The SDLP heralded its return to the Northern Ireland Assembly with the announcement of a major new political campaign. At the Waterfront Hall in Belfast yesterday morning the party leader, Mr John Hume, said the "Changing the Face of the Future" campaign marked "a new beginning" in politics.
The campaign aims to prepare the party for the challenges of a new political landscape. It follows a strategic review of the SDLP as it faces increasing electoral pressure from Sinn Fein.
Mr Hume said the Belfast Agreement was about unionism and nationalism "taking a collective breath and wiping away the cobwebs of intolerance and mistrust of the past and jumping together into the future".
He added: "The opportunities that lie before are vast. A new invigorated partnership between unionism and nationalism in the Executive can secure economic, social and cultural equality and prosperity for everyone in Northern Ireland."
The SDLP wanted to change the face of politics in Ireland. "The challenge to all of us is to stand in the future and articulate policies . . . that will turn partnership from an aspiration into reality."