SDLP firms ties with Fianna Fail

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SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell says his party will probably move towards closer ties with Fianna Fail.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's party plans to organise in Northern Ireland, but say they will not go for Westminster seats.

Dr McDonnell told Radio Ulster's Inside Politics that he believes Fianna Fail will reconsider this position.

"I have no doubt they will very quickly decide that if there's an opportunity there and a representational job to be done, they will avail of it," he said.

"They are very pragmatic and very effective."

Mobilise

It is the first time in Fianna Fail's 81-year history that efforts have been made to mobilise on an all-Ireland basis.

Dublin Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern is set to chair a committee to implement the move, and he said they were not interested in the House of Commons as "that is for others to do".

"We feel we should have representation in Northern Ireland as a political party," he said.

Commentators have said that Fianna Fail's plans to organise in Northern Ireland have been spurred on by the setting up of a power-sharing executive at Stormont, making such a move less politically sensitive.

It has also been suggested that its success against Sinn Fein in the Republic's recent election played a part.