‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’: Derry's MP Colum Eastwood vows to fight even harder for Derry as he stands down as party leader

Addressing the SDLP Conference at the weekend, Mr Eastwood said he would make no apology for highlighting Derry’s potential at every turn.

He also told those gathered at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Belfast that he felt the time was now right to step down after nine years as leader and having led the party through 10 elections.

“I know there’s been some criticism of me for being too Derry focussed,” Mr Eastwood said. “Well, let me tell you, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The city I represent, and that has been so important to the politics of this party, has enormous potential to be an economic centre on our island. A focal point for new investment, jobs and opportunities for countless communities.

“That’s why I secured a commitment and investment to increase student numbers to at least 10,000 by the end of this decade. That’s why our party secured the City Deal investment when others were actively opposing it in the Executive. And the events of the last few weeks have been proof positive of our core belief that sending an MP to Westminster matters. Because I have used the mandate given to me by the people of Derry to fight for both those commitments again.Fighting to build a better future for everyone is what this party does best.”

Handing over the reigns of leadership of the SDLP to MP for South Belfast and Mid Down Clare Hanna, Mr Eastwood praised the new leader and vowed that he will also be “relentlessly focused” on building the case for a new united Ireland.

“I’m still as driven as I was as a cheeky, bolshy 14 year old by the what’s next of it all, and I’ll tell you why: after the Good Friday Agreement my generation was promised more. We were promised more than smiling pictures of our First ministers while our parents feel forgotten on waiting lists. We were promised more than politicians congratulating themselves for turning up to work while we drop off our kids at airports knowing they might never return. We were promised more than mediocre wages and crumbling public services. We were promised more than peace walls and paramilitaries still calling the shots. We were promised more than more suicides since 1998 than people who were killed during the troubles.

“When we talk about a New Ireland these are the issues that drive us. So don’t tell me that this is as good as it gets. Don’t tell me we can’t talk about the future of our country while they haven’t fixed our economy. Don’t tell me we can’t imagine a different future while public services are crumbling. Don’t tell me we can’t even talk about a new Ireland until the peace walls come down.

“The new Ireland we’re going to build is about tearing down those walls. It’s about reimagining our public services. It’s about keeping our young people here and giving them decent jobs. It’s about this generation demanding better. The answers will not lie in more Stormont. We’ve tried that. We’ve waited for change and we’re not waiting anymore. We will always defend and seek to improve the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement but we refuse to be trapped in or by them.”

Mr Eastwood described the next 10 years as “the decade of opportunity for those of us who want to see this country finally united and reconciled”. Getting there though ‘will take many people, parties and activists’, he said.

He also praised the people of Derry who stood up against discrimination and injustice 60 years ago to the day on October 5, 1968, sparking a movement that would result in the formation and evolution of the SDLP under political giants like his late predecessor and Nobel Peace Laureate John Hume and veterans including John Tierney.

He spoke of how people here back then in 1968 had ‘had enough’.

“The marching feet of ordinary people was able to achieve massive success. In only a few short months almost all of their original demands were met. Peaceful, democratic action moved a mountain. But you can’t march forever. And in fact, that route was closed down by the brutality of the British government on Bloody Sunday.

“There has been much said about the choice facing people at that moment. The point is, there was always a choice. When brought to the brink of civil war the founding generation of this party chose civil rights. They chose peaceful means and democratic struggle.”

"And they stuck at it. In the face of provocation, demonisation and decades of despair, they never took their eyes off the end goal - a new Ireland, a new nation built on the principle that we share this island with our neighbours and they belong here every bit as much as we do. Because of them, because of their struggle, we now, all these years later, have the freedom to build that new Ireland.”

He praised those people “who understood that the cause was never reliving the battles of the past but building something new together, people like John Tierney, standing his ground everyday against the men and women of violence, whether they wore uniforms or not,” and said this mirrored the work of SDLP representatives today like Mayor of Derry & Strabane Lilian Seenoi Barr, Paul Doherty and Pete Byrne.

Turning to his successor, Mr Eastwood said he had “never met anyone who believes more in reconciling our communities” than Claire Hanna and that he was “proud to have her as my leader”.

He also appealed to young people to join the SDLP “if you want to be part of something big, If you want to play your part in reimagining this country, If you want to unite our communities and build something new”.