Claire Hanna: People in Northern Ireland have been pawns in a political game played in England for too long

The SDLP is hosting a conference today bringing together several political parties across these islands to talk about the future they want to see. The motivation is pretty simple. We are a party that understands pluralism and engagement – and that difficult conversations are part of that. Pluralism as a concept might sound a bit abstract, but in truth, it is how we function as a society. Families, friends, colleagues, all will have different opinions on everything from football teams to holidays to politics, but it doesn’t preclude us from muddling through, persuading and getting on with things. Social media hasn’t helped when it comes to finding space for disagreement. With debates reduced to sentences and outrage driving the algorithm, persuasion has been run out of town by populism. But the need to listen to each other and to persuade has never been stronger. In the ten years since the Brexit vote, people in Northern Ireland have been the pawns in a political game played in southeast England. The wasted years that saw a raft of prime ministers, two collapses of the NI Executive and Assembly – courtesy of first Sinn Féin and then the DUP – rendered people in the North often voiceless in the biggest political upheaval of this generation. Things were also challenging for people south of the Border, as the Irish government had to manage the fall out with a UK government that couldn’t agree with itself, while simultaneously making the case for a deal that would preserve the integrity of a well-integrated all island ecosystem. This modern political context offers a new lens on the debate around unity on this island and long-standing questions including whether people in the South would vote for a united Ireland if the opportunity presents itself. To date, there has been little more substance than a game of Border poll bingo where the end point comes before the journey is planned; the reality is that this decades-old, date-led approach doesn’t do anything to change the mindsets or answer the questions of people who need to be convinced. But there is a huge opportunity to build something new, to think thoughtfully about the type of society we want to see, and to recast Northern Ireland not as a basket case but an untapped reservoir of skills, landscape and culture that can enhance and diversify the Irish nation. I understand that work needs to be done to convince voters south of the Border that we aren’t a liability, that we are more than the negative headlines that many associate with us nordies and that the process ahead can catalyse what needs to be new in Ireland. This requires the Irish Government to take the lead in planning for what this future might look like, as they did for the Brexit referendum outcome they didn’t even want. It is incumbent on responsible governments to plan for the future. And a future in which unification happens has arguably never been more likely. Against a backdrop of turbulence in Britain, the rise of Faragism – and the consequences that would flow from a Reform government – more and more people including many from non-nationalist backgrounds are thinking in fresh ways about their future. It essential that when the time comes, campaigns – both pro-unity and pro-union – should be conducted in an evidence-led way, avoiding the space that others might fill. We do not want to see again what we saw in the Brexit campaign with wild promises about the NHS and outrageously inflammatory images – an atmosphere which left an MP dead and a population ill-informed about the options. It is also clear that parties in the South are increasingly taking an interest in constitutional change. We welcome Fine Gael’s recent commitment to a blueprint on unity, and the SDLP is up for engaging with all who share a values-based commitment to building a peaceful, inclusive and tolerant society. Fianna Fáil’s commitment to the Shared Island Fund is a brilliant scheme that is doing so much for reconciliation, as well as putting bricks in the ground on a range of capital projects. Similarly, the Labour Party and Social Democrats have made strong pronouncements on unification, and Sinn Féin has long made it a campaign priority. But we do run the risk of creating a partisan space that returns the issue to the theory and narcissism of small differences if we don’t focus on the common ground. The shared goal needs to be convincing the non-believers, as much as it will of course be a politically contested space. Because the truth is that no single party can do it on their own, and that we need to focus not on the base, but with those who need persuading. This will mean facing facts about the past, building trust across communities and calling time on decades of “whataboutery” that has characterised the political debate in the North all too often, whether it be flags, the budget or planning permission. Because if we are serious about building a better and more equal society, that means consistency of values. It means political leadership that doesn’t seek to have “one rule for us, and another for them”. This generation will only get one real chance at this vote. We need to get it right.