Senior SDLP figures have used the opening session of their 31st party conference to criticise Sinn FΘin and others over their stance on new policing structures in the North.
The party chairman, Mr Alex Attwood, accused opponents of weakness and of "hoping policing is got wrong". They were characterised by inconsistency and doubt, he added. The West Belfast Assembly member believed there was a consensus in Ireland and abroad that the time was right to go into the police service and the new structures.
The North's Agriculture Minister, Mrs Br∅d Rodgers, also criticised Sinn FΘin for not taking its seats on the new Policing Board, which met for the first time on Wednesday. She was speaking in a debate on justice and policing.
Mrs Rodgers told delegates in Newcastle, Co Down, that Sinn FΘin "hadn't the bottle to join the new board".
She added that her party was responsible for reversing what she termed the Mandelisation of the Patten report on police structures for the North. It was through the tabling of amendments "and by subsequent tough negotiations" that former Northern secretary Mr Peter Mandelson's police Bill was altered. She claimed nationalists were now in a position to "shape a police service of the people, for the people".
She accused Sinn FΘin of campaigning among young nationalists against the Police Service of Northern Ireland and of handing over influence to the Rev Ian Paisley's DUP.
The new service came into being at the beginning of the week. Mr Mark Durkan, speaking at an early fringe meeting, also underlined his party's stance on the new policing structures. The incoming party leader said: "The SDLP goes into the police board with a radical agenda for change. One of our main priorities is the removal of plastic bullets and their replacement, not with an alternative which is less lethal, but with an alternative which is not lethal at all."
Delegates began voting last night in a ballot to decide the next deputy leader. Mr Seamus Mallon, the former deputy first minister, is standing down, as is Mr John Hume. Mrs Rodgers is contesting the job with the Assembly member for North Belfast, Mr Alban Maginness; Mr Sean Farren, the Minister of Employment and Learning; Mr Denis Haughey, a junior minister; and a Down district councillor, Ms Margaret Ritchie.
Some 500 delegates are expected to vote and the result will be known tomorrow. Tributes to Mr Mallon and to the departing leader, Mr John Hume are due later today. Both will make keynote addresses this afternoon.
Mr Durkan, who became the new Deputy First Minister on Tuesday has delayed his acceptance of the post until tomorrow when the result of the tight deputy leadership contest is known. He was the sole candidate for party leader.
Delegates will be keen to see the new line-up take an aggressive stance against Sinn FΘin, which made significant advances in June's Westminster elections, picking up four seats to the SDLP's three.
The tone of the conference was set by South Down MP Mr Eddie McGrady, who used his introductory address to underline the work of both Mr Hume and Mr Mallon.
The party chief whip said the SDLP had largely fulfilled its dream of establishing agreed political structures and was striving for "final perfection".
He criticised those "who maintain armies and weaons to perpetuate a fear of force".