You occasionally hear people saying the best view of some particular town or area is through a rear-view mirror. You might be tempted to say that this election qualifies for the same judgement. Apart from the final leaders’ debate it was dull to the verge of vanishing. But from late yesterday afternoon, it’s begun to look very interesting.
Sean Coyle is still on spinning dem discs as I write, so we’ll have to wait a little longer to get the first returns. Meanwhile, a few things, I believe, can be said in advance.
- The turnout is definitely up on last time. Why is that? A ten-year-old child could tell you: it’s nationalist/republican reaction to the attitude of the DUP, most recently the attitude of its leader. The nationalist/republican electorate have been itching to say what they think of a number of recent DUP moves – the withdrawal of funding for Gaeltacht scholarships, the refusal to make any gesture related to the DUP’s RHI scheme, the contempt for the notion of an Irish Language Act – and that crocodile remark.
- As Andrée Murphy tweeted, there can be few insults that’ve been embraced so completely by the insulted. Gerry Adams started it with his relaxed “See you later, alligator!” remark at the end of the Sinn Féin launch, and from there it flared more brightly than any RHI boiler. Clips of a crocodile grabbing a keeper with ‘An attempt is made to prevent a young republican from casting her vote’ to guys dressed in crocodile suits marching into polling stations to make their mark. I suppose it’s a case of ‘Be careful what you say, you may get it in the neck.’
- Nationalist areas’ voting percentage is clearly up, that in working-class unionist areas (or some of them) are down, and middle-class areas are increased. None of these three is good news for the DUP. The first because it suggests nationalist/republican voters have been goaded into action; the second because it means the unionist working class may have had as much of the DUP as they can take (Hence Sophie Long’s marvellous comment ‘If we’d rather be robbed by a Protestant than led by a Catholic, we are in trouble’.); and the third because it may mean the unionist middle-class are turning from the DUP towards the UUP or maybe Alliance.
For some time now, Stormont has been guilty of the sin for which there is no forgiveness: it was boring. But now there’s a sense that this election may throw up new possibilities, none of which may be particularly welcome to the DUP.
And as if all that wasn’t enough, have you seen where OpenDemocracyUK has alleged that, according to the rules, the DUP should have known who were the donors of that £400,000+ which they splashed on the Brexit campaign? And worse still, there’s a suggestion that they may have to pay some or all of it back? Here’s the link:
This is one of those rainy days when being a DUPer ain’t no fun.
64.78% turnout an increase of 10% .. !! I must say I didn’t expect that. Your friend Nelson may be in trouble Jude ..?? Stock up I clean handkerchiefs
Ochone agus ochone – Tá mó chroi briste…
Some pundit on TV said that probably a few ‘heads of agreement ‘ could be cobbled together to enable SF and the DUP to get back into bed together. I think SF should think long and hard about any new arrangement and remember that you can only shout ‘Wolf’ so often. As far as many SF voters are concerned this is opening time in the Last Chance saloon. No nods and winks, no imagined concords, no treaties ripped up before the ink has dried. This is the start of the real struggle. So SF take heed.
Makes sense to me, fiosrach…
Imagine …the Rip Van Winkles have all woken up. hope it’s nothing that i said or did …Ha ha !! You are on the ball alright fiosrach.Sinn Fein would need to keep their eye on the ball from now on….and what ….?….. another potential scandal for the crocodiles to sink their teeth into.”Feed dem crocs!” , i say….throw those buggers some freah meat….rumours coming in is that The Owl of the Remove “Horatio” ,of Nelson fame sounds as if he’s struggling.. Brexit …what’s all this about Brexit?
Very much agree, but so much do the DUP reflect the worst in N. Ireland inbred Protestant sectarian hatred of anything Irish and Catholic that they are totally incapable of having a mutually respectful working relationship with anyone from that section of the population. And worse still I believe that they reflect the attitudes of the people who vote for them.
You left one out Jude. The DUP were the only major party to support Brexit.
“This is the start of the real struggle.”
I agree, if they let Arlene go back into any executive they wont get another chance.
The Stormont executive is dead and must stay dead.
Great to see turnout up to nearly 65%. Whatever way it all pans out more engagement is only a good thing.
I agree Scott but I still think more of the electorate, of all political opinions, should get out and vote. Hence why I still believe in compulsory voting, like they do in Australia where its been massively successful, getting turnout’s of 97%. Its important to remember that the combined DUP/SF vote was only 25% of the electorate last year…..they’re in power, really, thanks to non voters. But there again, maybe those voters who don’t vote would vote SF/DUP any way if they went to the booths.
Perhaps the most fascinating constituency in Norneverland for us down here in the Free Southern Stateen. Esteemed Blogmeister, is:
– Foyleside.
Especially those of us who take The Unionist Times, and not necessarily with a Pinch of Sodium Chloride neither.
Truly are we on tenderhooks, oops, tenterhooks to see whether Eam makes it back or not.
By back one means back to The Man who is Thursday slot in the Paper of Rex Accord. Since he trotted up the steps into the Big House of Stormont we Southern sheep have looked up and been – fed.
Yes, fed, but not quite in the red and ready-made way we had grown so accustomed to.
(The tender and tenter confusion, incidentally, originated with such works as ‘Love me, Tenter’ by Elvis Presley, and ‘ Tenter is the Night’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald).
When Eam took a career break from The Unionist Times to pursue a different jawpath he signed off with a profoundly felt paen to the concept of, erm, Decency. Yes, Decendy make flesh in the shape of The Salamander Man aka Arsene Wenger.
Now a salamander belongs to the newt family of reptilian creatures (whose habitat is wet, cold and dark, such as the caves of Slovenia) by a curous twist of the going rate the slot of The Man who is Thursday was seamlessly filled by (gulp) Newt Emerson.
Thus the slot in q. quickly became known in yackety hack circles as the ‘Eam and Em’ Column or, for short, M&Ms.
Funnily enough, while reading Em’s column on Thursday one happened to have an ear cocked to the broadcasting wing of TUT – RTE. Where Eam was aiming his Aden City verbals at the vegetable-green nationalists:
-The Sinn Fein electioneering machine !.
This is what could be read from Em while Red Eam was lambasting to Lambeg levels:
-Adams is a brinkmanship politician. For almost three decades he has regularly taken his peace process ball away and kicked it up in the air – sometimes with no clearer goal than to see where it lands.
This truly is an,erm, arresting passage, something which is not entirely unprecedented, come to think of it in the run-up to an election.
Thus, reminding one, as if r. was needed, that both Eam and Em are equally adept at,erm, shin-kicking. Where they might differ lies in their not belonging to the same generation: the younger Em comes across more of a (gulp) Smartie than Eam who is definitely a traditional M&M.
Nonetheless both are equally popular with the Loyal Readership on Liffeyside: it’s a Southern-Northern Yune thingy.
Southern Yunes, it must be said, have an insatiable appetite for both these ‘colourful, belly-button shaped chocolates’. Yes, indeed, ‘belly-button shaped’ for in order to fit the bill as The Man who is Thursday in The Unionist Times, one must be a naval-gazer with an ability to whistle ‘Chitannia rules the air waves’ in the quay of E.
Both Thursdays are in tune with the long-standing slogan:
-We melt in your mouths but not in your Red Hands’.
In the good old US of A red candies were eliminated in 1976 because of health concerns over the dye amaranth which was a suspected carcinogen and were replaced with (gasp) orange-coloured candies. This was done despite the fact that M&Ms did not contain the dye: the action was purely to sastify worried consumers.
People before Profit, one might say.
Red candies were reintroduced ten years later, but they also kept (gulp) the orange coloured M&Ms.
So, in the highly unlikely event of Eam’s being rejected by the Thicks who tick the wrong ballot box a collateral dilemma will be posed to The Unionist Times:
-Should Em go or should Em stay?
Happily, the ever-obliging post-tribal Perkin has a ready made power-sharing solution to this putative High Noon at Hadleyville problem:
-Let there be a Man who is Thursday AM and a Man who is Thursdy PM.
Thus, two shifty guys, two AM&PMs.
In this way , we Southern Yunes can have our chocolate Fake Cake and eat it too.
Looks like the SDLP may be devoid of any MLA’s in West Belfast Jude, their supporters in the UDA wont be happy…..PBP is also taking a hit, as I long expected they would. Sinn Fein is polling far ahead, according to sources, all thanks to Arlene’s sneering and arrogance!
wonder will some on here call for a rerun of the election when the results come in.
…There might be a re-run in a few weeks , billy
make no difference to me..just wondering if the so called democrats who wanted brexit n trump rerun will call for one thats all.
I see that the High Court has ruled in favour of Conradh na Gaeilge. Executive now has legal obligation to enact Acht na Gaeilge …… If there is ever an executive again.
Fiosrach I feel that if/when an Irish Language Act is implemented, it will be through Direct Rule. Sinn Fein want to have talks with the British Government, not the DUP, hence the collapse of Stormont.
I agree with Chris Donnelly when he said, I cant quote exactly, : “In the future the Unionist parties will be backing the Irish Language and Irish Culture”. Why? because they wont have a chance of being the biggest party without Nationalist votes. At the minute they, especially the DUP, play the tribal, sectarian card but that wont work for long and will be gravely counter productive in the future for Unionism.
At the Election last year some Unionists on twitter mocked the low nationalist turnout and some even behaved as if thousands of nationalist voters didn’t exist anymore, as if they vanished into mid air. They wont be so joyful this time, that’s for sure because its obvious more nationalists have got off their backsides and got to the polling booths. It shows what can be done when we get the electorate out.
Ryan, put not your faith in a British Tory government.
Just reported that DUP got the highest number of first preference votes.
How can so many people vote for the continuance of corruption (alleged)?
Interesting by Sir J Donaldson – was SF’s increased mandate to work Stormont or to pull the plug on it permanently?
undoubtedly it was to the pull the plug fiosrach or at the very least change it dramatically.
For a place that was artificially created with the sole purpose of ensuring a Unionist majority, it would appear that majority has finally gone. And it ain’t coming back.
It is squeaky bum time for Unionism. It is not quite the absolute perfect storm of destruction for the DUP and Unionism but it is pretty damn close to it.
East Derry is still a nail biter and if the DUP do not win 2 seats there we could be in for very interesting times indeed.
I think it is looking like DUP 29; SF 28; UUP 10; SDLP 9; ALL 9; GR 2; PBP 1; TUV 1 with 1 outstanding in Down South(google sheet). The absolute worst case for the DUP was 25 and if they don’t hold on in E Derry then how do we decide FM? A coin toss?
But wow is SF vote up a lot, DUP has a real stronghold in Strangford, and their vote is up in Mid Ulster, Newry and Armagh but remained the same even in increased turnout in several other constituencies. Arlene Foster’s personal vote was down 400 on an increased turnout of 5k.
Incredible that more people voted for DUP this time than last time.
Mad.
It certainly says a lot about a certain portion of the electorate. If the sheer incompetence/corruption of RHI doesn’t put DUP voters off, one wonders what would? Mad indeed.
“It certainly says a lot about a certain portion of the electorate. If the sheer incompetence/corruption of RHI doesn’t put DUP voters off, one wonders what would? Mad indeed.”
Yep, and almost as many vote for a party that justifies and glorifies terrorism.
Depressing for those of us who want partnership and progress.
Terrorism should never be justified nor glorified, MT, but fighting to regain control of one’s country is different. View all the European countries who fought to rid their countries of the Nazis in 1940.
“Terrorism should never be justified nor glorified, MT”
I’m glad you’ve changed your position.
I take it tfiosrach, that your iterpretation of what “terrorism” actually is may not be the same definition right across the board?
Using terrorisation tactics to impose undemocratic or unjustified political control over a people against their wishes and aspirations and against their best interests for selfish reasons.
How does that sound?
As I said before,Harry. The IRA never terrorised me but the forces of the British crown did. So define terrorism as it suits and happens in practice.
Exactly , fiosrach..one man’s terrorism and all that…
And to think we were in agreement for one fleeting moment 🙂
I think the further we get away from the IRA ceasefire, the more hollow this rhetoric seems. Like it or not, there now exist a generation of voters for whom Republican violence only exists in history books. This portion of the electorate will only grow.
Meanwhile on top of the incompetence/corruption the DUP justify, glorify and indeed subsidise terrorism. The UDA haven’t gone away you know.
Glad to hear you want partnership and progress though. That would appear now to be the majority position in Stormont.
“I think the further we get away from the IRA ceasefire, the more hollow this rhetoric seems. Like it or not, there now exist a generation of voters for whom Republican violence only exists in history books. This portion of the electorate will only grow.”
The problem is the party they vote for continues to glorify it and seek to legitimise it, so it remains an issue.
“Meanwhile on top of the incompetence/corruption the DUP justify, glorify and indeed subsidise terrorism. The UDA haven’t gone away you know.”
Indeed. Not sure they justify or glorify it but certainly seem cosy with UDA.
“Yep, and almost as many vote for a party that justifies and glorifies terrorism”
Unionism as usual has learned nothing I see MT
MT, you don’t want partnership, you don’t want progress.
Arlene Foster refuses BBC interview. Sour grapes
Trump refused to speak to the BBC last week.
Arlene wins her seat and then refuses to speak to the BBC.
It must all be the fault of the BBC – and Putin, of course, he hacked Arlene’s account!
Maybe the BBC are “crocodiles” too? Now there’s a thought…..
The DUP got the highest first preference vote but only by 1200 votes ahead of SF.
SF
18
DUP
12
AP
4
SDLP
3
UUP
3
I/O
http://ulsterherald.com/2017/03/03/podcast-anger-special-room-dup-leader/
Well the people have spoken……( and the unionist community have demonstrated they are a bitter and bigoted lot and certainly do not want equality and fairness for all)……the bxxxxxxs.
Mike Nesbitt has resigned as UUP leader
Bye bye Nelson
Broadly speaking first pref vote totals have N up 70k, U up 27k and OTH up 12k.
That my friends is the tide lapping the feet of the Unionist Canutes.
Northern Ireland voted to Remain and like Scotland deserves a referendum to decide its future. Shall it be UI/EU or UK/Brexit? The people have a democratic right to decide.
Once in the booth how will those 14% OTH decide to vote UI/EU or UK/Brexit? And the 13% UUP vote? Are they ALL Brexit?
The north is finished, time to win the border poll.
UUP in total disarray. Mike TV stepping down even before final counts are in, and Harold McKee blaming Mike for losing him his seat in South Down. Not a good look.
Jim ‘The People’s Bigot’ Allister apoplectic, and suggesting that without a Unionist majority, devolved power should cease to exist. Ulster Unionism shows its true face.
Foster refusing to speak to the BBC. Classy.
Unionism is only heading in one direction I’m afraid, lads.
‘…with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.’
UUP are up 16k votes, granted DUP are up 22k votes. UUP down 6 and DUP down 8, 9 or 10?
Nesbitt goes and Foster remains. For now 😀
If Mrs. Foster doesn’t resign or isn’t challenged, the Union is finished – although I already think it’s finished, but you know what I mean.
Cue, erstwhile Unionist politicians and commentators who have previously been singing the the strengths of the Union questioning the possibility that things might not just be quite as rose red white and violet blue as they thought, when it’s been as plain as the Spire on O’Connell Street that’s it’s been dying a slow death for the past 20 years.
The union is finished regardless, you will be lucky if you get another 5 years.
Mrs. Foster and the DUP still don’t even realise that they slashed about 15 years off the timetable, although it was brexit and their support of it which did the real damage.
“The union is finished regardless”
I’ve been saying that for quite some time.
“I’ve been saying that for quite some time.”
Theresa May is hastening its demise in Scotland I see also.
It wont be too long before unionism starts promoting for a united Ireland back within the UK
“It wont be too long before unionism starts promoting for a united Ireland back within the UK”
I wouldn’t be too optimistic about that. But even if they did, it would be too little too late. They should have been building friendships with Fine Gael over the last 20 years. As it is, Unionism will soon be a minority in NI, never mind the RoI.
I would actually be quite confident about that Peter.
Look at the change brexit has made already, imagine the change yet to come after article 50 is triggered and Scotland and Ireland will both want a referendum on leaving the UK, and Dublin will not keep neutral once the race starts don’t forget.
There will be an election in the south as early as May and unless Sinn Fein screw things up they will be in government in Dublin this year.
Unionism still has not thought it through what is yet to come over brexit.
The biggest change will come after article 50 is triggered.
But how does any of that suggest a United Ireland in a UK?
A United Ireland and an Independent Scotland, certainly, but a stronger UK? Hardly.
“Unionism still has not thought it through what is yet to come over brevet.”
Unionism hasn’t thought anything through. No strategy except: Our Wee Country – which might make for a half reasonable football chant, but not much else.
The UK is not going to get stronger, it will more than likely become a federal union of equal partners and if any sense each member state should be allowed to hold another referendum on EU membership. As a single voice the UK is already damaged beyond repair.
Autonomy could be retained in each member state and the bank of england downgraded with sterling being shared over the members based on contribution of wealth.
The Tories in England are behaving jus like unionists do here.
Just as a unionist dominated north is finished, an england dominated UK is also finished in my opinion which does open the door to Ireland rejoining, however Mrs May has made that undesirable for the people of Ireland north and south and support for Ireland being united within the EU has never been stronger and likely this view will grow.
As it becomes apparent that this is the direction we are heading, and most nationalists still do not want Stormont back for the reason we have had enough of watching the DUP and UUP behave like it is a unionist dominion with Sinn Fein only there for ballast and not an actual partnership in government.
RJC
“Unionism is only heading in one direction I’m afraid, lads.”
Unionism has been rearranging chairs on the Titanic for years, and while the water has been lapping round their feet, and the band has been playing, ‘It’s Not Really All That Far to Tipperary’, they’ve all been shouting, “No Surrender! Iceberg? What Iceberg?”
Peter, have you ever considered that the decline of unionism in Ireland may actually lead to something better?
Well, yes, I have…
There’s always a United Ireland in a United Kingdom, but given that Unionists politicians can’t see beyond the border, there’s little hope of that either.
It’s over, Jessica. Unionists have weakened their own nation, more so than the IRA could ever have done.
Some are so short-sighted that calling for a redrawn border and calling it a victory isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
Remember ‘No Surrender’ doesn’t mean ‘victory’, it just means ‘No’ – even if you’re chopping off your toes.
Not at the moment Peter.
The people of england have not yet felt the hurt in their pockets if brexit results in a trade war the EU.
If that happens things could change very quickly and the veto on truth of brtish state actions here could be thrown wide open by a more progressive leader.
That would open the way totally for an all Ireland within a new union with britain.
It wont happen while britain deny and cover up whet they did here, but if that changed there would be a lot of positives I could see in that.
I said before PF, that when it comes down to seeds and stems, hardcore unionism ….and I mean the DUP voters who will vote simply tribally without thinking things through ,or even those that do not vote at al, will resort to some kind of violent action if there is political failure and are steered in that direction, will want to retreat into an even smaller redoubt, should it be unsustainable or not. It’s not a sensible thing and it is not thought out in detail ,but it is visceral ….much like Nelson McCausland’s silly outburst about not caring about jobs as long as he got Brexit.(I wonder had that any relevance to his political demise?)
That same mindset which does not allow any thought beyond what is known is still very evident. Allthough there is much talk about what republicans did twenty years ago , these men will do the very same thing without any irony.It has also been pointed out that they had no problem with violent action in the past, just as long as it was neatly dressed up in a specific uniform or sanctioned by the state.If push comes to shove , they’ll be prepared to push against that state too.
There also appear to be no visionaries who might even conceive that there might be a bigger and better way to proceed which would benefit everyone …ie current unionists , current nationalists and even those living in the UK. That bigger picture would be a new unionism of Ireland …a united Ireland with that bigger footprint seems to fill the bill and would certainly take the whole idea of violence out of the equation. It would at least be a political stance. they might conceive of uniting Ireland within the uK, for example and their unionism might be expressed like that.it’s not something i would agree with but it would be a possibility.Of course they have not developed any kind of vision at all and as can be clearly seen, nationalism has become more politically assertive and energised.The DUP are doing nothing but making unionism unsustainable in the modern world. The modern world has literally become too complicated for them.
What’s that final quotation from, RJC?
Jude that would be a phrase from Mr Gonzo humself, Hunter S.Thompson from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”….It’s time to re-read that sometime methinks , given the many years passed since my psychedelic years….”
“History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of “history” it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time—and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
…….So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
Lord Morrow 300 votes short of a seat.
Bye bye Maurice and Nelson.
Nelson gone. ‘Lord’ Morrow gone. Oof. That’s gotta hurt, particularly with Morrow as Foster’s running mate in FST. Arlene close to tears in her press conference. You’ld almost feel sorry for her if she weren’t such a ****************. I guess Nelson can always return to his homeland of Israel and introduce the locals to the delights of the Ulster-Scots ‘language’.
Or maybe he’ll be employed employed as a highly-paid SPAD in some future cozy office ! They’ll probably give him a knighthood or make him a member of the MIckey Mouse fan club in any case.
RJC – don’t call people names. Stick to opinion/obsevation…
From a Unionist point of view there is little to say, except, perhaps, that (and I speak generally) our pride still blinds us.
Perhaps the DUP need a new slogan: ‘Never, Never, Never mind’.
‘From a Unionist point of view there is little to say, except, perhaps, that (and I speak generally) our pride still blinds us.’
Do you mind me asking what you mean by this? I’ve read recently about feelings of Northern Ireland being a ‘homeland’ of sorts for Protestant/Unionist folk. Is it pride in NI itself and your place within it or something else? Not looking for a tit for tat argument, just genuinely interested.
RJC
Some people, sadly, still think ‘They are the People’ – they’re not, and that should never have been the attitude.
One of the wonderful things about being a Protestant/Unionist is that there’s a die-hard, no-one-likes-us-we-don’t-care mentality about us; and in many ways that’s good. It gets things done, it weathers the storm, it sticks to it’s principles and it is loyal to a fault.
But, it is also an Achilles’ heel, and sometimes a bit of humility doesn’t go amiss.
I’m not from here, but live within a farming community in a rural Protestant heartland. I certainly appreciate that notion of getting things done etc and could never fault my friends and neighbours for the welcome and help they’ve given my family and I. I’ve just never felt comfortable discussing politics or the constitutional question, so have some gaps in my understanding.
My feeling is that the OO/RBP influence probably feeds that WATP mindset a little too much, to the detriment of Unionism as a whole. Supremacism seems too embedded within the psyche of many within the Protestant/Unionist community which is never pleasant. Tonight may well prove to be a wake up call, although I suspect that Unionist intransigence will ultimately prove to be its undoing.
You seem to understand things better than you think RJC.
50 years of sectarian bigotry discrimination gerrymandering and contempt for the Catholic minority, by successive Unionist governments backed up by brutal suppression of any protest by the RUC led directly to “the troubles” in N. Ireland. Yet they have never admitted that they have done anything wrong let alone apologise to the Catholic people ..!!
And yet they still refer to us as the terrorists who glorify violence while they impose their unrelenting poppy fascism year after year.
Only just found out about your old pal Nelson, Jude. Well well how things change. The crocodiles have bitten back indeed!
I have written about my feelings of devastation in Saturday’s blog, M M….
The DUP need to replace Arlene with Gregory Campbell
Trevor Clarke DUP whip has lost his seat
If I were Gerry Adams I would be sending Arlene the biggest bunch of flowers to congratulate her on her superb contribution to the Nationalist cause. She has given Sinn Fein a whopping increase in their over-all vote and incentivised Nationalists to get to the polling stations . The sneering , the arrogance and the corruption have worked wonders for SF in the electorate . Oh and along with those flowers I would include a cd of the ‘crocodile rock’ .
E McCann loses his seat in Foyle
Edwin Poots appears utterly unhinged. He looks either to have been drinking or in the grip of some form of psychosis. He seems genuinely damaged.
He was livid wasn’t he?
Unionism have always had a greater advantage over transfers and UUP transferring to SDLP has cost them at least 1 seat and reduced the advantage this give them.
If Fianna Fail move north and start contesting elections here as they keep promising to, the nationalist vote will be further enhanced through additional transfers while unionism will continue to contract. This is the perfect opportunity for both southern parties to come forward and stand in elections in the north. If they genuinely want unity which I believe brexit has made them more interested in, they must do this.
Mike Nesbitt has made this happen sooner than would have happened naturally but we would have got to this point anyway.
By 2021 there will be a clear nationalist electoral majority if not sooner.
Caoimhe Archibald (SF) elected in East Derry
Pengelly DUP concedes defeat in South Belfast
suppose the only really interesting political question now is will the reunification referendum be held before or after Brexit?
I guess it would have to happen before to avoid a hard customs border.
It would make sense for it to coincide with the next Scottish referendum which will also be over brexit.
It will be interesting to watch Unionism as it wakes up the morning after this bonfire which seems to have been built too close to Stormont.
And it will be be even more interesting to see who our ‘leaders’ blame.
I see the Lisburn Press Center Stenographer is already wrapping a security blanket around Unionism with the message – nothing to see here, nothing has changed, the union is still safe as houses.
It is over, the starting shot in the short distance race to re-unification has bee fired and when May triggers A50 in a few weeks the Union will have been mortally wounded.
🙂
It won’t be as simple as you think gendjinn
you haven’t thought it through
You also may not be very pleased about where we have to go from here
It seems the media starting with the BBC are getting the blame from the DUP.