The SDLP (The Socialist Democratic and Labour Party) was once the powerhouse Nationalist party in Northern Ireland, but its support has dwindled dramatically in recent years.
It’s hard to believe the extent of the reversal the party has suffered – it’s only a decade, after all, since then leader John Hume was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process.
Fianna Fail, meanwhile, have made no secret of their desire to spread their political wings into Northern Ireland. There have been rumours of a merger, but so far the SDLP have been curiously reticent about commenting. In fact, any member of the SDLP I spoke with in recent months would only discuss the proposed merger off the record – until now, that is.

JASON O’TOOLE: Why do you think SDLP lost so many seats to Sinn Fein in the last election?
MARK DURKAN: We always knew that the absence of violence was going to create a more competitive electoral environment. We have seen Sinn Fein – who spent years attacking SDLP policies and justifying violence in opposition to those policies – actually adopting them. We now have Sinn Fein almost as a tribute band to the SDLP. The SDLP hasn’t run out of road or run out of mission – after all, if there wasn’t an SDLP where would Sinn Fein get their policies from in the future? Elections are all about margins and we have to improve our margins.
But the SDLP is underperforming badly. Why?
In the period since the Good Friday agreement, there was some instability in the institutions, because of the way in which the process was being managed by the two Governments. We also had a lot of instability centring on the issue of decommissioning. Sinn Fein and David Trimble’s UUP, as the two parties who were central to that instability, effectively starred in the process outside of the institutions. Sinn Fein were able to give the impression that the process was revolving around them – even though, in reality, they were stopping the process. And that certainly came at an electoral price to the SDLP. Our role became taken for granted.
Some pundits argue that, during the negotiations in the ’90s, the Irish Government, which was Fianna Fail-led, was pandering to Sinn Fein and turned its back on the SDLP.
I would be dishonest if I didn’t say there was a strong feeling to that effect within the SDLP. We felt that Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists, who were bringing about instability, were being put at a premium. The rest of us, who were fully honouring our commitments, were being disadvantaged.
There has been a lot of speculation about the SDLP merging with Fianna Fáil.
As I said to our own party members – change changes things. We now have a settled process. The template that we set out to achieve many years ago is now a given. These arrangements are here to stay. That stability creates new opportunities. And those new opportunities will involve political and electoral realignment. I believe there are prospects of change over time within the North and on a North-South basis as well. We want to foster and cultivate those prospects. We as a party are identified very strongly with the message of ‘North-South Makes Sense’.
I presume this is something that is being discussed at the grassroots level.
Well, yes. But there are more permutations and options than some of the speculation and the commentary is focusing on. I welcome the interest that has been shown by Fianna Fáil, by the Irish Labour Party – and indeed by Fine Gael. Quick-fix mergers are not the only option that people have to look at. We want to make sure that we are able to deliver on the full template of the agreement. The agreement provided for a North-South parliamentary forum, which we still don’t fully have yet.
You believe that everybody in the North should be entitled to vote in the Republic’s presidential elections?
Yes. I know there are all sorts of practical issues about how you’d properly organise and authorise polling in that situation. But those can be resolved, once the principle is accepted and endorsed. We believe it should be. Also, we will also want to exploit to the full any speaking rights in the Dáil that are given to Northern members.
Is the fact that dissident republican terrorists are emerging a cause for concern?
They are still stuck in the Provo speak, the Provo think and the Provo do of the ’70s and ’80s. The best way of undercutting that thrust from dissident Republicans is to remove their ability to misrepresent the police service of Northern Ireland as anything other than the proper and legitimate police service on this part of the island.
How?
Devolution of policing and justice would, I believe, be the strongest democratic response that all parties could give. That would be a much more fundamental challenge to the dissident Republicans than Unionists asking Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to rephrase their latest condemnation.
What is your opinion on the resignation of Ian Paisley Jnr.?
He had to go. He should have resigned before he did and once he announced his resignation I thought he should have gone rather than spending over another week in office, including going to Scotland representing the Northern Ireland administration.
Many political pundits say that Paisley Jnr had become an increasing embarrassment to the DUP over the past year, from his contentious remarks about homosexuals in Hot Press to his association with a developer?
He was an embarrassment. Many of us, looking at the relationship between the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister, noted that – while there hadn’t been a handshake – the way their relationship was going they might kiss before they would shake hands! And some of us made the observation that Paisley Jnr was there to stop it because he obviously didn’t like that sort of thing, based on the remarks that he had made!
Sinn Fein announced plans to host a memorial for Mairead Farrell, who was murdered by the SAS – and immediately afterwards, the DUP wanted to host an event in honour of the SAS. Discuss!
A few weeks ago, Sinn Fein and the DUP were trying to tell us that they were concerned about the rights of victims – but in reality they are more concerned about their own righteousness about what happened there. Jeffrey Donaldson, in his outrage at the proposed Sinn Fein event in respect of Mairead Farrell, didn’t propose anything that was for victims or about victims, but instead was proposing his tit-for-tat commemoration to celebrate the work of the SAS! And if the IRA as paramilitaries were terrorists – the SAS as a military outfit here acted as para-terrorists. One event would be as objectionable as the other.
Will we see a united Ireland in our lifetime?
Yes. I don’t want to take for granted how long you or I have to live, but yes. I believe that we will see a united Ireland as the democratic choice of the people of Ireland. In the context of peace and the structures of co-operation that we now have, I believe the Unionists will become more relaxed about their aversion to a united Ireland. I believe that they will see the strong and positive dynamic that there is on an island-wide basis, and there will be changes in British life, including changes to the standing of the Crown within the UK set-up. And as a result, Unionists, while not losing their own defined sense of Britishness, will feel much more comfortable and much more motivated about their role and their participation in the life of the island.