Stoop Down Low Party

The Social Democratic and Labour Party is the main rival to Sinn Fein in the nationalist community, and until 2001 they were the larger of the two. They were formed by the merger of elements from the old Nationalist Party (which the SDLP basically replaced), the Civil Rights Movement, and the Labour movement in 1970. They're overwhelmingly in favor of non-violence, and fairly consistent about criticizing the security forces almost as much as they criticized the IRA, and have carried out some boycotts of public bodies in protests. But they frequently disappoint on a range of issues, mostly in terms of their claim to be solidly on the left (they're a member of the Socialist International). Although it varies from issue to issue (and I think that in the beginning somewhere around half were socialists), I'd estimate about 1/3 of them can claim to be leftists. I was told in July 2002 that the then-head of the SDLP Youth was a socialist who planned on leaving the party if it merged with Fianna Fail (see first item below).

(I'm more or less in the SI tradition, and used to be a member of the American section of the SI, and I'm not saying this as someone hostile to the SI)

They are sometimes referred to as the Stoop Down Low Party, or stoops, although I think some of them have adopted it as their own term. Anyway, here's what justifies calling them stoops.

1) They are basically Third Way. Their program hardly talks about public ownership at all, but talks a lot about "partnership" between government, business, and labor. I have never heard of them criticizing the Third Way.

Since shortly after the 2001 Westminster election when SF overtook the SDLP, there has been a lot of talk from the SDLP about merging with Fianna Fail, a centrist/centre-right party in the South. Partly because of this, in 2003 the Irish Labour Party started organizing in the North. In 2005 I interviewed, by email, the most senior Northern member of the ILP, Mark Langhammer, and he said that the SDLP do not represent the labour tradition or program.

UPDATE 6/27/16 I haven't heard anything in the last 6-8 years about them wanting to merge with FF and it may have even stopped about 3 years before that. And I have reason to believe that the current leader of the SDLP, Colum Eastwood might really be a socialist.

UPDATE 9/28/17 A merger with FF is now being discussed again within the SDLP. See this.

UPDATE 3/15/20 Just recently the SDLP created some kind of formal arrangement (not a merger) with FF.

2) Based on their public statements, almost their entire economic strategy for N. Ireland is to attract trans-national corporations.

3) They have no formal relationship with trade-unions, which isn't too surprising, but as far as I can tell they don't even have an informal one.

4) Until recently Catholic unemployment in the last 4+ decades has always been between about 2 and 2.5 times greater than for Protestants- a clear sign of discrimination. In the 80s/90s there was a campaign to get US companies (and maybe multi-nationals in general, it's not clear and the campaign was at least focused on America) in the North to adopt the MacBride Principles (a set of equal opportunity/affirmative action measures). This was endorsed by, among others, the AFL-CIO, most of the Congressional Black Caucus, the British Labour Party, and major sections of the British and Irish trade union movements. But John Hume, the then-Leader of the SDLP, opposed this because he was afraid it would scare off multi-nationals.

5) The SDLP claims to be the inheritors of the civil-rights movement. I'm sure there is some truth to this, but Hume had opposed the 1968 Derry Civil rights march and the 1969 Belfast-Derry march by left-wing students which was based on the Selma-Montgomery march and was a major turning point in the civil rights movement as the students were brutally attacked. He also opposed the 1972 march which was fired on on Bloody Sunday. He had told people that the Civil Rights Movement (or at least the left-wing of it) was "dangerous."

6) In several cases in recent years they have encouraged nationalist/Catholic communities to allow sectarian Orange marches through their neighborhoods- in one case a senior SDLP member even suggested that residents just take an extended vacation during the marching season. (If you're wondering why this is a civil rights issue, see this)

7) Every single academic source I have read has suggested the SDLP are overwhelmingly middle-class.

8) In 1971 internment without trial was introduced. In brutal raids the British Army detained hundreds of nationalists (mostly suspected/actual republicans, and a small number of leftists from People's Democracy) (they were almost all a little tortured; some were subjected to 7 days of sensory deprivation). Over the next 5 years about a total of about 2,000 people were interned, all but about 100 were nationalists, republicans, and leftists; although loyalists were murdering Catholics left and right, only 107 were interned, and only after about 18 months of internment.

In response a strike of rents and rates was called, and was solid in working-class areas. In fact, the SDLP had been one of the groups who called for it. But in 1974 there was a brief power-sharing government of which the SDLP were a part. In government, they announced there would be no amnesty for those on rent and rates strike, and increased the amount that could be deducted from striker's social security payments. Internment didn't end until 1975. John Hume was a minister in that government.

9) In the early 1990s the SDLP opposed the opening of a Brook Advisory Clinic (basically like Planned Parenthood) in Belfast.

10) They are extremely pro-life. Abortion is hardly available in N. Ireland, and the Assembly in 2000 passed a resolution saying that they oppose the extension of the Abortion Act to N. Ireland; the SDLP voted for it. More importantly, when an amendment was offered which referred the issue of abortion to the health care committee for further debate, research, and discussion, the SDLP spoke and voted against that. UPDATE 2/8/15 They strongly oppose choice in cases of rape or where the fetus has a fatal abnormality- for more see this.

11) In a 1994 Westminster vote(s) on lowering the age of consent for gay sex, none of the 4 SDLP MPs supported lowering it to 16 (that's what it was for heterosexual sex). John Hume voted for 18, Joe Hendron (who was defeated by Gerry Adams in 1997) abstained; the other two, who are still MPs, voted against lowering it at all. (UPDATE 5/25/14 A month ago the SDLP joined SF in an Assembly vote to legalize same-sex marraiges, and were probably more or less anti-homophobic starting around 15 years ago)
UPDATE 5/2/15  in all fairness see this about a veteran NI gay rights organizer who was also in the leadership of the SDLP.
UPDATE 11/11/15 Read this about a senior SDLP politician opposing gay marraige (starting in 1997 he was the SDLP candidate in North Belfast for every Westminister election, and was elected at every Assembly election starting in 1998; this statement includes the most recent Assembly and Westminster elections)

12) The following is from a 1996 article in Z Magazine by Jim Dees:
"Washington eagerly pitched in. In October 1985, 12 senior SDLP members flew to Washington and met with officials of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which operates on grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), established by act of Congress in 1983. Neither the NED or the NDI are federal agencies, and as such their records are not accessible through the Freedom of Information Act. What is known is the NED's history of involvement in supporting the democratic process in Central and South America, South Africa, and the Philippines. The agency was also involved in channeling money to anti-Mitterand trade unionists and right wing French student groups in 1985. ......
"To cement the alliance, Washington pumped in $120 million during the first three years alone. New corporations were created to facilitate the disbursement of grant money. Conveniently, Catholic clergy, who remained solidly behind the SDLP, dominated most of the corporations. The message was clear: support the SDLP or face unemployment, poverty and despair. In west Belfast, where many nationalist areas face unemployment well over 60 percent, the message got through."

13) As for the border, some of them have been so willing to compromise on that that I think they are in serious conflict with anti-imperialism. At some point about 5-10 years after the Good Friday Agreement was approved in referenda, a senior SDLP member said that the spirit of the Agreement meant that now Ireland could only be united when a majority of both nationalists and unionists supported that. Setting aside his use of the word "unionists" (by definition, a unionist does not support a United Ireland, there will never be a majority), the idea that there now has to be a majority of Protestants is ridiculous. The thing is, it goes further than saying that there must be a voting majority in N. Ireland who support uniting Ireland before Ireland can be united, and even THAT, as I explained in the paragraph beginning "One thing..." of the post "Catholic, Protestant, and Dissenter" is ridiculous to begin with.
UPDATE 1/11/16 The Party Leader of the SDLP said, as a crisis started in the Peace Process grew, that if the Executive of the Assembly (created as part of the GFA) couldn't be re-established after an upcoming election, there should be joint authority between the Irish and British states (in the European sense of the word) in the running of N Ireland. This is a reasonable and very good idea. What I mean is that it's a much better thing to hear from a leader of the SDLP than what I described above. I'm actually becoming slightly positive about the SDLP, with Eastwood as it's leader.