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SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has dismissed political "naysayers" and insisted his party is "here to stay".

Addressing his party's conference, he acknowledged the SDLP had been through a "bruising" Stormont election in May last year when it lost four assembly seats.

Image source, PA Media

But he told SDLP members that "the adversity we face now is nothing compared to the adversity this party has shouldered in the past".

"We are a party that is ready to get back to work and we will win again," he said.

Read more: SDLP is here to stay, says Eastwood

Mr Eastwood closes his speech on a optimistic note, saying the SDLP is ready to get back to work and that it "will win again".

"We're going to embark on a long-term political strategy with the goal of reimagining our country," he says.

"Let us build a new politics. Let us build a new society.

"Together we can build a movement for a new Ireland."

Colum Eastwood tells his SDLP members that he wants to "speak candidly" to them.

He says: "Our party has just been through a bruising electoral contest that exacted a high price from our parliamentary team."

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Polls and surveys have "not made for comfortable reading", he adds.

But the "adversity" the party faces now is nothing compared with what it dealt with in the past, he says.

The party "can never be written off" and it is "here to stay", says the leader.

The SDLP will work with other parties on the island of Ireland to build a new consensus on its future, says Colum Eastwood.

"No one voice or one party can hold a monopoly on an idea with the power and potential of the unification of our island and our people," he says.

"We have the ability to call upon the support of friends and allies from political traditions across these islands."

Colum Eastwood says his party is "putting in the hard yards" to make sure everyone is accommodated in a "new Ireland".

The SDLP is "meeting the duty to tell our unionist neighbours the fundamental truth" that they "belong to this place every bit as much as we do".

He says his appeal to unionism is: "Don’t avoid a new future together for fear of losing the identity you cherish.

"My challenge to those who disagree with us is this: Try to convince us of your vision of the future and we’ll try to convince you of ours.

"Then in time let the people decide."

Colum Eastwood moves on to climate change, saying the ambition for a "new Ireland" should be to become a "world leader in the development of clean, green technologies".

"Sometimes we’re accused of trying to out-green our opponents - well that’s what out-greening your opponents really means," he says.

Image source, Reuters

He also says he wants to create an Ireland that is "proud to provide for the most vulnerable" and "gives power and place to the marginalised".

"Let's build... an Ireland that believes, as a founding principle, in the dignity of a fair wage for everyone."

The SDLP's ambition is to construct an "all-Ireland health service, free at the point of delivery", says Colum Eastwood.

He says it is an "obvious truth" that politicians in Northern Ireland have "prevaricated and delayed" on health service transformation "for far too long".

Image source, Getty Images

But the "opportunity" provided by a united Ireland, he says, is "fundamental transformation that is bigger and broader than shifting a limited resources around to serve a small population".

Integrating the health systems in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be "one of the most significant challenges" that campaigners for a united Ireland will face, he adds.

But it provides the chance "to put an end to the collapse of our health service".

Moving on to Brexit, Colum Eastwood says there has been a "torrent of change" in recent years that he says people did not vote for and had "little hand in shaping".

But he adds: "People across this island are now speaking openly about change."

Image source, Reuters

The future must be about "reconciling our people", "creating opportunity and prosperity" and restoring "our place on the international stage".

"If we want to rejoin the community of nations and get back home to the EU then it can only be done in a new Ireland."

The SDLP leader pays tribute to Det Ch Insp John Caldwell, one of Northern Ireland's top detectives, who was shot in Omagh, County Tyrone, last month.

He's critically ill in hospital, having had emergency surgery after the attack by two gunmen.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) believes that dissident republicans were responsible for the attack.

Image source, Pacemaker

Colum Eastwood says: "Let us pay tribute to the bravery of Det Ch Insp John Caldwell and recommit ourselves today to our enduring belief that violence has no place in the campaign to unite our island."

He also pays tribute to PSNI officers for their "bravery and dedication to service" and their commitment to defending peace.

"This is a moment to rededicate ourselves to the primacy of peace and resistance against violence," he says.

Addressing the "outrageous cost of childcare" will be the first priority for the SDLP in a new Stormont assembly, says Colum Eastwood.

"There is no good reason why parents here are offered less than half of the free childcare given to parents elsewhere on these islands," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

"The childcare costs crisis is an emergency and it is a scandal that Stormont has let it go on this long."

The SDLP leader pledges to deliver 30 hours free childcare a week for parents of all children under the age of five.

• What childcare are parents in Northern Ireland entitled to?

The SDLP leader sets out his party's agenda for the reform of the Stormont assembly.

It includes doing away with the titles of first and deputy first minister - instead he proposes two first ministers to reflect their equal standing in the executive.

Image source, EPA

He says the SDLP would "end the abuse of the petition of concern", which was introduced to safeguard minority rights in the assembly.

It has previously been used by the DUP to block the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

Mr Eastwood also calls for the introduction of a weighted-majority vote to appoint the new assembly Speaker and he describes party colleague Patsy McGlone as "no better candidate" for that job.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (below) should "forget about his seven tests" for the new Brexit deal, says Colum Eastwood.

Some of the seven tests include no new checks of any sort on goods being traded between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and compatibility with the Act of Union, which says all parts of the UK should be on an equal footing when it comes to trade.

Image source, Reuters

But the SDLP leader says: "There is only one test left.

"The test is whether we all roll up our sleeves, get back to work and try to help people.

"Let's get on with it."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood makes reference to the Westminster vote on the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.

On Wednesday MPs voted by 515 votes to 29 to back the agreement, known as the Windsor Framework.

He says that despite that overwhelming vote the DUP - which voted against the deal - is "still digging their heels in".

"They still haven't come to terms with the fact that in a negotiation you don't get everything your own way," he tells his party members.

"The deal is done", he says, and "it's now decision time for the DUP".

"The DUP need to get back to work or get out of the way," he says.

Press the play button at the top of this page to watch the speech.

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

It makes sense that the SDLP would choose its heartland of Foyle to bring its members together.

There is no shying away from how hard a time the party has had recently.

It lost four seats last year in May's assembly election and recent polls haven't proved any more positive.

Image source, Pacemaker

That said, the party's South Belfast MP Claire Hanna (above) has said that since then the SDLP has been doing some serious thinking and reflection.

In other words: they may be down but not out if Colum Eastwood can help it.

He believes in the message he's selling but it's not the audience in Derry he needs to persuade.

The next electoral test for the SDLP is just eight weeks away.

BBC News NI

The DUP needs to get back to work at Stormont or "get out of the way", the SDLP leader will say in his speech.

Colum Eastwood (above left, with DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson) will accuse the DUP of "digging its heels in" after its MPs voted against the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland on Wednesday.

He will tell his party members that the DUP has "run out of excuses, run out of road and the public ran out of patience with them a long, long time ago".

Read more: Eastwood due to give speech at party conference

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of SDLP leader Colum Eastwood's speech to his party's annual conference.

Image source, PA Media

Party members have gathered at St Columb's Hall in Londonderry and they have already heard from a number of speakers this morning and into this afternoon.

Mr Eastwood (above) is due to deliver his address to delegates at about 15:00 GMT.

You can watch the speech live and we'll also provide a text commentary throughout.