Last night: slam, bam, thank you, ma’am

Posted by Jim on March 4, 2017

by Jude Collins (judecollins.com)

Well, that was quite an evening/night, wasn’t it? Just when you thought
politics in our NE nest had become dour and tedious, along comes
yesterday. Where to start?

Perhaps with the term ‘sleeping giant’. Not that Sinn Fein weren’t a
formidable force in our NEn before the election. Now, however, they know
what they can do when its vote turns out. On Wednesday’s ‘The View’, the
pundits were giving the Shinners 24 seats, with the DUP at around 30 or
31. Not for the first time in the past year, the crystal ball gazers and
the polls showed how, like everyone else, they haven’t a clue what’s
going to happen at an election.

This was a bad night for unionism. To have the bogeyman of Sinn Fein
come within a percentage point and their seat-lead slashed from 10 to
1…Pass the smelling salts, Mother. But there’s nothing so bad there
can’t be worse. It was a blitzkrieg of a night for the UUP. It lost
seats and it lost its leader. To give Mike Nesbitt his due, he resigned
with grace and dignity. It is a shame that his fluency wasn’t matched
by his political savvy. But contrast his resignation words with the
clumsy concession of Nelson McCausland. As readers of this site know, I
have more than a small soft spot for Nelson, so it’s frustrating to see
him look so forgettable in his final words. Wouldn’t it have been some
consolation if he’d approached Nesbitt’s eloquence – or better still,
the words of his namesake Horatio Nelson, who, mortally wounded by a
musket-ball, murmured to Captain Tom Hardy the surprising final line
“Kiss me, Hardy”. Farewell, dear Nelson, and try to think positive.
Unlike Horatio, it’s unlikely anyone will attempt to pickle you in a
barrel of brandy.

The DUP will be already looking for a new leader. The trick would be if
they could install one, thus making a fresh Executive possible, while
not looking as though Sinn Fein is calling the shots. But then again,
who could lead them? Nigel Dodds? (Sir) Jeffrey Donaldson? Sammy Wilson?
Nothing too promising there. In fact, the paucity of leadership material
in the DUP stands in stark contrast to the infusion of fresh talent,
much of it female, into the Sinn Fein ranks.

There’s a temptation to believe that things couldn’t have been much
worse for the DUP, but they could. Last time out in Upper Bann, John
O’Dowd almost lost his seat. This time, the determination was not to
risk a repeat, which may explain the large number of first preference
votes he got. Unfortunately, that left his running mate Nuala Toman
short of what she needed. No wonder John O’Dowd, on a night of Sinn Fein
jubilation, looked truly pissed off. But if Nuala Toman had gained that
seat, and if veteran SDLP man John Dallat hadn’t come home at the last
minute and snatched a final seat from Sinn Fein’s Cathal O hOisin, Sinn
Fein could be on 29 seats instead of 27. But then all elections always
include heart-aching might-have-beens.

The thin ice on which the DUP now stand will send a tremor through
unionism generally. The bogeyman Sinn Fein is now so close, they can
feel hot breath on their collar. That should inject a note of courtesy
into their dealings with the republican party: you don’t emerge alive
from a car crash without rethinking the steps that led you to that scary
place. If you have a death-wish, of course, you won’t change a thing.