Policing Board member and former SDLP deputy chairman Tom Kelly has dismissed Sinn Féin criticism of his decision to accept an award in the British new year honours list.
Mr Kelly, awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for public rather than political service, said yesterday he would go to Buckingham Palace to receive the honour from Queen Elizabeth and that it did not in any way dilute his Irishness.
However, Sinn Féin Assembly member John O'Dowd said the SDLP must now "come clean" on its attitude to such awards. "British colonialism has brought nothing but pain and misery to the Irish people. It is inconceivable how any Irish person who would describe themselves as nationalist or republican would allow themselves to become embroiled in the British honours system," he said.
"I would challenge the SDLP to come clean about its position on the British honours system because it looks very much as if this decision is a U-turn on party policy and a serious insult to the millions of Irish people and others around the world who have suffered at the hands of British imperialism," added Mr O'Dowd.
The SDLP in the past has criticised members who accepted such honours. In particular, the former leader, the late Lord (Gerry) Fitt came in for disparaging comment when he accepted a peerage in 1983.
Mr Kelly, who has been previously mentioned as a possible SDLP Westminster candidate in South Down when Eddie McGrady stands down from his seat, said he resigned as an SDLP member shortly before he took up his position as an independent member of the Policing Board in 2001, although he remained an SDLP supporter and voter.
Referring to the exposure of former senior Sinn Féin figure Denis Donaldson as a British agent, and speculation about other republicans acting as informers, he said Sinn Féin was in no position to criticise his "personal decision" when "it had members in the paid employ of the British government for 20 years".
Mr Kelly, chief executive of Stakeholder Communications, said he would have refused the OBE 15 or 20 years ago, because he believed the British government then was dishonestly trying to "suck nationalists into the British system". He now believed the time was right to make "the kind of gesture to show that we can actually value shared traditions in Northern Ireland".
An SDLP spokeswoman said yesterday that Mr Kelly accepted the award in a personal capacity.
SDLP deputy leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell said he agreed with party policy but added: "If Tom Kelly is comfortable receiving the honour then I am comfortable with it, and I wish him well."
