SDLP to present revamped image

The SDLP is to mark four years of the Belfast Agreement with a special event hosted in Belfast this evening.

The SDLP is to mark four years of the Belfast Agreement with a special event hosted in Belfast this evening.

In what is also being viewed as a major revamp, the party leader, Mr Mark Durkan, will make a keynote address and unveil a new logo, the first in nearly 18 years.

The logo will incorporate the party's traditional colours of red and green, but with the addition of orange in recognition of the unionist tradition. It was created by Paul Martin who has also designed symbols for Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.

The SDLP lost its position as the largest nationalist party at June's Westminster election and is keen for revenge against Sinn Féin in the Assembly poll next May.

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The rebranding and Mr Durkan's speech could well indicate the start of an SDLP fightback and signal the stamping of the new leader's authority on the party.

The SDLP performs better in PR elections than in first-past-the-post Westminster contests and is confident it can win more Assembly seats next May than Sinn Féin. Were Sinn Féin to overtake the SDLP at Stormont, it could be in a position to take the position of Deputy First Minister.