Write a commentThe recent SDLP party’s new partnership with Fianna Fáil has been welcomed by local MLA's Justin McNulty and Sinead Bradley.
Both Mr McNulty and Mrs Bradley have backed the proposals put forward by the leadership of the SDLP and Fianna Fáil at the partnership launch in Belfast last week.
Mr McNulty said: “Politics is changing across these islands, old responses to new challenges will no longer cut it. Politics has moved onto new ground and that new ground is crying out for a politics of creativity and courage to deliver for people in the changing context we find ourselves in.
“The future we envisioned over twenty years ago, when the SDLP – along with Fianna Fáil and other parties - delivered the Good Friday Agreement, has not come to pass. Division and deadlock have characterised the institutions that were built on hopes of a shared and prosperous future.
“This partnership is the beginning of a process. A process that will work to deliver a New Ireland envisioned by giants such a Hume and Lemass. It is a new partnership for a New Ireland.
“Through a programme of joint working groups, research and public engagement we will work with Fianna Fáil on proposing alternatives for critical issues, such as our stagnant economy, investment along the border regions, better public services and cross-border services post-Brexit. Obviously Brexit will be the first priority and together we will continue to push for the Backstop and against the prospect of a return to a hard border.”
Speaking after the announcement, South Down SDLP MLA Sinead Bradley said: “Together, we have once again committed to uniting our people here. Only through ‘change’ can we reconcile our society and move forward into a brighter future. That future will not be built through an old and narrow vision of Ireland and our people. I firmly believe a forward facing, robust and dynamic initiative, intent on putting people before politics, has the real potential to deliver just that.
“The SDLP have always made hard choices for the betterment of all our people, even when those choices cost us dear.
“I’d encourage people to be open minded about this process whilst reflecting upon where we are now. Twenty years ago, through political partnership that reached beyond on our own party, we brought peace to our people.
“Twenty years on, we are once again determined in our resolve to deliver a type of shared and prosperous Ireland that people here are so deserving of.”
