ASSEMBLY ELECTION | PAVING THE WAY FOR GREATER PROGRESS

Historic breakthroughs and a unionist leader shooting from the lip

BY PEADAR WHELAN

Breakthrough: Sinn Féin MLA Oliver McMullan

BY PEADAR WHELAN

THE West Belfast count was being held in the once-prestigious King’s Hall. Proceedings were dragging on and on and it was to be a feature of the electoral post-mortems that politician after politician would criticise the Chief Electoral Officer, Graham Shields, for the shambles.
As for the motley crew of Sinn Féin activists hanging around the by now sparsely populated press gallery, the few news crews and journos, the interminable process was becoming way too much.
Most of the photographers had been reassigned. The lucky ones were sent off to cover the cricket - at least they got something to photograph!
Then it happened.
Somewhere between the seventh and eighth counts and the distribution of DUP candidate Brian Kingston’s votes, Ulster Unionist Party leader Tom Elliott appeared on live TV and told the world that as far as he is concerned Sinn Féin are “scum”.
Talk about putting your foot in it. Even the media people were aghast.
The fact that the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party could let the mask slip in such a manner should tell anyone that he clearly is a man under pressure and lacking in judgment.
And with some pundits mulling over the wording of the UUP’s obituary, it seems that the party that once ruled the North as a one-party state unquestioningly has unearthed a leader who is willing to lead them into oblivion.
At another level, the UUP’s losses are the Alliance Party’s gain. Alliance went into the election with five seats and came out of it with eight, and it is this writer’s view that Ulster Unionists opted for the ‘soft unionist’ party, which Alliance clearly is.
When the excitement over Elliott’s outburst fizzled out, the news came through that the announcement was to be made that the remaining West Belfast seats would be filled by Sinn Féin’s Pat Sheehan and Sue Ramsey.
So going into the election with five and retaining those seats gave the party workers the chance to cheer and back slap.
“We were told we couldn’t win them last time and they told us we couldn’t hold on to them but we did,” said Pat Sheehan.
An emotional Sheehan, himself a former H-Blocks Hunger Striker, used his acceptance speech to remind people that election day was the 30th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Bobby Sands. He remembered those dark days while addressing the mostly Sinn Féin supporters who stayed for the declarations and paid tribute to the many ex-POWs in the crowd and their families whose support for the prison struggle gave strength to the prisoners.
To a large extent, it is still those people who are the backbone of the struggle.
Republicans have come a long way since Bobby Sands was selected to contest the Fermanagh/South Tyrone by-election in 1981.
It is clear that nationalist voters accept that Sinn Féin is in the box seat and they are willing to take their political cues from the republican party.
Across the constituencies, Sinn Féin, in most instances, out-polled the SDLP and with that party slumping to 14% of the poll compared to 28% for Sinn Féin, it is becoming obvious that its ‘unionist lite’ politics and ‘unionist lite’ leader are losing touch with the mood for progress that infuses nationalist thinking.
Already, hours after the results rolled in and An Phoblacht goes to press, there is talk among SDLP grassroots that Ritchie’s leadership was a liability on the doorsteps.
So what of Sinn Féin itself?
West of the River Bann in the constituencies of West Tyrone, Fermanagh/South Tyrone and Mid-Ulster and Foyle, the party is continuing to increase and attract the allegiance of the nationalist and republican electorate.
The party reclaimed the seat in Fermanagh it lost when Gerry McHugh, who was elected on a Sinn Féin ticket last time out, left. Phil Flanagan took the extra seat. SDLP stalwart Tommy Gallagher lost out.
The Martin McGuinness-led charge in Mid-Ulster saw Sinn Féin take 49% of the votes and three seats. With a little bit of tweaking, the fourth seat should be there for the taking next time out.
In the SDLP’s Foyle citadel, Sinn Féin candidates are within a couple of percentage points of the SDLP. The elusive breakthrough eludes the party for now but is within sight.
The breakthrough that we should not overlook is that of Oliver McMullan in East Antrim. Boundary changes brought large swathes of his former North Antrim constituency into East Antrim and opened up the opportunity for Sinn Féin.
A staunchly unionist constituency that includes the town of Larne where, not so very long ago, pubs displayed signs saying “No Dogs and No Taigs” means that McMullan’s election will see a republican with a long record of constituency work ruffle a few unionist feathers.
As the first republican to be elected to East Antrim, some commentators have described McMullan’s victory as historic.
And it is. Not so very long ago, Sinn Féin canvassers had to canvass certain areas in large groups. ‘Safety in numbers’ was the watchword.
Now the party is confident that we can stand in any constituency and canvass for votes in most places.
So when we win a seat on the Shankill Road then we can really talk about history being made, but it is people like Oliver McMullan who have paved the way.