SDLP is sure to rise again

Sir — Eoghan Harris has that knack of invoking the insider party activist mindset in believing that somebody always knew it was going to happen (Sunday Independent, January 29, 2017).

Last year, it was Seamus Mallon, who he quoted as suggesting that the Provos “played John Hume like a 3lb trout” in the 1990s.

Now it is the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin who “knew” the peace process would destroy the SDLP — a worthwhile consequence (in their estimation) in the pursuit of peace. Neither the Provos, nor the Department of Foreign Affairs, knew that the SDLP would be heavily damaged by the peace process.

We know this because the damage was caused by an illness that, step by step, drew “saintly” John Hume out of front-line politics from 1998 to 2005. Due to a heavy reliance on Hume within the SDLP, the party was severely weakened by his illness.

John Hume had 10 more years at the top in him at that stage. There would have been no chance that Sinn Fein would have advanced to anywhere near the same extent while the former SDLP leader was in full health, peace process or no peace process.

Nonetheless, rumours of the demise of the SDLP have been greatly exaggerated — and in any case the party has never been “destroyed”.

Its organisation seems better now than at any time since it was founded in 1970.

It will be interesting to see how Sinn Fein fares in the upcoming Assembly election with Martin McGuinness now affected by an illness. I expect the SDLP to do well. John O’Connell,

Derry