Social Democratic and Labour Party
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The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is a constitutional nationalist political party of Northern Ireland and for most of the period since its foundation in 1970 was the main party of the nationalist (Catholic) population. Although the SDLP has as one aim a united Ireland it has maintained a principled opposition to the use of terrorist violence to achieve political ends, and its activists and supporters have suffered violence and intimidation by the IRA and Sinn Fein. The party was led between 1970 and 1979 by Gerry Fit, and between 1979 and 2001 by John Hume. Since 2001 the leader of the SDLP has been Mark Durkan, MP for the Foyle constituency.