The decision by the SDLP to enter into a “partnership” with Fianna Fáil — a move widely seen as a precursor to a full merger — means Labour should now stand in Northern Ireland.

Parties in the Republic of Ireland used to view politics ‘up North’ as either alien or something they’d be best not getting involved in; or at least, that used to be the attitude. Driven by a need to change course, the SDLP last weekend announced that it will merge — sorry, I mean ‘enter into a partnership’ — with Fianna Fáil, the catch-all, vaguely conservative party propping up the centre-right Fine Gael minority government in the Republic.

The decision to enter into this “partnership” or “pre-merger arrangement” isn’t unsurprising; ideologically the SDLP has been drifting to the right for some time and has long searched in vain for some time for a way to reverse its declining electoral fortunes. Nor is it a new one; the question of a merger was raised during Margaret Ritchie’s tenure as leader, one she responded to by quipping, “not on my watch.” It seems she was (sort of) right. This move was initiated by the current leader Colum Eastwood who, after trying valiantly to launch a cross-party voting pact with the UUP, seems to have bitten the bullet Ritchie and other SDLP leaders refused to.

It doesn’t mean it will be a decision that will reap rewards, however. Whilst a partnership with Fianna Fáil does allow the SDLP to avail of the former’s electoral experience and resources, it may come at a cost. Firstly, the move has alienated many social democrat types in the party. Certain youth wing members have already resigned their executive positions, as has South Belfast MLA Claire Hanna resigned from the party’s Assembly group. Will Hanna and other potential anti-merger politicians survive as independents come an election? Would they even want to after how much more of a shit-show Northern Irish politics has become over the past few years?

Secondly, left-of-centre voters — both those from Nationalist and Unionist backgrounds — outside the party’s core membership will likely be alienated, costing the party much-needed votes. As mentioned, Fianna Fáil are (broadly speaking) a vaguely conservative, catch-all type of party - in other words, a party of neither social democrats or Labourites. If this move is a precursor to a full merger, who will those voters turn to (if they even voted for the party in the first place)? At first glance, you could argue that the likely candidates would be the Green Party and, to a lesser extent, the Alliance Party. The former leans left on both social and economic issues, whilst the latter has always leaned liberal on social issues and has never been a fan of overtly conservative economic policies.

However, a closer glance reveals the blindly obvious. They could (and should) go to the Irish Labour Party. It has long puzzled me why there wasn’t a merger years ago between the two parties; an all-island Labour Party would be able to command a sizeable number of both votes and power, not to mention having people willing to canvass for them after the UK Labour Party’s refusal to stand in Northern Irish elections.

If this seemingly ‘merger-but-not-a-merger’ arrangement produces anything, it should be the forcing of Brendan Howlin’s hand and a push for the Irish Labour Party to stand ‘up North’, especially if the party wants to remain a relevant political force. Labour sits in the Dáil with seven seats after a near total collapse in the 2016 Irish general election, punished for helping support the austerity agenda pushed by their larger coalition partners in Fine Gael. An all-island platform would not only give a home to those in Northern Ireland seeking a centre-left, socially democratic party. It could also potentially reinvigorate the party and allow it to return to power in the Dáil and possibly even in a re-opened Stormont.

Irish Labour needs to stop issuing statement after statement after statement. It needs to act and do so decisively. Both its longstanding, historical rivals have made some form of inroads into Northern Irish politics. Sooner or later, it too will have to stand in ‘the North’.