SDLP/Analysis: The SDLP hopes voters will focus on "real issues" and turn away from an Orange versus Green tussle, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor
Martin Morgan and the SDLP know that they have a huge battle on their hands trying to retain the European Parliament seat that John Hume has held for 25 years.
The main challenge is from Sinn Féin's West Belfast Assembly member Bairbre de Brún, which explains why the party launched its manifesto in the Springvale Training Centre in republican west Belfast yesterday morning.
But entering the heartland of your opponent doesn't necessarily pick up extra votes, although it is a combative statement as such. To meet the Sinn Féin threat, the SDLP needs a strategy, which is also what the party outlined in west Belfast yesterday.
Party leader Mark Durkan subliminally acknowledged that the tribal nature of the Sinn Féin versus DUP contest could be very damaging to Mr Morgan's chances. If the electorate, particularly the nationalist voters, falls for the DUP line that the crucial element of this election is who tops the poll, then just to puncture the DUP balloon most nationalists, including some or many SDLP people, could vote for Ms de Brún.
Mr Durkan said the DUP and Sinn Féin were playing "Punch and Judy" politics with each other to "pump up" each party's chances in the June 10th poll. "This election is not about topping the poll, but it is about the bottom line for Northern Ireland as a region, as a community, and as an economy." Which in a nutshell encapsulates the SDLP strategy: to sell itself as the pro-Europe party that can deliver while portraying Sinn Féin and the DUP effectively as anti-Europe and sectarian.
The SDLP manifesto, "SDLP for Europe" does exactly what is says on the cover. There's no doubting that here is the most Europhile of parties.
Equally there's no gainsaying the great gains achieved for Northern Ireland through the work of John Hume.
But to use that argument to boost Mr Morgan's chances and undermine Ms de Brún's is difficult to achieve. For such a purpose the SDLP went on the offensive against Sinn Féin yesterday. Mr Morgan had a lash at the DUP but greater force was directed at Sinn Féin, which he described as "duplicitous". He spoke of "Sinn Féin/DUP" just the way unionists talk about "Sinn Féin/IRA". He resisted all opportunities of urging SDLP voters to transfer votes to Ms de Brún.
Mr Hume weighed in as well. The SDLP being the only "major pro-European party" would be a "major factor" in Northern Ireland's future, he said. "This is real politics. It is not about flag-waving, it is about real issues in the modern world and in the modern Europe, and we are the only party from the modern world in Europe." He said such was the anti-European stance of Sinn Féin and the DUP that neither party was aligned to any grouping with any sort of influence or distinction in Europe whereas the SDLP was a member of the 232-MEP Socialist Group.
"Think of the image of Northern Ireland in the world if the MEPs are Sinn Féin or DUP, neither of whom have a seconder in the European Parliament, neither of whom belong to any grouping in the European Parliament. Think of the damage that that would do to Northern Ireland," he said.
This was bread-and-butter politics on a European stage, which effectively is what John Hume always has been about: improving people's lot rather than "flag waving", as he said yesterday.
It is a great act of faith on the part of Mr Hume, Mr Durkan and Mr Morgan to believe that for nationalists "real issues" can take precedence over the Orange versus Green tussle between the DUP and Sinn Féin.