The Social Democratic and Lobour Party (SDLP) and Sinn Féin are two major nationalist political parties in Northern Ireland. These two parties have had vastly different views regarding policy issues until the 1990s. They were extremely polarized on virtually every major issue. However, beyond the 1990s some have claimed that the policy agenda of Sinn Féin has become similar to the SDLP’s. Has Sinn Féin evolved into a party indistinguishable of the SDLP? Do any differences currently endure? In order to answer these questions, a history of the two parties must be discussed. This will provide any historical difference that is evident between the two parties. An analysis of the policy differences that occurred prior to the 1990s must also be exposed. After analyzing the two political parties it will be evident that prior to the 1990s there were distinguishable historical and policy differences. Also, it will be clear that beyond the 1990s those differences became less distinguishable, but some difference still remained.
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What is the Difference between the SDLP and Sinn Fein?
