On the same day that SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell made headlines having accused the DUP of being unwilling to share power with Catholics and Sinn Féin of being incapable of telling the truth on paramilitary violence, news broke that the party’s youngest MLA Colum Eastwood may lead a leadership challenge ahead of the party’s annual conference in November.

Over recent weeks, whilst inter-political party talks have been sought and set-up, insults and derogatory terminology employed by representatives sum up what we now expect from a fading conflict-obsessed generation of politicians.

Even McDonnell’s comments on the DUP and Sinn Féin capture the current state of most parties here – and, at that, their continuing failure to gain more than their usual percentage of the vote – with the standard mantra being “we’re better than them because we’re not them.”

Party members await Eastwood’s decision as to whether he will stand for leader but, should he stand and should he be elected, a new leader and younger face of the party alone might not revive the SDLP’s fortunes.

The truth is that, practically, the party as a whole needs to branch out to those who are not convinced of the Irish nationalist argument, may be fed up with nationalist parties – British and Irish – or are turning away from Northern Ireland politics generally.

Not all nationalists who aspire to a united Ireland consider it to be practical any time soon, and those who describe themselves as unionist could be made to feel more welcome within what is, or should be, first and foremost a labour party.

As other parties quarrel over past grievances, the SDLP can and should come to represent a Northern Ireland at peace with itself, with its political institutions agreed and diversity of identities encouraged; confident that the future of the province lies not in the hands of parties but with each citizen with the right to vote.

The party’s message and its leader’s language ought to be inspiring, not defeatist.

The election of a younger leader might change the public’s perceptions of the party in some ways but its biggest challenge lies in attracting voters concerned more by every-day issues than the national question; and winning back those perhaps turned off by the SDLP’s perceived focus on out-doing Sinn Féin.

If a leadership contest does indeed arise, Eastwood will need to communicate what he intends to bring to the party, how his leadership would differ from McDonnell’s, what his vision is for Northern Ireland, and, practically, how the party might grow within and beyond the constituencies where the party is visibly strongest.