae'r iaith yn ffynnu a'r achos genedlaethol yn blodeuo, neu oddi wrth yr Alban lle y bydd refferendwm dros annibynniaeth yn cael ei chynnal ymhen ychydig flynyddoedd, mae'n hollbwysig nodi ein bod yn medru dysgu oddi wrth y rhai hynny sydd yn dal i frwydro yn erbyn talcen caled iawn. Roedd gweld dycnwch y Ffrisiaid i sicrhau statws gyfartal i'w hiaith a brwdfrydedd Daniaid yr Almaen i ddiogelu eu diwylliant wir yn ysbrydoliaeth i mi fel Cymro ac ymgyrchwr. Mae'n ddigon rhwydd i'n cenhedlaeth ni anghofio am yr aberth mawr a wnaethpwyd i sicrhau llwyddiant ein hachos genedlaethol a'n hiaith heddiw - rhai fel Gwynfor, DJ Davies, Saunders Lewis a Jennie Eirian - a'n bod yn anwybyddu’r ffaith ein bod ni hefyd arfer bod yn yr un sefyllfa â llawer o’n cymrodyr Ewropeaidd heddiw.

Felly iawn - mae'n bwysig i edrych i'r Alban am ysbrydoliaeth weithiau - ond dylid cofio nad ydynt yn dal yr atebion i bopeth, wedi'r cyfan!


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Last weekend I had the opportunity to represent Plaid Cymru Youth in the EFAy General Assembly, (European Free Alliance Youth). The conference was held in Ljouwert, the capital city of Friesland. Friesland is situated in the north of the Dutch State, and it has its own language, traditions, and parliament. The GA was held in conjunction with the EFA Conference, which saw over 150 people come together representing 30 different political organisations from across Europe.

The opportunity to meet young political activists from all over Europe was excellent. I met and socialised with young people from nations such as Catalonia, Flanders, Scotland, Mallorca, Friesland, and Corsica and from linguistic minorities such as the Danish speaking minority in Germany. We had the opportunity to share our experiences as young activists, comparing campaign techniques and sharing the present situation of our youth movements. It was quite interesting to note that some countries seem to be well ahead in their national cause (such as the Scots and the Catalans who are campaigning for independence) where other nations are still fighting for equal status for their languages or nations (like the Friesians). I believe that those who are still fighting for equal status or recognition should be able to depend on the support of more successful parties within EFAy – i.e, those who are fighting for independence for their nation.

The conference in itself was interesting- however, I do believe that more time could have been put aside to discuss a long-term political plan for the organization, and it would have been good to see more varied motions and broader discussion. Next year, I would like to see even more representation from youth political organisations from across Europe, adding scope and depth to the discussion.

However, there is no doubt that EFAy and EFA are both valuable organisations. Although we in Wales, for example, can learn a lot from Catalonia, where the language is thriving and the national cause is in full swing, or from Scotland where a referendum on independence will be held in a few year, we must never forget that we can also learn from those nations and minorities who are still battling on the coalface. Seeing the Friesians’ determination to ensure an equal status for their language, and the enthusiasm of the Danish minority in Germany for their culture really inspired me as a Welshman and an activist. It is easy for our generation to ignore the sacrifice made by past generations to advance our national cause - figures such as Gwynfor, DJ Davies, Saunders Lewis and Jennie Eirian – forgetting that we were once in that difficult situation that many of our European comrades are faced with today.

So OK – it is important to look to Scotland now and again for a bit of inspiration – but we must remember that they do not hold the answers to everything, after all!

Llongyfarchiadau! || Congrats!

Mae'n bleser gen i allu danfon neges o longyfarchiadau enfawr i Leanne Wood AC ar ei hetholiad fel Arweinydd newydd Plaid Cymru.

It's a pleasure for me to be able to send a message of congratulations to Leanne Wood AM on her election as the new Leader of Plaid Cymru.

Mae cael Leanne fel Arweinydd y Blaid yn rhoi gobaith imi fod gan y Blaid flynyddoedd disglair iawn o'i blaen a chyda digon o waith, nid wyf yn amau mai Leanne Wood fydd Prif Weinidog Cymru yn 2016.

Having Leanne as Plaid Cymru's Leader gives me hope that the party still has a sparkling future ahead of it and with plenty of work, I have no doubt that Leanne Wood will be the First Minister for Wales in 2016.

Ar lefel bersonol, rwyf i'n edrych ymlaen yn fawr iawn at weithio gyda Leanne tra fy mod i'n Gadeirydd ar y mudiad myfyrwyr ac ieuenctid, ac hoffwn ddiolch iddi am ei charedigrwydd tuag at ein mudiad ni ar hyd y blynyddoedd.

On a personal level, I am very much looking forward to working with Leanne while I am Chair of the student and youth movement, and I would like to thank her for her unwavering support of our movement.

Yn ogystal, hoffwn dalu teyrnged i'r dau ymgeisydd arall - Elin Jones AC a'r Arglwydd Dafydd Elis-Thomas AC. Fe frwydron nhw ymgyrchoedd da iawn wir a does dim amheuaeth yn fy meddwl i y bydd y ddau ohonynt yn aelodau annatod o dîm Leanne yn y Cynulliad.

I would also like to pay tribute to the other two candidates - Elin Jones AM and the Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM. They both fought good campaigns and there is no doubt in my mind that they will both form important parts of Leanne's team in the Assembly.

Pob lwc - ymlaen! Good luck!

Cerith Rhys Jones
Cadeirydd Cenedlaethol || National Chair

Daw'r diwedd

Yfory, cyfrir y pleidleisiau yn etholiad arweinyddol Plaid Cymru a dyma ddiwedd ar gyfnod Ieuan Wyn Jones fel Arweinydd y Blaid, swydd y mae ef wedi'i dal ers 12 mlynedd.

Bydd y sawl ohonoch sy'n dilyn y blog hwn yn gwybod mai polisi swyddogol CymruX yw cefnogi ymgyrch Leanne Wood i'w olynu. Os nad ydych chi wedi pleidleisio eto, fe'ch hanogaf i ddewis Leanne fel eich dewis cyntaf i fod yn Arweinydd ac i ddanfon eich papur pleidleisio at Dŷ Gwynfor yn syth fel ei fod yn cyrraedd cyn yfory.

Ond wrth i'r ymgyrch Arweinyddol ddirwyn i ben, hoffwn gymryd moment i dalu teyrnged i Ieuan am ei arweinyddiaeth am dros ddegawd. Y mae wedi arwain ein Plaid gyda sgil ers blynyddoedd, ac wedi bod yn wyneb arbennig o dda i'n mudiad cenedlaethol yn ystod y cyfnod hwnnw. Mae'r teyrngedau a dalwyd iddo o ar draws llawr y Siambr yn ystod ei sesiwn FMQs olaf fel Arweinydd y Blaid ddydd Mawrth yn adlewyrchu'i boblogrwydd.

Ef wnaeth arwain y Blaid i mewn i Lywodraeth am y tro cyntaf ac fe wasnaethodd ein gwlad fel ei Dirprwy Brif Weinidog. Fel Arweinydd Plaid Cymru, fe arweiniodd ni at ddelifro senedd go iawn i'n Cenedl. Ac yn y dyddiau cynnar, roedd yn un o'r bobl wnaeth droi'r prosiect datganoli i mewn i'r llwyddiant y mae heddiw.

Edrychaf ymlaen at ei weld ar ôl-feinciau'r Blaid, yn brwydro dros bobl Ynys Môn ac ys dywedodd Kirsty Williams, gobeithiaf y bydd yn cymaint o drwbl o'r ôl-feinciau ag y mae cyn-arweinwyr eraill wedi bod.

Ar ran mudiad myfyrwyr ac ieuenctid Plaid Cymru, hoffwn ymestyn fy niolchiadau calonog i Ieuan am ei wasanaeth ar hyd y degawdau, a dymuno'n dda iddo wrth iddo ymadael wrth yr Arweinyddiaeth.

Cerith Rhys Jones
Cadeirydd Cenedlaethol

The End is Near

Tomorrow, votes will be counted in Plaid Cymru's leadership election and Ieuan Wyn Jones will cease to be Leader of Plaid Cymru, a post he has held for 12 years.

Those of you who follow this blog will now that official CymruX policy is to support Leanne Wood's campaign to succeed him. If you haven't already voted, I would urge you to select Leanne as your number once choice for Leader and get your ballot paper in the post to Tŷ Gwynfor so that it gets there before the deadline tomorrow.

But as the Leadership campaign draws to a close, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to Ieuan for his leadership for more than a decade. He has led our party with skill for years, and has been a fantastic figurehead for our national movement during that period. I think that the tributes paid to him from all across the Siambr floor during FMQs on Tuesday - his last as Leader - reflect how popular he is.

He led Plaid Cymru into Government for the first time and served our country as its Deputy First Minister. As Leader of Plaid Cymru, he led us to delivering a proper law-making parliament for our Nation. And in the early days, he was one of those people who helped turn the devolution project into the success that it is today.

I look forward to seeing him on the backbenches, fighting for the people of Ynys Môn and as Kirsty Williams put it, I hope he's as troublesome from the backbenches as other former leaders have been.

On behalf of Plaid Cymru's student and youth movement, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Ieuan for his service over the decades, and wish him all the very best as he takes his leave of the Leadership.

Cerith Rhys Jones
National Chair

Unity

By Emyr Gruffydd, Vice Chair of Cymru X - Plaid Cymru Youth

As Vice-Chair of Plaid Cymru Youth, I also have responsibility over European affairs. In two weeks, I will be going to Friesland to the European Free Alliance Youth's Annual Assembly, where I will get the chance to speak to our European comrades about the situation in their countries and learn from their experiences as young campaigners for their political parties. I am hugely interested in European affairs after living for a year in France and in Galicia, and in this post, I'd really like to take a quick look over the situation of our sister parties in Catalonia and Galica. I passionately believe that it is important to look further than Scotland, or the 'British' perspective, as some nations, such as Galicia, are in a very similar situation to us.

The Scottish situation is known to most of this blog's followers by now; a referendum will be held in 2014 by the SNP administration in Edinburgh, and I know of many a Plaid Youth activist that'll be making the trip up to Scotland to canvass for the Yes campaign. Opinion polls vary significantly on the support for Scottish Independence - anything from 38% to 51% of the population say that they are in favour. This scenario to me seems similar to another stateless nation in Europe - Catalonia - where around 44% of the population, according to a recent poll, would vote Yes in a referendum on Catalan independence if it were held tomorrow.

Why, therefore, is there no referendum planned in Catalonia? Well, think back two years to the various referenda held in the country - however, these were organsied by Catalan Nationalists and not deemed official by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Turnout was also low in some parts - many mountain villages registered turnouts of near 90%, whereas turnout in the city of Barcelona itself was only about 26%.

Nationalist parties historically do well in Catalonia, and at the moment, a 'Catalanist' center-right party, Convergencia i Unió, is in goverment. However, this party, which historically garners support from the Catalan speaking bourgoisie, does not include constitutional independence as one of its priorities - indeed, on its website, there is no mention of independence at all. Its youth wing is considered pro-independence, and many politicians within CiU have expressed support for the idea, but the party remains very ambiguous over the idea.

But many other home-grown parties, wit no links to Madrid, exist in Catalonia. Our sister party in EFA, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, is a republican, left wing party that supports independence for the country. It garners support from about 8-10% of the electorate, mainly in small towns in the center of Catalonia but also has strong support amongst the Catalan youth. JERC, their youth wing, is a highly successful organisation, which holds a yearly political and music festival, the Acampada Jove, attended by hundreds of young people. Another Catalan political party is Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència - a party dedicaded solely to fighting for independence. Solidaritat accuses ERC of being sluggish over the issue of independence, and was formed by a group of disillusioned ERC, CiU and Regrupament members (another Catalanist political party) along Joan Laporta, ex-manager of Barcelona Football Club, of which I am a lifelong, massive fan! ;) Many well known Catalan intelectuals have also joined the formation. And I'm not going to start mentioning another independence seeking, radical left wing party which contests local elections, the Candidatura d'Unitat Popular...

Galician Nationalism is even more confusing - but bear with me while I try my utmost to explain the details. The Galician National Bloc, the BNG, is the only Nationalist Formation that has any substantial representation within Galician politics. A fragmented party, it includes groups that are communist, liberal, centrist, social-democratic and some that are definitiely not convinced about the idea of Galician Independence. Recently, a group lead by the ex-leader of the BNG, Xosé Manuel Beiras, has been considering leaving the BNG to set up their own party, Máis Galiza - and the only people laughing are the Partido Popular, or the Conservative and Unionist Party, which is in government both in Santiago de Compostela and in Madrid.

So, why have I chosen to look at these examples? What I believe that we can learn from these nations, especially Scotland, is that unity is key to ensuring a strong Nationalist movement. The SNP is the only progressive choice for supporters of independence in Scotland, as it stands out as a strong, united movement, but there seems to be a lot more choice for nationalists in Catalonia. 44% of the Catalan people want independence - but those parties that support it still seem to be bickering amongst each other. With Plaid Cymru going through a leadership election at the moment, we need to take a long hard look at ourselves and think how we are going to get 44% of the Welsh population , interested in the national cause, let alone interested in independence. The only answer I seem to be able to find to this is that we ensure that we remain wholly united in our call for a free Wales under our new leader, whoever she may be.

Fersiwn Gymraeg i ddilyn.