On the wall of Mark Durkan's constituency office in Derry are the familiar words of one of his heroes, but Martin Luther King is not the only politician in the room who has a dream. The problem is that as leader-in-waiting of the SDLP it seems it may be a little early for him to articulate his hopes for the party.
Criticism of any kind of the SDLP's electoral strategy, even after its disappointing showing in local and Westminster elections, could be seen as ungrateful to the outgoing leader, John Hume. After all, Hume has been grooming his protΘgΘ for this position since Durkan started out as a researcher in his office almost 20 years ago.
His conversation is peppered with reflections on the legacy of Hume and Seamus Mallon, who recently stepped down as deputy leader; specific detail as to how he might effect a reversal of the party's fortunes is scant.
However, in responding to the suggestion that the SDLP has suffered because some feel it is less a party, more a support group for John Hume, Durkan does offer some clues as to how his leadership might have a positive influence on a party threatened with decline.
"There is that perception outside which people within the party itself do not recognise . . . so we have to change how the party is seen do things," he says. Sipping coffee, he is remarkably alert for someone who has just sat through a duller-than-usual Assembly debate, where as Minister for Finance and Personnel he tried to explain to his fellow politicians that securing money from Gordon Brown's Treasury is not as easy as some think. ("I don't suffer from depression," he quips. "But I am a carrier.")
He says the party will be "aiming to be more visibly collegiate" than it has been in the past. "Anyone who has had very intensive dealings with the SDLP has had much broader experience than just dealing with Seamus and John, and we are trying to make the fact that there is a spread of good people in the party more apparent." Another ambition is trying to convince people that the SDLP can offer results: "We don't want to be seen as a walking Irish Times editorial, trying to be all things to all people, always describing and analysing so people don't see you as the essential deliverer of the solution."
The 41-year-old comes across as bright, solid, sensible and hard-working, but it is hard to think of a less ego-driven politician. That makes some observers wonder how strong a leadership figure he will turn out to be.
There are times when Durkan looks vaguely embarrassed while being interviewed - looking down at his hands or the arm of his chair. "There would be a shyness in part of my personality," he says. "But it doesn't make me shut up. I am not the type who would be interested in '10 things you didn't know about Mark Durkan' lists - that is for personalities not for somebody like me."
Yet, as one of the SDLP's chief negotiators during talks for the Belfast Agreement, he has shown he is no shrinking violet. "I am not shy when it comes to addressing people who are concerned about an issue, or talking to people who have very strong criticisms of what I have been doing. I have no shyness or reluctance in trying to persuade or be persuaded. But I am not the type to try and impress people. My friends would say 'that's just as well because you are not going to impress too many'," he laughs. "Obviously, when you take on a leadership role, you are more aware of certain aspects of your personality."
A highly regarded talent for coining pithy one-liners has not prevented some voters from seeing him as boring and a weak public speaker. In spite of that, we are unlikely to witness a major image transformation when he becomes leader at the party conference in November. "As Minister for Finance, I would probably be eligible for a Housing Executive improvement grant, such would be the scale of the undertaking," he jokes.
But he is quite serious when he says that imitating other people is not his style. This is Mark Durkan. What they have seen thus far is exactly what the SDLP is going to get.
With the institutions facing collapse, as unionists try to exclude Sinn FΘin and threaten to abandon the process, Durkan will be attempting to lead his party through an uncertain political landscape.
"We don't support exclusion. I can't see how it solves the issues it was supposed to address," says Durkan. But he adds that the party is "frustrated" with Sinn FΘin over the decommissioning issue. "I don't believe it is enough for a political party to make noises about silencing guns. Decommissioning is a requirement of the agreement, it is not a pre-condition, but the longer you go without fulfilling a requirement the harder it is to sustain it," he says.
He was heartened to hear Sinn FΘin's Martin McGuinness talking about the validity of some unionist concerns over decommissioning at the recent Ardfheis.
"Sinn FΘin spent years denouncing any SDLP spokesperson who made exactly that observation," he says. He describes Sinn FΘin as "our most direct electoral competitor".
"You can't ignore the fact that another party has our position in their sights and would like to do damage to our reputation and our electoral standing . . . but what we shouldn't do is start putting sand bags around ourselves. We also can't afford to get obsessed by the challenge."
Growing up in Derry, the youngest of seven children, Durkan says he was spoilt. He was just a baby when his father, a district inspector with the RUC, died. During the negotiations for the new policing service, he came across former colleagues of his father and enjoyed hearing anecdotes about a man he never knew.
Because she works part-time in his constituency office, he gets to spend more time with his wife, Jackie Green, than most politicians could hope. The couple met when he took up the post as researcher in John Hume's office, where she was working.
"We used to slag John saying that for all his talk about trying to create new relationships, ours was the only one he could claim," he smiles. He relaxes by doing "as close to nothing as possible" in his spare time, watching his favourite football team, Manchester United, and reading.
Asked what he hopes to achieve as leader of the SDLP, he is typically self-effacing.
"I would like at the end of my tenure that people are talking more about the SDLP than they are about me . . . that the figure and the name of the leader will matter less," he says.
"I would hope that the party will be renewed and strengthened, and that it is not just a going concern but a growing concern."