The SDLP is hosting a conference today bringing together several political parties across these islands to talk about the future they want to see.

The motivation is pretty simple. We are a party that understands pluralism and engagement – and that difficult conversations are part of that.

Pluralism as a concept might sound a bit abstract, but in truth, it is how we function as a society. Families, friends, colleagues, all will have different opinions on everything from football teams to holidays to politics, but it doesn’t preclude us from muddling through, persuading and getting on with things.

Social media hasn’t helped when it comes to finding space for disagreement. With debates reduced to sentences and outrage driving the algorithm, persuasion has been run out of town by populism.

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But the need to listen to each other and to persuade has never been stronger.

In the ten years since the Brexit vote, people in Northern Ireland have been the pawns in a political game played in southeast England. The wasted years that saw a raft of prime ministers, two........

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