Reflections on the SDLP, prompted by Seamus Mallon
Seamus Mallon, estimable figure that he still is, has left it a bit late to declare that a “fundamental mistake” was made to allow Sinn Féin into government without decommissioning. His point is not new but I don’t remember him saying it at the time. As Seamus’s successor as DFM Mark Durkan retails it: “Tony Blair at that time – we reminded him of this at Weston Park – said, ‘Yeah, you guys, your problem is you don’t have guns.” …