SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MLA has appointed Bríd Rodgers as Chair of a Civil Rights Committee charged with planning the 50th Anniversary of the movement.
Mr Eastwood said that 2018 offers an opportunity to deliver on the lasting legacy of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland on it’s 50th anniversary.
He said: “The movement for political, social and economic rights for every citizen in the North was a watershed period in this island’s history.
“The broad coalition of activists – Hume, Devlin, Cooper, Currie and others – changed this place through the politics of persuasion.
“Their fierce endeavour took on a unionist establishment consumed with the denial of rights and they broke down that edifice.
“The Civil Rights Movement belongs to no one person and no one party. But it undeniably played a pivotal role in the history of the SDLP.
“That’s something we are immensely proud of and we’ll be marking the 50 year anniversary with a series of commemorative events.
“Bríd Rodgers played a critical role in the struggle for equal civil and political rights in the North.
“I’m delighted that she has agreed to lead the efforts to mark the 50th anniversary of the movement.
“But it would be wrong to simply mark the Civil Rights Movement as a note in our history.
“The struggle for economic equality, fairness in housing, marriage equality, respect for language diversity and on many other issues continues.
“They are today’s fight.
“We must all be prepared to take on the legacy of Hume, Devlin, Cooper and Currie and deliver on the civil rights fights of our generation.”
