I’m determined to make NI an economic success

The News Letter is hosting a debate on the future of the Union in 2021, the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland.
In the first contribution by a nationalist politician, the SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie argues that unionists and nationalists can agree to make Northern Ireland prosperous


I THINK it is welcome that the News Letter is asking political parties, unionist and nationalist, to look ahead to 2021 and the 100th anniversary of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom.
I think we should spend more time looking ahead and visioning a better future.

There are, of course, plenty of other interesting '100th anniversaries' coming up before the year 2021 – the Solemn League and Covenant, the sinking of the Titanic and the Easter Rising are just three.

I really do hope that we can look forward to celebrating all of them with a generosity and maturity that has eluded us in the past.

There is however, no point in me disguising the fact that as an Irish nationalist I want to achieve union on the island of Ireland and therefore that the state of political union with Britain in 2021 is not my greatest preoccupation.

But I am very much preoccupied by the social and economic conditions we will experience in the Northern Ireland of 2021, regardless of what constitutional change may or may not have occurred by that time.

Whatever else is going on, I want us to enter 2021 as a people relaxed about constitutional change and enjoying a prosperous economy and a shared society.

There is, therefore, an immediate need for a new approach to politics that is capable of uniting our people around issues that matter like jobs and the economy, and the kind of society they want their children to grow up in.

The SDLP is determined to make an economic success of the Northern Ireland because we believe that prosperity lifts everyone's horizons and a strong north ultimately contributes to a stronger Ireland.

And we are not afraid to take tough budget decisions or to support those who create wealth by their talent and hard work. We have already shown we are the party with the strongest ideas on the economy.

The SDLP is also serious about building a normal, shared society where people really do live, work and socialise together. The latest document from the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers on Cohesion and the Integration, produced after three years of squabbling, actually undermines the whole concept of a shared society.

The DUP and Sinn Fein 'vision' is that of a carve-up where, despite an end to the violence, the continuation of division is acceptable. They only aspire to the better management of division. Theirs is a shared future without sharing. For me, good relations between two still divided communities cannot be the endpoint.

We also have work to do on the whole question of Irish unity. We do not see unity as a hostile takeover – more a coming together of strong, equal partners.

In that partnership the political institutions of Northern Ireland, the assembly and the executive would continue to function. So just as our vision of society is fundamentally different from other nationalists, so too is our vision of Irish unity.

The SDLP are intent on embarking on a new phase of politics, building a prosperous economy and a shared society and a new accommodation on the island.

I invite News Letter readers to join us on that journey.

The News Letter has asked writers in this ‘2021’ series to comment on unionist unity and the prospect of a Sinn Fein first minister. On the first point I would not see great benefit for unionists in unionist unity when there is such a wide range of unionist opinion.

That is why on the nationalist side, I refused to involve the SDLP in tribal pacts

The difference between us and other nationalists is just too great. So no pact with Sinn Fein or anyone else for that matter.

I advise unionists to do as the SDLP does – stand up independently for what you believe in.

As for Sinn Fein first minister?

In reality they already have that job. My task is to secure that position for the SDLP.

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