Former SDLP vice chairman Tom Kelly has said that the party must enter the forthcoming assembly election "fighting for the soul of nationalism".
Addressing the Belfast District Executive of the SDLP, Mr Kelly said the future was clear if party members were brave enough to embrace it.
"Shaping the destiny of the post-conflict Ireland is our duty," Mr Kelly said.
"We laid to rest the divisions of Irish civil war politics. We gave meaning to real republicanism and it is we who have the vision of a pluralist Ireland.
"The SDLP can shape the new Ireland.
"The battle we are fighting is for the hearts and minds of the nationalist community.
"We want to match their aspirations for a united Ireland with our vision of a pluralist new society, north and south."
Mr Kelly also repeated his call for the SDLP to seek a new relationship with Fianna Fail.
"I see no place for a six-county party in a 32-county country," he said.
"The party that most attracts our electorate and reflects our grassroots is Fianna Fail."
