Colum Eastwood: Seamus Mallon’s offer is still on the table if unionism is interested

On a bitterly cold morning last January, former taoisigh, heads of government, ministers and senior politicians from parties across these islands travelled to rural Mullaghbrack in Co Armagh to pay their respects following the passing of one of modern Ireland’s most consequential figures. Seamus Mallon was a force of nature.

And as mourners made their way to St James’s Church, along the winding lanes of Mallon country, they must have been struck by Seamus’s famously wicked sense of humour. A former deputy first minister, MP, senator and deputy leader of the SDLP, Seamus could have filled Armagh Cathedral several times over with people wanting to say a final goodbye to a man who helped shape our country and shape their lives for the better.

Instead, however, he chose possibly the smallest rural church in Ireland, with half of the space reserved for parishioners, compelling us all to see the places and meet the people he grew up with.

The organisers even had to negotiate with the local Ulster Unionist councillor who owns the adjoining field for car parking space. Even at the end, Seamus was, in his inimitable way, telling us to work together.

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I remember having a pint with him in the Victoria Bar in Markethill which, as the name suggests, hadn’t hosted many gatherings of nationalist politicians over the years. Even still, everyone who called in made a point of calling over to see Seamus. And as he held court, telling stories of the past, he recalled the pain this mostly unionist community had suffered.

“Every death diminished us all,” he said.

And he was right.

None of us could have imagined then the course of events that would take place in the 12 months that have followed. Our society has been buffeted by the twin storms of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis that Brexit has created.

These are events which could have driven our communities closer together, compelling us to share experience, resource and support to get through one of the most testing periods of the new century.

Unfortunately our response has more often been characterised by division, diverging strategies and an unfathomable unwillingness to get on the same page.

Clear choices

When I think of what Seamus would have made of the events of the last year, I’m reminded of a line from his maiden speech in the House of Commons (a speech that was boycotted by every unionist MP save one Enoch Powell who remained only to heckle).

Mallon said: “We have two stark and clear choices. We can live together in generosity and compassion or we can continue to die in bitter disharmony.”

Some 35 years later it’s hard to disagree with his analysis.

The generation of Mallon and Hume found a calling in the movement for civil rights, justice, equality and peace. They were, it is incontestable, the most successful group of citizen and political activists in Irish history. They achieved what had seemed impossible for hundreds of years – an end to the Anglo-Irish conflict using only the force of their argument and the strength of their vision.

And in doing so they removed the millstone of bloodshed that had been passed from generation to generation on our island.

We have the opportunity to build a new country. One where we celebrate the traditions of all our communities

As we set about tackling the big challenges of this new decade – the climate crisis, the redefinition of workers’ lives and the systemic and lasting impact of the pandemic on economies and communities – I believe that we are all called to build a new future together.

Seamus’s lasting legacy is, as he so aptly expressed in the final lines of his book, that we rest in the shade of trees planted by his generation. It is beyond time that we began sowing the seeds of a new Ireland for future generations.

Over the course of the last number of months we have been conducting hours of quiet conversations with people across this island from a range of backgrounds. In the months ahead we will hold hundreds more conversations with every community, sector and generation.

We are listening to their concerns, working to address their fears, but most of all seeking to build a consensus about how we can shape a new society and a new country that meets the aspirations of all our people.

This work is challenging. It demands that we stretch ourselves again to accommodate our communities in all their difference and diversity, but it is, ultimately, necessary that we plot a course through the immense period of change we’re living through.

Policy

I sincerely believe that the UK is coming to an end. And I don’t say that to be triumphalist, it is simply the conclusion of the last decade of British government policy that has stripped away public services, removed opportunity and aspiration from the vocabulary of too many communities and left us on the edge of Europe.

I believe that a new future is not only possible but that it is increasingly viewed as the best possible outcome for more and more of the people we’re speaking to.

We have the opportunity to build a new country. One where we celebrate the traditions of all our communities. A society where free movement of people, goods, services and ideas is guaranteed across our continent. A shared home place for all of our people.

Some 35 years ago, Seamus Mallon ended his maiden speech in the House of Commons with a sincere appeal that lies at the heart of our movement and at the centre of the project we’re advancing. He said: “I ask the unionists in the North of Ireland to say for the first time, ‘come and build with us. Say yes’.”

The offer will always be on the table.

Colum Eastwood is leader of the SDLP