Posted by Jim on March 4, 2017
There were heavy PSNI raids lasting for over four hours against the
homes of republican families in Creggan, Derry on Monday, February 28,
2017, just three days before the Stormont Assembly election. Three
family homes were badly damaged, while cars were seized as well as
phones, tablets and other electronic items belonging to children.
Republican Sinn Fein said parts of Creggan seemed to be “under siege”
and that a number of men were taken away for interrogation but were
later released. They condemned Sinn Fein candidates for avoiding any
pre-election comment on the searches, which took place in a
traditionally republican area.
“The raids went on for hours, yet nothing incriminating was found,” they
said. “We call on all people to oppose this occupation of the six
north-eastern counties of Ireland, reject Stormont for what it is; a
means of normalising the occupation and a method of paying of former
Republicans.
“The only solution not yet tried is the complete and total withdrawal of
the occupying forces and the dismantling of the British system of
governance. It is past time for a United and Sovereign Ireland.”
Saoradh also condemned the raids and noted the silence of the Stormont
party candidates.
“After an IRA attack last week on a member of the Crown Forces, local
politicians were climbing over each other to condemn,” they said. “Their
silence last night and this morning after attacks within their own
communities tells us all we need to know in regards to where their
loyalties lie.”
The organisation known as the new IRA has claimed responsibility for
last week’s under-car bomb attack against a member of the PSNI.
In their statement, the IRA said they had targeted a member of the PSNI
based at their headquarters in east Belfast. The IRA statement noted the
bomb was fitted with a secondary anti-handling device and featured a
plastic explosive it had not used before.
Using a recognised codeword, the organisation said it used a “new type
of tilt switch, detonator and plastic explosives”. It added that they
would continue “to attack members of the British armed forces at a time
of our choosing”.
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Sam Mc Bride. News Letter. Belfast. Saturday, March 3, 2017
One statistic sums up this election: Unionism last night on course to lose 16 Assembly seats while nationalism lost just one.
In the short term at least, Sinn Fein’s decision to call the snap poll has been handsomely vindicated – although if it results in a return to Tory direct rule, that decision might look strategically less clear-cut in the time ahead.
The center ground parties – Alliance and the Greens – have had a strong election, proportionately increasing their representation in the Assembly.
But for Unionism, this election has been nothing short of disastrous. For Unionism to lose its majority at Stormont is a seismic moment in Northern Ireland’s political history. As the Province heads towards its centenary in 2021, the Stormont chamber is reflective of the new Northern Ireland and it is a situation which Carson and Craig would struggle to comprehend.
In this election, both main Unionist leaders’ strategies failed Unionism, even if in Arlene Foster’s case it helped to save the DUP from a much worse result.
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt’s positioning of the UUP as much closer to the SDLP, with which he has been working in opposition at Stormont, did not pay off.
His comment that he would personally give his second preference vote to the SDLP candidate rather than to other Unionists ran contrary to a century of Unionism’s “united we stand, divided we fall” ideological certitude.
Although his proposal appealed to some voters who wanted to see a new era of opposition versus government politics, the comment fundamentally unnerved and bewildered far more Unionist voters than it won over.
While the UUP’s share of the vote was actually fractionally up (by 0.3%), the party lost some key MLAs, among them veteran former deputy leader Danny Kennedy, and came in behind the SDLP for the first time in its history.
Given that the UUP was facing its larger electoral rival, the DUP, in circumstances where the DUP leader was implicated in a financial catastrophe which could cost taxpayers as much as £500 million, this was a shockingly bad result for the UUP.
Other smaller Unionist parties also saw their vote fall. Of particular note, Jim Allister’s TUV finds itself again largely rejected at the polls. The TUV total of 20,523 votes across Northern Ireland is derisory, even if leader Jim Allister is one of the stars of the Assembly chamber. To put that result in context, the late Ian Paisley in his pomp took more than 25,000 votes in North Antrim alone in his last general election.
For the DUP, the election result could have been even worse if it had lost its status as Stormont’s largest party.
But leader Arlene Foster has lost the confident charm which saw the party romp home to a 10- seat advantage over Sinn Fein just 10 months ago.
In the next Assembly the parties are now neck-and-neck. For republicans, this was an outstanding electoral result.
A year ago, Sinn Fein had the biggest percentage point drop (-2.9%) of any party; it was followed by the SDLP (-2.2%).
This election saw the SDLP’s share of the vote virtually unchanged. But Sinn Fein stormed ahead, increasing its vote share by almost 4%.
In part, that was an endorsement by Nationalists of Martin McGuinness’s final political decision before he retired – to collapse Stormont, finally getting tough with a DUP which Republican grassroots saw as swaggeringly arrogant.
But it was also a consequence of the DUP leader’s decision to make this a very tribal campaign. The DUP’s entire campaign was based around the mantra of keeping out Sinn Fein, rather than standing on its record.
That probably helped save the DUP from the full fury of an electorate angered at months of scandal. But in so doing, Mrs. Foster reinvigorated a sleeping Nationalism and drove more moderate Unionists to the cross-community Alliance Party. One veteran SDLP figure said that immediately after Mrs. Foster’s “crocodile” jibe they instantly noticed a hardening of Nationalist attitudes while canvassing, with voters going towards Sinn Fein.
Ten months’ ago, Arlene Foster took the plaudits for a stunning DUP result.
Now, for the first time in the history of Northern Ireland, Unionism will not be a majority in the Stormont chamber. As the leader of Unionism, Mrs. Foster is under enormous pressure to explain such a result.
Posted by Jim on
Belfast Telegraph. Saturday, March 4 2017
DUP party chairman Lord Morrow (left) with DUP leader Arlene
Foster at Omagh count centre as he failed to be re-elected in
Northern Ireland’s Assembly election. Brian Lawless/PA Wire
The political landscape of Fermanagh and South Tyrone has been dramatically reshaped. The DUP suffered a devastating blow with the loss of one of its longest serving representatives, Lord Morrow.
Party leader Arlene Foster now faces difficult decisions as she returns to the Assembly as a lone DUP ranger in the now Sinn Fein led constituency.
Despite topping the poll, Mrs. Foster’s votes took a slight dip from last year’s election.
Her once soft edges appeared even more hardened as she hit out at the “intimidating” atmosphere at the Omagh count center.
“We have tricolours thrust about the place, crocodiles walking about. It doesn’t surprise me – this is the sort of attitude that prevails in the west of the province to the minority unionist community in Northern Ireland.
“It’s sad to see that people talk about respect but they don’t practice it.”
Earlier in the night, things appeared to be going well for the DUP.
Mrs. Foster was giving a live TV interview when her name was called as the first elected.
But it wasn’t the party’s night and as the realization they were losing Lord Morrow set in, party supporters and members retreated back to a room which was being exclusively used by the DUP.
Mrs. Foster, who has faced major criticism over her handling of the RHI controversy, admitted that the results were “incredibly close” and that she was “devastated” to see Lord Morrow out, adding: “This is an incredibly sad day for me.”
Another casualty was the SDLP’s Richie McPhillips, who lost his seat only 10 months after he was elected and it was this loss that saw Ulster Unionist Rosemary Barton retain her seat.
Meanwhile, in the Sinn Fein camp the atmosphere was more relaxed and jovial with party members confident from the start that they would see a successful result across the constituency.
Early indications suggested the party had polled well but the three elected candidates, Michelle Gildernew, Sean Lynch and newcomer Jemma Dolan, appeared shocked they had achieved such success.
Their supporters cheered and waved an Irish flag and toy crocodile as they hugged and congratulated the newly elected candidates.
As Mr. Lynch was making his victory speech on the podium, Mrs. Foster led her loyal band of supporters out of the hall before Mr. Lynch shouted Gerry Adams’ infamous line: “See you later alligator.”
A life-size alligator then made its entrance into the hall and joined in on the Sinn Fein led celebrations which also included party deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald.
The high security at Omagh Leisure Centre was an unusual sight for an election.
It was similar to that seen at an airport with a scanner placed at the entrance and every bag carefully checked over.
While it wasn’t the DUP’s night, Mrs. Foster reiterated that they are still “the largest Unionist party” in Northern Ireland.
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John Manley. Irish News.Belfast.Saturday, March 4, 2017
SINN Féin was last night celebrating a resurgence at the polls with the party expected to close the gap to just one seat between it and the DUP.
An increase in turnout of close to 10 per cent translated into a surge in support for new northern leader Michelle O’Neill and her party. Transfers helped the SDLP salvage what initially looked like being a poor performance, with a seat for former publican Pat Catney and the likelihood of veteran John Dallat returning to Stormont leaving the party at 12 seats.
It was a different story for the DUP and Arlene Foster, however, who may face a challenge to her leadership. She lost the party’s chairman Maurice Morrow, chief whip Trevor Clarke and former minister Nelson McCausland.
In a significant blow, unionism lost its overall majority in the assembly for the first time, falling from 56 seats after last May’s election to an expected 40 this morning.
Sinn Féin saw its share of first preference votes increase 3.9 percentage points to 27.9 per cent – taking it to within less than 1,200 votes of the DUP.
With the number of seats at Stormont reduced from 108 to 90, republicans were expected to lose some MLAs and one casualty was former independent Oliver McMullan in East Antrim. But despite that loss, Sinn Féin was on course to be returned with the 27 seats it secured last May.
It was also an encouraging performance for the SDLP, which despite losing Alex Attwood in West Belfast and Richie McPhillips in Fermanagh-South Tyrone maintained its 12 seats, and superseded the UUP as Stormont’s third largest party.
Colum Eastwood’s party also saw the return of former deputy leader Dolores Kelly, who regained the Upper Bann seat she lost last year.
The DUP was on course to lose the greatest number of seats, dropping below the 30 MLAs which enables it to deploy a petition of concern. Coming in under the threshold that gives it the power veto legislation in the assembly could prove Arlene Foster’s undoing, and having oversaw the first decline in her party’s vote is likely to face a leadership challenge.
Among the notable losses for Stormont’s largest party were its chairman Maurice Morrow, who failed to get elected alongside his party leader Arlene Foster in Fermanagh-South Tyrone.
One-time Stormont culture minister Nelson McCausland failed to get re-elected in North Belfast, while former junior minister Emma Little-Pengelly was in trouble in South Belfast. Stormont’s last speaker Robin Newton, who last autumn was embroiled in the Charter NI controversy, was also struggling last night to retain his East Belfast seat.
The Ulster Unionists’ hopes that the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal would enable it to make significant inroads into the DUP’s vote proved ill-founded and cost Mike Nesbitt his leadership. Despite being reelected in Strangford, the former UTV anchorman saw fit to fall on his sword hours before counting had concluded.
Among the UUP scalps were former regional development minister Danny Kennedy in Newry and Armagh and Sandra Overend in Mid Ulster.
Alliance retained its eight MLAs in the assembly and came close to gaining a seat in South Down.
Gerry Carroll kept People Before Profit’s seat in West Belfast but his party colleague Eamonn McCann failed to get reelected in Foyle. The Greens were on course to keep the party’s two seats in North Down and South Belfast.
Whereas in the previous assembly unionist parties had an overall majority, unionist representation was last night looking like 40 out of 90 MLAs. Nationalist parties account for 39 of Stormont’s seats, while others have 11 seats.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams marked his party’s performance by saying nationalists in the north had shown that they were opposed to Brexit.
Mr. Adams said a special designation for the region was the only way to prevent a land frontier on the island.
“Whatever your position is on the constitutional issue, that the only way to stop a land frontier between a European state and the British state on this island is to make sure there is a special designated status within the European Union for this part of Ireland,” he said.
Mr. Adams said the result was a vote of confidence in his party’s position.
“It is a vote for Irish unity, a vote for us together as a people,” he said.
“As Ian Paisley famously told Martin McGuinness, we don’t need Englishmen to govern us.”
He said it was a huge vote of thanks to Martin McGuinness, whose resignation as deputy first minister in January prompted the collapse of power-sharing.
Colum Eastwood said Sinn Féin were the “net beneficiaries” of a huge nationalist turnout intent on punishing Mrs. Foster and the DUP.
“The Sinn Féin vote has gone up very highly, which is a result of the overall context of this election, which has been pitched as a battle between the DUP and Sinn Féin,” he said.
“Those of us in the middle have been clearly squeezed.”
Mr. Eastwood failed to top the poll in his Foyle constituency – cradle of the SDLP – where Sinn Fein’s Elisha McCallion romped home almost 2,000 votes over the quota.
Putting a brave face on the result, Mr. Eastwood claimed his party was not interested in topping polls but will be happy to increase its vote and retain its two seats in Derry.
The SDLP leader believes his party support will remain steady.
“Our overall vote is probably in and around where it was, it is just that Sinn Fein have been the net beneficiaries of a huge nationalist turnout to punish Arlene Foster.
“That seems very, very clear now.”
Posted by Jim on March 3, 2017
Sinn Fein has attained its highest ever share of the vote in the North
of Ireland and came within touching distance of outpolling all of the
other parties as votes were tallied today.
But the headline story of the election may be the resignation of Mike
Nesbitt, the leader of the Ulster Unionist party, who quit this evening
despite marginally increasing his party’s vote share. He stepped down
as their unionist rivals in the DUP maintained their top spot amid
public outrage over corruption and bigotry scandals.
In a news conference this evening, Mr Nesbitt said he had been
reflecting on the results and said the “buck stops here.”
For the past three months, he said, he had been criticising another
party leader for not taking responsibility. He said it would be the
“height of hypocrisy” if he did not take full responsibility for his
party’s poor election performance.
Mr Nesbitt said: “I led into this election. I was the one who argued it
should be a referendum on RHI and on ten years of the DUP and Sinn Fein
leading our Executive government.
“I am the one who suggested in a normal society people would vote on
performance and that the DUP and Sinn Fein did not earn another
mandate. And I’m the one who said this should be Northern Ireland’s
first post-sectarian election based on the economy and education,
health and housing, and that I had a different vision.”
He added: “But the electorate disagreed. They certainly did not give me
a mandate big enough for me to feel justified in continuing in this
position, so I shall not continue in this position.”
After adding the results of first preferences, the DUP won 28.9%, down
1.1% — only marginally above Sinn Fein’s historic 27.9%, an increase
of 3.9%. The UUP reached 12.9% votes, up 0.3%, while the nationalist
SDLP won 11.9% votes, down 0.1%.
As the results came in, both DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein
president called for respect for the mandates their parties had been
given by the electorate.
Arriving at the Belfast count centre, Mr Adams said: “It is a vote and
mandate that will have to be respected by the two governments [British
and Irish], by all the other parties… for an end to the old status
quo, for a new beginning as to how we do our business here.”
He also said the results were a vote of confidence in Irish unification
and his party’s position on Brexit.
Sinn Fein has called for a vote on reunification and, in the interim,
for the Six Counties of Ireland under British rule to receive a special
designated status within the EU after Britain’s exit from the bloc.
He said: “It is a vote for Irish unity, a vote for us together as a
people. As Ian Paisley famously told Martin McGuinness, we don’t need
Englishmen to govern us.”
Mr Adams also criticised the DUP’s behaviour in the last government.
“They lost the run of themselves.. They got themselves in a little
bubble. That bubble has been punctured by Martin McGuinness and by
others.”
He also suggested that the DUP nominate someone other than Ms Foster to
act as the unionist leader in the next Executive.
However, Foster was typically uncompromising. Speaking following her
election at the Omagh count centre, Ms Foster said Sinn Fein must
respect the mandate “that has been given to me”.
“I think it’s very clear that [the election] was absolutely not about
the RHI [corruption scandal], it may have been the excuse but it
certainly wasn’t the cause of the election.
“The cause of the election was Sinn Fein and republicanism wanting to
rerun [last year’s] election… they have mobilised their vote in a
very effective way.”
Ms Foster said she was pleased that the DUP vote was still the largest
party in terms of votes cast.
“It is very clear in terms of unionism that it is the DUP that speaks
for unionism.”
But there have been key setbacks for the DUP and it still remains
unclear if the party will retain the key threshold of thirty seats in
order to retain their veto over political change. In one setback, the
notoriously bigoted Nelson McCausland failed to hold his seat in north
Belfast as the constituency looked that it might return a historic
majority of three nationalist seats out of five.
Meanwhile, the vote share of the cross-community Alliance Party rose
significantly, while People before Profit, despite fielding more
candidates, saw their share fall, losing the seat of party leader,
veteran Derry socialist Eamonn McCann, after less than a year.
The SDLP’s Justin McNulty attributed the strong Sinn Fein vote to the
bigotry and sectarianism of Arlene Foster. “Her dismissive remarks had
people out in droves,” he said. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood admitted
Sinn Fein were the “net beneficiaries” of public outrage at the actions
of the Stormont government.
“The Sinn Fein vote has gone up very highly, which is a result of the
overall context of this election, which has been pitched as a battle
between the DUP and Sinn Fein,” he said. “Those of us in the middle
have been clearly squeezed.”
Another historic success for Sinn Fein announced this evening was the
success of Philip McGuigan in topping the poll in the unionist
heartland of North Antrim, synonymous with the name of unionist
firebrand Ian Paisley.
There was also a shock Sinn Fein success in South Down, a traditional
bastion of the SDLP, where the party topped the poll as the SF vote
climbed above that of the SDLP. There were also prospects of unexpected
gains in East Derry and Fermanagh-South Tyrone.
Following this election, Sinn Fein and the DUP will have three weeks to
resolve a wide gulf of differences and form a new administration.
Otherwise, the London government has threatened to reimpose full,
direct British rule.
With 53 of the 90 seats filled as the examination of the voters’ lower
order preferences continues, the current tally of the parties is:
Sinn Fein 27.9% (+3.9%) 22 seats DUP 28.1% (-1.1%) 14 seats UUP 12.9%
(+0.3%) 7 seats Alliance 9.1% (+2.1%) 5 seats SDLP 11.9% (-0.1%) 4
seats People Before Profit 1.8% (-0.2%) 1 seat TUV 2.6% (-0.9%) 0 seats
Green 2.3% (-0.4%) 0 seats
Some of the 18 constituency counts are set to extend into Saturday. An
update on the results will be included in the weekly publication of
Irish Republican News to be published tomorrow.