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Colm Eastwood launches SDLP manifesto with pledge to tackle regional disparity in investment

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood with the party's assembly candidates at yesterday's manifesto launch in Dungannon. Picture by Hugh Russell
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood with the party's assembly candidates at yesterday's manifesto launch in Dungannon. Picture by Hugh Russell SDLP leader Colum Eastwood with the party's assembly candidates at yesterday's manifesto launch in Dungannon. Picture by Hugh Russell

THE SDLP plans to halt "the attempt to repartition" the north by setting strict Stormont investment targets for nationalist areas it believes have previously been neglected.

The 'new formula for fairness' is among a range of policy pledges outlined in the party's assembly election manifesto, which was launched yesterday in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

The document is the first opportunity for Colum Eastwood to comprehensively spell out the ideas he has developed since taking over the party leadership last November.

On matters such as abortion, the European Union and healthcare, there's little to differentiate the manifesto from its predecessor, however, with pledges to promote integrated education and establish a commission for a new Ireland, it shows more ambition.

Accordingly, Mr Eastwood's 'progressive nationalism', and the notion that the north must succeed in order to pave the way for a united Ireland, figures prominently in the manifesto.

Beyond this long-term aspiration, the party advocates more immediate measures such as permanent nationalist and unionist representation in Seanad Éireann, enhanced cross-border co-operation and the aforementioned commission to provide a "more overtly political roadmap for Irish unity".

The commission, which will include both SDLP personnel and non-party members, will initially audit the state of north-south relations before putting "flesh on the bones" of what a 32-county Ireland will look like, including how the public and private sectors will be structured.

The manifesto notes that Scotland’s plan for independence contained 670 pages, before insisting that "Irish nationalism must match that level of practicality".

But while Mr Eastwood concedes the need to make the north function successfully, he is also demanding a change in how the region's resources are distributed.

"Decades of investment in infrastructure, in higher education and in job creation that was focused on a very small, affluent part of Northern Ireland," he told The Irish News yesterday.

"Unless we change that – and we've nine years to change that an it hasn't happened – by refocusing and re-prioritising the resources that we have on areas that need it most, then we're going to continue the repartitioning economically of the north."

Outlining the rationale for the 'formula for fairness', the SDLP point to a "gross disparity in government support and investment" across different areas of the north.

"West Belfast for example received just 1.19 per cent of available Invest NI assistance," the manifesto notes before insisting that any government the party joins will "end this injustice".

Target areas for the include: North Belfast, West Belfast, Derry, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh and Newry.

On education, the party has moved away from the previously promoted shared model towards greater advocacy of integrated education.

"That doesn't mean necessarily integrated eduction as it's always been viewed – surely there are opportunities for people to buy into a Catholic schools who aren't from a traditional catholic background," Mr Eastwood said.

"We need to be thinking differently about how we do education and we actually bring people together."

Elsewhere the manifesto pledges to help tackle child poverty by giving every child at least £500 towards long-term savings, with the cash paid in two £250 instalments – at birth and when they reach the age of 10.

A third top-up at age 16 would be discussed with other parties, Mr Eastwood said. Other commitments include the provision of up to 30 hours a week of free pre-school childcare for working or studying parents and an unspecified reduction in university tuition fees.

The SDLP leader repeated his assertion that the party would only enter the executive if it was satisfied with the policy blueprint negotiated in the first two weeks after next month's election.

"We will only enter into an executive if we can fully sign up to a credible and progressive programme for government," he said.

:: What's in the manifesto?

:: The establishment of Northern Ireland's first ever digital technology and coding academy.

:: Providing greater investment in regional infrastructure projects like roads and railways.

:: Promoting the integrated education of Catholic and Protestant children.

:: Renewing efforts to tackle hospital waiting lists and building around 3,000 new social homes every year for those in the most need.

:: Supporting the creation of nearly 40,000 jobs and reversing the cut in the number of student places.