The SDLP is focused on a return to the spirit of the Belfast Agreement and tackling the challenges of Brexit, leader Colum Eastwood has told delegates at its conference.
The Foyle MLA, who assumed leadership in 2015, acknowledged the gathering on Saturday at Titanic Belfast was taking place in “a moment of immense challenge and change” and 20 years after the Belfast Agreement, “our politics finds itself in a very bad way”.
“Even though this party did not collude in the failure of the last year, we are all paying the price,” he said.
“There’s no point in dressing it up. Any attempt to do so would be fundamentally dishonest.
“Having been left without a government, left without power, left without a voice on Brexit - the very least people deserve is the truth.”
Ahead of the conference, speculation about a future merger with Fianna Fáil resurfaced in the press.
Mr Eastwood said “in terms of realignment”, the SDLP will collectively decide what should happen and that “we are up for challenging conversations and are up for the challenge of changing”.
While former councillor Frank Feely was a lone voice earlier in the day in arguing the Belfast Agreement is "dead and buried", Mr Eastwood told delegates, "our only focus should be breaking the cycle of failure, our only focus should be getting back to the Good Friday Agreement".
There is a time for the British and Irish governments as co-guarantors of the agreement to keep watching brief and offer facilitation but “now is the time for the guarantors to intervene actively and positively,” he said.
‘We can’t be left to wait’
He said: "Vacuums don't end well in Northern Ireland, we can't be left to wait."
He reiterated the SDLP wish for the two governments, as part of the Intergovernmental Conference, to agree a package of legislation on issues the DUP and Sinn Féin have been unable to resolve since Stormont collapsed last year.
This could include an Irish Language Act, an Ulster Scots Act, establishing and resourcing legacy bodies and inquest funding.
Reform of the petition of concern blocking mechanism is required to allow any new Assembly to deliver same sex marriage equality, if Co Armagh-born Labour MP Conor McGinn's Bill hadn't already delivered this at Westminster, Mr Eastwood said.
The key message from the conference was “new politics, new Ireland” which means an all-Ireland health service, free at the point of delivery; energy independence by 2050; a thriving agri-food sector; power and place to all its rich traditions delivering prosperity and fairness for all.
“No one party can shape that new Ireland and all of it must have an investment in it,” he said.
“The New Ireland Forum is the best way to produce that blueprint and that plan - no referendum should be called until that work is done.”
The SDLP Brexit position remains the same - that there is no need for a new border in Ireland or a new economic border in the Irish Sea.
Mr Eastwood said it remains possible to avoid these by the UK remaining in the single market and customs union.
“The backstop is not our first choice, but it is our ultimate protection,” he said.
As expected, deputy leader Nichola Mallon and Mr Eastwood were on the same page in calling for an early meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the desire to deal with "unresolved issues above the heads of the problem parties".
Electoral decline
Ms Mallon told delegates of her belief in the SDLP, which has suffered electoral decline since 1998, that “people will vote for change”.
It was up to the SDLP to show the public their vote can make a difference and deliver change, she said.
“That is our challenge and I gladly accept it.”
West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan is to be the party's candidate for the Westminster by-election next month in the contest to replace former MP Barry McElduff who resigned over the Kingsmill loaf social media controversy in January.
Throughout the day, a range of motions, which would require an Assembly to progress, were passed, including; plans for a social and affordable housing taskforce; to support laws on domestic violence to include issues around coercive control and stalking; support for a bottle deposit scheme aimed at reducing the amount of single use plastic, and legalisation of the use of medical cannabis.
The SDLP leader previously said the party is to hold a special conference to review the party’s position on abortion.
Mr Eastwood said there are no plans to change the SDLP’s pro-life stance but some party members want exploration of being allowed to vote with their conscience on the issue so the conference will address this and other matters.
The conference will take place ahead of May’s referendum on repealing the Eight Amendment to the Constitution in the Republic.