A local SDLP Councillor has said that the establishment of a partnership with Fianna Fáil will ultimately give his party the opportunity to help to reshape politics on the island of Ireland.

Last Saturday, February 9 SDLP members voted strongly in favour of entering into a partnership with Fianna Fáil at a special conference.

“I personally voted in favour of the partnership with Fianna Fáil,” said Erne West Councillor Brendan Gallagher. “Whilst understandably I have some reservations to aligning the party directly with any one party in the Republic of Ireland, to me the vote on Saturday was an endorsement of the leadership team of Colum Eastwood and Nichola Mallon.”

Councillor Gallagher said his party aims to bring an end to the “stale and divisive” politics in Northern Ireland through this partnership.

“The party’s ultimate ambition, alongside Fianna Fáil, is to provide our people with a creative and credible platform of joint policies that can be implemented in government, north and south.

“It is now two years since the collapse of the Assembly and, right now, these islands are facing into the defining issue of Brexit. As change engulfs both Ireland and Britain, people in Northern Ireland have been offered pointless protest rather than real, mature political leadership which can actually deliver for our families, businesses, farmers and communities. In this vacuum the North is voiceless, our politics is powerless and our people have been left with no say in their future. There was a recognition from the leadership of the party that this situation can’t be allowed to continue.”

And Councillor Gallagher has called on members who are sceptical of the new partnership to give it time to see how it shapes party policy.

“I’d ask them to allow time for the outworkings of the partnership to be formed and assess how it shapes party policy in the future. To me, this presents an exciting opportunity for the SDLP.”