Politics in Northern Ireland witnessed a new departure today when, for the first time, the leader of the nationalist SDLP party gave the keynote address at the Ulster Unionist annual conference.
The two parties, which are in opposition in Stormont, say they want to deliver a "new middle ground politics".
After last May’s Stormont Assembly elections, both the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists were entitled to seats in the power-sharing executive with Sinn Féin and the DUP but they decided to decline the ministerial posts and instead took up the new option of establishing an official opposition.
That new partnership was cemented today when the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood addressed the UUP conference saying there was significant common ground between the parties despite their many policy differences.
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In a speech that drew a standing ovation from conference delegates, the Foyle MLA claimed the "cosy establishment" running the Executive had failed the people and eroded trust in the effectiveness of the devolved institutions.
"The biggest challenge of the official opposition is to begin the process of proving that our devolved institutions contain a power and importance beyond the maintenance of peace," said Mr Eastwood.
"True reconciliation here will not be achieved through warm words but through practical politics, a politics which fundamentally changes the economic and social patterns of this society," he said.
"Forming an opposition is entirely consistent with who we are - a party ready and willing to do what's right for the country, whatever the consequences for ourselves," said UUP leader Mike Nesbitt at the conference.
"It has been a bold step, but a necessary one for those of us who seek normal, democratic politics in Northern Ireland."
He insisted the UUP and SDLP, once the pre-eminent political forces within their respective traditions, could regenerate and pose a serious threat to the current Sinn Féin/Democratic Unionist administration.
Taking to the stage in the Ramada Hotel in Belfast shortly after Mr Eastwood addressed the conference, the UUP leader (below) portrayed their respective parties as a joint ticket that could deliver for the electorate in 2021.
"Vote me, you get Colum. Vote Colum, you get me," he said.
"Vote Colum and me, and you get a whole new middle ground politics, dedicated to making Northern Ireland work, whatever our motivations."
He added: "Do we agree on everything? Of course not.
"But can we find a way of doing business together? Absolutely."
On the issue of Brexit, Mr Nexbitt said: "No one doubts Northern Ireland will be the most affected nation or region of the United Kingdom by withdrawal from the European Union, yet extraordinarily, we are still the least prepared, because of the paralysis of our DUP/Sinn Féin government."
