24 May 2001 Edition
On the trail in West Tyrone
BY MICK DERRIG
Last Saturday, I spent half a day on the canvass in West Tyrone with Pat Doherty. This was the second canvass of an area that hadn't been traditional Sinn Féin territory in the past, I was informed by Sinn Féin's director of elections in Omagh, Marty McColgan.
When we got to the Bracken area of Omagh I could see why. It was a scene out of a lifestyle supplement, leafy, comfortable semis and roomy detached houses. The cars were new. At one house, a venerable head teacher chatted to Pat. Bracken was - I was told - historically part of the SDLP's core vote in the area - I believed my guide.
The canvass team was a mix of local activists and comrades from out of town. I accompanied Pat Doherty and Pat Fahey around the doors of this comfortable area for several hours.
This was typical suburban doorstep canvassing. So far so predictable.
My predictive facilities for this canvass lasted precisely one ring of a doorbell. A 55-year-old local government officer greeted the two Pats with a smile that went beyond politeness. ``You're the party of the future,'' he said. ``When Gerry Adams speaks he has the wider picture.''
At this point neither Pat had managed to utter no more than a ``Good afternoon'' before proffering the Sinn Féin flier.
Next was the lady in the Merc. As the two Pats headed off I chatted with her about the candidate I was tailing for the afternoon. ``He's a very capable man and I think he will be elected here,'' she said. She has been 31 years a teacher and knew the patch as well as any campaign worker.
She wasn't being polite - he knows several generations who will vote for Pat Doherty on polling day. She has taught them all.
I galloped to catch up with the two Pats as they got to the door of what turned out to be a Further Education teacher in his 30s. He had a young child running around his legs and he again said he would be voting Sinn Féin. He wouldn't say if it was the first time he had voted for Sinn Féin. He smiled and admitted that he came from a ``solid SDLP background''.
The next door was a middle aged woman who knew Pat Fahey personally. In time honoured traditions of Irish politics, the ``house'' would be voting for Mr. Doherty. So far it could have been an election canvass anywhere in any democratic country. But the Six Counties is different - and it certainly isn't a country!
Pat told me of the harassment that he and Martin McGuinness had received from the British Army the previous Tuesday in Omagh while out campaigning. A British foot patrol had stopped the Sinn Féin two-car convoy on the Derry Road in Omagh. They ludicrously asked for ID. Pat handed over a flier!
With the man's picture on every lamp post in the town, the squaddie was forced to accept that the man handing him the flier was Pat Doherty.
He then asked Martin McGuinness who he was (honest - this really happened).
At this point, the Minister for Education decided to get a wee bit thick... The Honourable member for Mid Ulster asked the Brit who HE was.
The Brit didn't comply and had his jacket ripped open by the Minister so he could read those silly name-tags they have sewn on.
One of this rocket scientist's colleagues then asked Pat: ``What is your policy then?''
``Brits out,'' the Education minister flashed back, ending the encounter.
Bizarre, hilarious and a little frightening, certainly for the photographer from Edinburgh who had an SA80 absentedmindedly pointed at him throughout. But even on this beautiful day in a leafy avenue, the vignette was a reminder that this isn't a normal society.
For that reason, people who were quite happy to chat about their reasons for voting Sinn Féin and why they thought Pat Doherty the best candidate on offer did not want their names used.
The next man up was the only openly hostile voter of the day. He was cutting the grass and angrily revved up his mower as we went next door. We wouldn't have been worse received had we been wearing Jehovah's Witnesses T-shirts going up to a house of the local humanist society secretary after said secretary had fallen out with the missus.
The next door - despite the din - was answered by a middle aged man who had recently moved into Omagh town from an outlying parish. He was an accomplished traditional musician and knew both Pats well. He would, ``of course'', be voting Sinn Féin. He was a senior sales executive. Again, in the class stereotypes of Northern nationalism, this guy should be a banker vote for Brid Rogers - but he's voting Sinn Féin.
He wanted to know about where his polling station would be. This minor, but important detail would be dealt with.
Sinn Féin has 20 campaign teams out in the West Tyrone constituency as you read this. This is because the local government elections take place the same day as the Westminster election.
As we dandered to the next street to start again, Pat Doc rhymed off electoral stats to me like an anorak who had found a new victim.
Except this is no train spotter. He made it simple for Derrig.
In the 37 electoral areas of West Tyrone, there is:
A core vote of 15,500 unionists.
A solid vote of 14,000 for Sinn Féin.
A hard-core SDLP vote of 14,000.
That left a ``floating'' nationalist vote of 8,000.
That - in essence - was what this canvass was about.
The Bracken/Clontarf area that we canvassed on Saturday 19 May was a mixture of floating and hard-core SDLP. This was the sort of area that should be safe territory for Brid Rodgers. It clearly isn't.
Pat is confident that half of those 8,000 floating nationalist votes are already with Sinn Féin for the same reasons Martin McGuinness won in Mid-Ulster. He is the only credible nationalist candidate who can defeat the sitting Unionist MP in a nationalist constituency.
Derrig has a few golden rules for existence and here's one of them.
There are three constants in life.
Death.
Taxes.
A defecting middle class at the polls if they perceive it to be in their best interests.
The nationalist middle class of West Tyrone are deserting the SDLP.
This is an election tale of two demographics - the growing number of nationalists in West Tyrone and the increasing number of Sinn Féin votes within that burgeoning nationalist community. Many of those new Sinn Féin votes are first-time voters. As is increasingly the case in the 26 Counties, Sinn Féin in West Tyrone is the party of choice for the young.
That snapshot of middle class nationalist opinion in leafy Bracken has further convinced me that things are going our way in West Tyrone.
Last Saturday, I spent half a day on the canvass in West Tyrone with Pat Doherty. This was the second canvass of an area that hadn't been traditional Sinn Féin territory in the past, I was informed by Sinn Féin's director of elections in Omagh, Marty McColgan.
When we got to the Bracken area of Omagh I could see why. It was a scene out of a lifestyle supplement, leafy, comfortable semis and roomy detached houses. The cars were new. At one house, a venerable head teacher chatted to Pat. Bracken was - I was told - historically part of the SDLP's core vote in the area - I believed my guide.
The canvass team was a mix of local activists and comrades from out of town. I accompanied Pat Doherty and Pat Fahey around the doors of this comfortable area for several hours.
This was typical suburban doorstep canvassing. So far so predictable.
My predictive facilities for this canvass lasted precisely one ring of a doorbell. A 55-year-old local government officer greeted the two Pats with a smile that went beyond politeness. ``You're the party of the future,'' he said. ``When Gerry Adams speaks he has the wider picture.''
At this point neither Pat had managed to utter no more than a ``Good afternoon'' before proffering the Sinn Féin flier.
Next was the lady in the Merc. As the two Pats headed off I chatted with her about the candidate I was tailing for the afternoon. ``He's a very capable man and I think he will be elected here,'' she said. She has been 31 years a teacher and knew the patch as well as any campaign worker.
She wasn't being polite - he knows several generations who will vote for Pat Doherty on polling day. She has taught them all.
I galloped to catch up with the two Pats as they got to the door of what turned out to be a Further Education teacher in his 30s. He had a young child running around his legs and he again said he would be voting Sinn Féin. He wouldn't say if it was the first time he had voted for Sinn Féin. He smiled and admitted that he came from a ``solid SDLP background''.
The next door was a middle aged woman who knew Pat Fahey personally. In time honoured traditions of Irish politics, the ``house'' would be voting for Mr. Doherty. So far it could have been an election canvass anywhere in any democratic country. But the Six Counties is different - and it certainly isn't a country!
Pat told me of the harassment that he and Martin McGuinness had received from the British Army the previous Tuesday in Omagh while out campaigning. A British foot patrol had stopped the Sinn Féin two-car convoy on the Derry Road in Omagh. They ludicrously asked for ID. Pat handed over a flier!
With the man's picture on every lamp post in the town, the squaddie was forced to accept that the man handing him the flier was Pat Doherty.
He then asked Martin McGuinness who he was (honest - this really happened).
At this point, the Minister for Education decided to get a wee bit thick... The Honourable member for Mid Ulster asked the Brit who HE was.
The Brit didn't comply and had his jacket ripped open by the Minister so he could read those silly name-tags they have sewn on.
One of this rocket scientist's colleagues then asked Pat: ``What is your policy then?''
``Brits out,'' the Education minister flashed back, ending the encounter.
Bizarre, hilarious and a little frightening, certainly for the photographer from Edinburgh who had an SA80 absentedmindedly pointed at him throughout. But even on this beautiful day in a leafy avenue, the vignette was a reminder that this isn't a normal society.
For that reason, people who were quite happy to chat about their reasons for voting Sinn Féin and why they thought Pat Doherty the best candidate on offer did not want their names used.
The next man up was the only openly hostile voter of the day. He was cutting the grass and angrily revved up his mower as we went next door. We wouldn't have been worse received had we been wearing Jehovah's Witnesses T-shirts going up to a house of the local humanist society secretary after said secretary had fallen out with the missus.
The next door - despite the din - was answered by a middle aged man who had recently moved into Omagh town from an outlying parish. He was an accomplished traditional musician and knew both Pats well. He would, ``of course'', be voting Sinn Féin. He was a senior sales executive. Again, in the class stereotypes of Northern nationalism, this guy should be a banker vote for Brid Rogers - but he's voting Sinn Féin.
He wanted to know about where his polling station would be. This minor, but important detail would be dealt with.
Sinn Féin has 20 campaign teams out in the West Tyrone constituency as you read this. This is because the local government elections take place the same day as the Westminster election.
As we dandered to the next street to start again, Pat Doc rhymed off electoral stats to me like an anorak who had found a new victim.
Except this is no train spotter. He made it simple for Derrig.
In the 37 electoral areas of West Tyrone, there is:
A core vote of 15,500 unionists.
A solid vote of 14,000 for Sinn Féin.
A hard-core SDLP vote of 14,000.
That left a ``floating'' nationalist vote of 8,000.
That - in essence - was what this canvass was about.
The Bracken/Clontarf area that we canvassed on Saturday 19 May was a mixture of floating and hard-core SDLP. This was the sort of area that should be safe territory for Brid Rodgers. It clearly isn't.
Pat is confident that half of those 8,000 floating nationalist votes are already with Sinn Féin for the same reasons Martin McGuinness won in Mid-Ulster. He is the only credible nationalist candidate who can defeat the sitting Unionist MP in a nationalist constituency.
Derrig has a few golden rules for existence and here's one of them.
There are three constants in life.
Death.
Taxes.
A defecting middle class at the polls if they perceive it to be in their best interests.
The nationalist middle class of West Tyrone are deserting the SDLP.
This is an election tale of two demographics - the growing number of nationalists in West Tyrone and the increasing number of Sinn Féin votes within that burgeoning nationalist community. Many of those new Sinn Féin votes are first-time voters. As is increasingly the case in the 26 Counties, Sinn Féin in West Tyrone is the party of choice for the young.
That snapshot of middle class nationalist opinion in leafy Bracken has further convinced me that things are going our way in West Tyrone.