Madam, - In spite of the upbeat mood at the SDLP's annual conference and this newspaper's reporting of it, it would be difficult to understate the crisis the party faces. There were no realistic proposals as to how the party's electoral fortunes are to be revived, the dearth of ideas being underlined by Gerry Moriarty's revelation that there are those in the party who think they should not criticise Sinn Féin for fear it would lose them further votes. The forlorn hope, it seems, is that the SDLP may win back votes from Sinn Féin by the expedient of not criticising it. Some hope!
I think the SDLP gives insufficient thought to where it stands in relation to Sinn Féin. It feels it must appear sufficiently nationalist to appeal to wavering nationalist voters. As a result it is seen as offering a paler, weaker version of the same kind of thing that Sinn Féin offers. But, why buy the SDLP copy when you can have the real thing by voting Sinn Féin?
In theory, the party could render its identity clearer by adopting a position similar to that of its early years. This would mean diluting its nationalist commitments so as to appeal more to those in the minority community who are not convinced by the nationalist argument and, perhaps, even to those in the majority community who are not committed unionists. However, SDLP members are mostly quite committed Nationalists and, therefore, it is unlikely they can be persuaded to take this course as a way of establishing their otherness from Sinn Féin.
The other alternative for the party, while it still retains a sizeable portion of the total vote is to table a proposal to Sinn Féin to form a single nationalist party in Northern Ireland. At the very least Sinn Féin would have to give reasons for not agreeing to such a proposal. And yet, if such a proposal were to be accepted it would contribute considerably to the peace process in Northern Ireland, not least by providing the best possible context for a future moderate leader of Northern nationalism to emerge.
The strategy of politicians and commentators in the Republic over many years to back the SDLP as the acceptable face of Northern nationalism has, I fear run its course. While Dr Garret FitzGerald and others had, no doubt, good reasons for strenuously and persistently backing such a course. it also had its negative side. Important in this regard has been the pressure on politicians and public in the Republic to present a united front. This has had the undesirable effect of discouraging real debate in the Republic about Northern Ireland. Surely, it is only fair that there should be an open discussion as to what the people of the Republic want their relationship to Northern Ireland to be. There is, I think, good reason to believe that many want it to be rather less than some of the political veterans would wish.
I wish to add that while I was born and grew up in Northern Ireland and lived there many years ago, I am not nor have been a member of the SDLP or Sinn Féin. - Yours, etc.,
FRANK FALLS,
Baldham,
Bavaria,
Germany.