SDLP to lash out at ruling parties during annual conference
The SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, is expected to criticise both Sinn Féin and the DUP during a speech at his party's annual conference later today.
The conference, in Armagh, takes place at a testing time for the SDLP which has only one place on the power-sharing executive.
The last two elections were difficult for the SDLP, as it was overtaken by Sinn Féin as the largest nationalist party within the North, but in the words of the party deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell it's refusing to give up power to 'Paisley and the Provos'.
The party is taking heart in the courage of its one Minister Margaret Ritchie who, under pressure to recede her funding to a UDA-linked project, didn't buckle.
While the party has to accept it's not dominant in Stormont, further challenges and opportunities could be ahead if Fianna Fáil expands north of the border.
