Landmark battle on the cards for European Parliament election

Posted by Jim on April 21, 2019

The election to the European Parliament in the North of Ireland on May
23could be a historic one if two out of three seats are won by
nationalists.

Speculation of a nationalist breakthrough follows the decision of Colum
Eastwood, the leader of the SDLP, to contest for the third seat
following the retirement of Ulster Unionist Party MEP Jim Nicholson.

The outgoing MEPs, Martina Anderson of Sinn Fein and DUP MEP Diane
Dodds, are considered certain to retain their seats, but the destination
of the third seat is highly significant, and could mark a further change
in unionist political control in the Six Counties.

The election will also feature another strong pro-EU candidate, Naomi
Long of the Alliance Party, as well as possibly Jim Allister, leader of
the extreme unionist Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV).

In 2014, the SDLP fell just short of the UUP total, as did the TUV. The
SDLP’s Alex Attwood, who has since retired, only lost out on the eighth
and final count in 2014, when Mr Allister’s transfers got Mr Nicholson
over the line.

This year’s election, to be decided by Single Transferable Vote, may not
even go ahead if a Brexit deal is concluded before election day, May 23.

Mr Eastwood said he was  “seeking to secure a historic second seat
representing the Pro-Europe Majority in Northern Ireland”.

“This is an election like no other,” Mr Eastwood said.

“In June 2016, a majority of people from communities across Northern
Ireland came together to express our clear will that we should remain in
the European Union. It was a vote that, unlike many others, saw people
break free from their traditional trenches to occupy a common ground and
a common identity.

“Since then, the broad progressive coalition that came together has been
sidelined and silenced. Without a government in Belfast and with the DUP
aligned to hard Brexit fanatics in London, people here have been
ignored. Enough is enough.”

Mr Eastwood said the European election should be a referendum on Brexit,
“the North’s People’s Vote”. He said the SDLP “is within striking
distance of the third European seat”. He told BBC Radio Ulster his party
was “best placed” to take a second anti-Brexit seat.

DUP leader Arlene Foster urged unionists to turn out and vote in the
coming elections, warning that if Sinn Fein emerges on top, it will
strengthen calls for a border poll.

“Some claim it does not matter which party you vote for, but you can be
absolutely certain that it would be heralded as a massive success for
republicans and a massive defeat for unionism if unionism was to be
split and republicans were to have a massive win, and use the election
results to strengthen their demand for a border poll,” she added.

Sitting Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson, who topped the poll in 2014 with
more than 25 per cent of first preference votes, described the
forthcoming election as an opportunity to send a message to Brussels,
London and Dublin that the people of Ireland “will not be left behind”.

She said it was a poll the British government “didn’t want to happen”.

“The DUP didn’t want EU elections either – their Brexit involves
stripping people of their rights including the right to vote,” the Sinn
Féin representative said.

“Not only do they refuse rights that everyone else in Britain and
Ireland enjoy, they also want to remove EU rights too.”

BATTLES ON LEFT AND RIGHT

In the 26 Counties, a total of 59 candidates have declared for the
election, including three surprise candidates: prominent left-wing TDs
Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, and right-wing populist Peter Casey.

Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan sitting MEP will face a battle to defend her
seat in Dublin against Daly. Ms Daly’s colleague Mick Wallace also
submitted his nomination papers for Ireland South, where Sinn Fein’s
Presidential candidate Liadh Ni Riada will be looking to hold her seat.

In the vast constituency of Midlands-North West, which stretches from
Donegal to Kildare, a variety of 17 candidates makes the result
difficult to predict.

The sitting MEPs who are running again are Matt Carthy (SF), Luke ‘Ming’
Flanagan (Ind), and Mairéad McGuinness (FG). Fianna Fáil hopes to gain a
seat here by running two TDs, but the dynamics of the contest have been
changed by the surprise presidential runner-up, Peter Casey, who is
running as an independent.

Setting out his reasons for running for election, Mr Casey said: “Rather
than sitting on my hands for a year and waiting for a general
[election], it made more sense to stand now. It is one of those things
where I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. If I sat it out
people would ask me what I have been doing.”