Opinion

Analysis: The SDLP anchored nationalism to realistic outcomes

John Hume delivered peace but failed to plan for its electoral consequences. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
John Hume delivered peace but failed to plan for its electoral consequences. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin John Hume delivered peace but failed to plan for its electoral consequences. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

NATIONALISM in the north today is defined by its support for power sharing and the principle of consent, opposition to violence and a strong pro-European tendency.

The fact that these core values applied 50 years ago and have been adopted more recently by mainstream republicanism is a testament to the SDLP’s vision, and to its determination and consistency.

The party can look back on the past five decades largely as a success but there have also been many setbacks, lulls and bitter internal disputes along the way.

Before the SDLP, political nationalism found its voice mostly through a loose group of Catholic conservatives, rurally-based and detached from one another.

The new party never fully banished this image but its formation signalled a step change in terms of presenting a more modern, outward-looking and united front.

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That it came into being at a time of turmoil when Stormont’s unionist-dominated administration was being challenged is no coincidence.

It emerged from the civil rights movement, which itself had been prompted by the coming of age of a post-war generation who had benefited for the first time from a free education.

Inspired by mass movements across the world, most notably in the United States, the aim was ‘overcome’ and install a new, more egalitarian order.

Unionism’s violent response to calls for equality led many republicans to the conclusion that Northern Ireland was irreformable.

The SDLP offered an alternative analysis, one based on non-violence and an acceptance that the majority couldn’t be forced into a united Ireland against their will.

Its approach was set out in 1972’s Towards a New Ireland policy document, which stressed the need to recognise three interlocking sets of relationships –between unionists and nationalists; between the north and the Republic; and east-west between Britain and Ireland.

The first effort to implement this template through 1973’s Sunningdale agreement was derailed by hardline unionists and republicans.

The three-stranded model prevailed, however, and found greater longevity in the Good Friday Agreement almost a quarter of a century later.

This was a high point for the SDLP and it’s important to acknowledge the huge contribution of then leader John Hume, who worked with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams to convince the IRA to end its violent campaign.

But Hume’s strategy cost his party electorally, its share of the vote being halved over the next two decades as Sinn Féin became nationalism’s foremost voice.

There’s a consensus that believes Hume did the right thing but it is argued that by focussing all his efforts on the peace project he failed to prepare the SDLP for the electoral challenges it presented.

No plan had been put in place to nurture a new generation of representatives, while organisationally the party relied on localised fiefdoms rather than being centrally controlled.

Only very recently – and four leaders later – has the party shown that its decline can be arrested – with the right candidates.

Its percentage share of the vote in last December’s general election was the first upturn in a Westminster poll since 1998 and the election of Colum Eastwood and Claire Hanna has provided a spur for the SDLP’s new generation, ensuring greater competition for not just nationalist votes but also for those of moderate unionists and constitutional agnostics.

While it was the dominant nationalist party for a quarter of a century, circumstances conspired to ensure that the time the SDLP has held power is limited, consisting of a dozen or so ministers, with a notable number of women among them.

Former leader Mark Durkan and former deputy leader Seamus Mallon both served as Stormont’s deputy first minister, the party’s longest serving minister being Alex Attwood, who from 2010 held the social development and environment portfolios consecutively over a three-and-a-half year period.

For a party that professes to be left of centre, its record of delivering on policies that reflect this is debatable.

It has only relatively recently adopted policies on gay marriage and abortion which supporters regard as progressive, and has been meek in its opposition to the transfer test.

It's also worth noting that 18 months on, nothing beyond a couple of photo opportunities has emerged from the partnership with Fianna Fáil.

The “radical” political force that was spoken of 50 years ago never really materialised but the SDLP has fulfilled an enduring role, anchoring nationalism to what it regards as realistic outcomes while acknowledging its constitutional ambitions.