Opposition parties ‘must break cosy establishment’ - Eastwood

Stormont’s official opposition parties can work together to break the “cosy establishment” of the power-sharing Executive, the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said at the UUP conference.

Mr Eastwood is the first serving SDLP Leader to speak at the UUP’s annual conference.

He responded to critics who have questioned whether the two parties can cooperate to form a viable alternative to the DUP/Sinn Féin administration.

“Of course we can,” he told the event in Belfast.

In a speech that drew a standing ovation from conference delegates, the Foyle MLA claimed the "cosy establishment" running the Executive had failed the people and eroded trust in the effectiveness of the devolved institutions.

"The biggest challenge of the official opposition is to begin the process of proving that our devolved institutions contain a power and importance beyond the maintenance of peace," he said.

"True reconciliation here will not be achieved through warm words but through practical politics, a politics which fundamentally changes the economic and social patterns of this society."

Highlighting the UUP and SDLP's key role in forging the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, Mr Eastwood claimed the DUP and Sinn Féin were, by contrast, devoid of "ambition and aspiration".

"They believe the symbolism of their coalition suffices, and offer nothing more," he said.

"They're all guff and no government."

Together we must break up and break down that cosy establishment.

While Mr Eastwood highlighted the common ground shared by the parties, he also touched on their differences.

Both parties campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum, but they have adopted different stances in the wake of the result, with the UUP essentially accepting that Brexit is happening while the SDLP insist Northern Ireland should be able to maintain its link with the European Union.

Afterwards, Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt gave his address in which he welcomed the appearance of the SDLP leader.

Ulster Unionist Leader Mike Nesbitt hailed the opposition formed by his party and the SDLP as a “whole new middle ground politics” in his speech.

Mr Nesbitt said the Ulster Unionists and SDLP must work in partnership to convince the public there is a “viable replacement” for the current DUP/Sinn Féin government.

He said it was “early days” but said a shadow executive was an aspiration for the parties.

Mr Nesbitt said “it has been a bold step, but a necessary one for those of us who seek normal, democratic politics in Northern Ireland”.

He also said that Prime Minister Theresa May had recently written to him expressing support for an opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

“She wrote to me a few days ago, expressing a welcome for the fact – and I quote – ‘the institutions have evolved to accommodate an official Opposition at Stormont’.”

The UUP leader said that his party and the SDLP were working well together in a “whole new middle ground politics, dedicated to Making Northern Ireland Work, whatever our different motivations”.