The other Gerry

It's been a summer of obituaries for 1970s Northern Ireland. After Ted Heath, the weekend brought news of the death of Gerry Fitt, the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. We were surprised at how little attention his death got in the Irish blogs, although Slugger O'Toole as usual took note and the substantial comment thread on that post captures the divided views about his contribution to nationalist politics.

Gerry's influence is evident even in the SDLP's name, which contains no hint of its Irish nationalist orientation. Gerry was an egalitarian and an Irish nationalist, but he clearly saw equality for Northern Catholics as the highest priority, and felt that it could be pursued within the structures of the United Kingdom. It's perhaps the ultimate indictment of Northern Ireland's sectarian government, 1922-1972, that they managed to alienate Fitt, who would have been happy to pursue socialist politics within an even half-decent political framework.

Anyway, here's his obit from The Times of London, and in a notable departure from the usual War on X postings at National Review's The Corner, John Derbyshire got the essence of Fitt right:

Gerry Fitt has died. This reduces by one the world's stock of stubborn, iron-principled eccentrics.

Having long since moved, not by choice, to England, Gerry was surely disgusted by the summer's toll of intra- and inter-community violence in Northern Ireland. The Workers of the World didn't unite.

UPDATE 30 AUG: Further remarks from Slugger.