EXTRACTS FROM THE SDLP ANALYSIS OF THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM·

(iii) Identities

7. The SDLP believes that in its contemporary manifestation the Northern Ireland problem is in essence a conflict between two identities - or, more precisely, the failure to devise political structures which accommodate the differences between, and allow full and mutual expression to, those two identities.

8. The Nationalist community in Northern Ireland sees its identity as essentially Irish and part of the wider Irish family on the island of Ireland. Its vision and aspiration are the creation of a new and tolerant society that unites and accommodates all traditions in a new Ireland, where Nationalists and Unionists can co-exist in harmony and mutual respect. Some Irish Nationalists have not always found it easy to accommodate this central aspect of the problem. The New Ireland Forum commented "for historical reasons, Irish nationalism may have tended to

define itself in terms of separation from Britain and opposition to British domination of Ireland". In fact, the experience of other newly independent countries reveals it is common for new states to emphasise their singularity.

9. However, the mainstream of Irish nationalism today seeks a more comprehensive understanding of its identity. The Forum report in this regard noted that "the tragedy of Northern Ireland and the suffering of the people there has stimulated a new consciousness of the urgent need for accommodation... The new Ireland must be a society within which, subject only to public order, all cultural, political and religious belief can be freely expressed and practised. Fundamental to such a society are freedom of conscience, social and communal harmony, reconciliation and the cherishing of the diversity of all traditions ... The implementation of these principles calls for deepening and broadening of the sense of Irish identity."

l0. From the inception of Northern Ireland until the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, the Nationalist identity was denied political expression and validity, and Nationalists were excluded from effective participation in he institutions of Government. The particular significance of the Anglo-Irish Agreement was the acknowledgement - first signposted at Sunningdale - by the British Government of the legitimacy and validity of the Irish identity of Northern Nationalists, and that any way forward in Northern Ireland had to incorporate a formal "Irish dimension". For the Nationalist community that dimension must be a fundamental element of whatever new arrangements might emerge from the current process.

11. The Unionist community, on the other hand, perceives itself as British. The majority of Unionists are also Protestant and, as such, are strengthened in their allegiance to the British Crown by the latter's essential Protestantism. They regard the Nationalist aspiration to a united Ireland as representing a fundamental threat to their own sense of identity; furthermore, they see the Nationalist ethos as pervasively Catholic and incapable of tolerance and respect of the Unionist heritage, tradition, rights and civil liberties. At the same time, it can also be said that many Unionists feel some affinity for aspects of Irish life and culture and would regard themselves also as Irish. To protect their identity, the primary means that they have used or sought to use has been the exclusive exercise of power.

12. From a Unionist perspective, therefore, whatever may emerge from the current process will have to be such as to guarantee their sense of identity and to assuage their fears in terms of the perceived threat posed by Irish Nationalism to their ethos and way of life.