I believe in the tenets of nonviolence and desire the reconciliation of all people. I believe in peace and love as a way of life and not an end destination. I believe in the Irish spirit that does not yield to the wielders of force but stands resolute, a ‘bit’ stubborn and proud. These beliefs helped me to arrive at the decision I took 5 years ago to become a member of the SDLP. A decision I am proud to have taken and have not since regretted.

Like Ireland herself, there is a place for every shade of opinion within the SDLP. We are a party who recognizes the rights of all members to hold a variety of views and are free to bring them to a place of debate and at times to even vote against the party line. We are a party that recognizes individual conscience and the voice of its members- a right not afforded in all political parties here in Northern Ireland.

In recent times, the SDLP membership has found itself at a crossroads. We stand on the cusp of a potentially defining moment in our party’s proud history. We have been given the power, by our leadership, to decide whether we will enter a formal partnership with Fianna Fáil, this coming Saturday.

In wrestling with the question and trying to arrive at an answer, I’ve opened my history books once more to begin to understand the road which led us to the place we find ourselves in, as well as entering in conversations about where the party is collectively headed.

And what have I learnt?

Well one thing is clear, there is no such thing as a perfect political fit. The authors and architects of the Good Friday Agreement knew that all too well. They understood that there must exist within our politics some place of compromise, room for advancement, and the humility to acknowledge that change is necessary, even if at first it doesn’t sit comfortably.

I have also been reminded of the partnership Fianna Fáil (in all but name) have had with our party and our peace process that has spanned many decades. A partnership predating 1998, one that was hands on, and one that many people have failed to acknowledge or give credit to in this debate.

As far back as 1967, Jack Lynch visited Terence O’Neill to help thaw tensions in the NI Parliament. Twenty years later Charles Haughey worked alongside John Hume to begin talks with the IRA and Bertie Ahern later met Ian Paisley to help facilitate an end to the five year Stormont impasse. As a party, Fianna Fáil have not been found wanting in Northern affairs.

I have also been honest with myself and others that our current position is unsustainable. We must do something- a point of agreement across the party, but aside from this partnership, nobody has offered a credible alternative.

Quite frankly, had I been in a position where I was asked to vote in favour of a full blown merger my views may have been different. But that is not what I am being asked.

The proposal, which brings together two political parties, determined to build an Ireland for tomorrow for all its people is a prospect many here have waited a long time for and not one that I could easily let pass me by.

Unpreceded engagement and a programme of work that focuses on new challenges sweeping Ireland right now; how do we tackle Brexit? what would our new Ireland look like?  what would our healthcare look like or cost?  what content would a new Irish education system contain? These are questions which I can’t wait to begin to discuss in the days, months and years ahead.

SDLP forebears knew the price of the Good Friday Agreement. Many of them sacrificed their political careers in the pursuit of peace. What have Sinn Féin or the DUP ever sacrificed? Nothing. The DUP have found themselves driven power mad to protect their “precious union” that they find themselves like the Greek tragedy of Erysichthon who ate himself to death…eventually. Sinn Féin meanwhile soar high like Icarus of old, caring naught for the cries from the people below – represent us!  Time will tell at which point their waxen wings shall melt and they begin their own descent.

As for the SDLP, we have the opportunity to write our own destiny. In partnership with Fianna Fáil we can begin again to think big and take those steps towards that which our ancestors dreamed, fought and often died for: A New Ireland.

To quote the poet Tennyson who spoke of the Greek hero Ulysses:

“The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks: 

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep 

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, 

‘T is not too late to seek a newer world.”

 

A partnership with Fianna Fáil to write the story of our future for the good of our people?  They’ve got my vote.

 

Dominic O’Reilly is an SDLP member from South Down.