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The party was founded in the early 1970s. It was formed by former members of the Republican Labour Party - a fragment of the Irish Labour Party, the National Democrats , a small social democratic nationalist party, individual nationalists and members of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. The SDLP initially rejected the Nationalist Party 's policy of abstensionism and sought to fight for civil rights within the Stormont system. As such the SDLP was an expression of the increased confidence of Catholics in the Norrthern state, as seen in the demands of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association over the previous decade.
The SDLP, though, quickly came to the view that Stormont was unreformable and withdrew from the Parliament.
There is a debate over the intentions of the party's founders, with some now claiming that the aim was to provide a political movement to unite constitutional nationalists who opposed the paramilitary campaign of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and wished to campaign for Catholic civil rights and a united IrelandThe island of Ireland ire in Irish, Airlann in Ulster Scots) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies on the west side of the Irish Sea, close to the island of Great Britain. It is composed of the Republic of Ireland in the south and Northern Irelan by peaceful, constitutional means. However others argue that, as the name implies, the emphasis was originally on creating a social democratic party rather than a nationalist party. This debate between social democracy/socialism and nationalism was to persist for the first decade of the party's existence. Founder and first leader Gerry FittGerrard "Gerry" Fitt, Baron Fitt (born 9 April 1926), is a former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and a socialist and republican politician. Gerry Fitt was born in Belfast and educated at the Christian Brothers School. Between 1941 and 19 - ironically a former leader of the explicitly republican Republican Labour Party - would later claim that it was the party's decision to demand a Council of IrelandThe Council of Ireland may refer to one of two councils, one proposed and one implemented for a brief period. 1920 Government of Ireland Act The Council of Ireland contemplated by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, was to have been an all-Ireland body co as part of the Sunningdale AgreementThe Sunningdale Agreement in December 1973, was an attempt to solve the Northern Ireland problem. It established a form of devolution, which unlike the previous form, would not be dominated by the Ulster Unionist Party. Unionists, however, feared that it that signified the point at which the party adopted a clear nationalist agenda. He would later leave the party in 19801980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. Events January-February January 1- April 1 National steel strike in United Kingdom January 1 Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother January 5 He, claiming that it was no longer the party it was intended to be.
The SDLP was the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland from the time of its foundation until the beginning of the 21st century20th century 21st century 22nd century other centuries) Definition In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing, lasting from 2001- 2100. The 21st centur when, in the 2001 General ElectionThe United Kingdom general election of 7 June 2001 was dubbed as "the quiet landslide" by the media. After a landslide victory of the Labour Party in the previous 1997 elections, they now had another major victory by managing to maintain their position. and the 2003 Assembly Election, the party was for the first time outpolled by Sinn Féin, the political party allied to the Provisional IRA, who also won more seats than the SDLP.
In the 2004 European elections, it lost its long-held European Parliament seat to Sinn Féin.
Critics (generally those sympathetic to Sinn Fein) assert that the SDLP has now drifted from its nationalist roots, arguing that its position on the question of a United Ireland is deeply ambiguous, perhaps in acknowledgement that many Catholics support the United Kingdom but not Unionist parties. The SDLP reject this argument. They point out that they campaigned explictly in favour of a united Ireland in the 2003 Assembly elections.
Some see the SDLP as first and foremost a party representing Catholic interests, with voters concentrated in rural areas and the professional classes, rather than a vehicle for Irish nationalism. The SDLP also reject this argument, pointing to their strong support in Derry.
In recent years there has been a debate in the party on the prospects of almgamation with Fianna Fail. FF have made no such offer, but have done little to discourage it either. A recent attempt to press for amalgamation was defeated heavily at the SDLP's conference in 2004, and the party resolved to strengthen it social democratic profile. But it would be wrong to regard the debate as a simple left versus right or red versus green question - as with Fianna Fail itself, advocates of merger take a variety of positions on the left-right spectrum.
It has had three leaders;
The SDLP has served in the current power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, alongside the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Féin. (The powersharing administration is currently in suspension.)