10 April 1997 Edition
Full house in Newry
Brian Campbell was in Newry when Gerry Adams and Pat McNamee went canvassing
There was rare excitement on bingo night in the old Frontier cinema in Newry on Tuesday. ``Oh, Jesus, look who it is,'' was the first reaction to the entrance of Gerry Adams, who was canvassing with Pat McNamee.
He was greeted with applause from the crowd of 300, mainly pensioners, and then a flurry of bingo books engulfed him. He signed them all and no doubt someone thanked his luck later as they tucked the snowball into their purse. Electioneering is in full swing in Newry.
Earlier in the evening the Sinn Féin candidates and their canvassers had been warmly received in the working class Barcroft estate and among the large houses of Highfields on the Dublin Road.
There are no areas in the town where Sinn Féin won't canvass, says Pat McNamee. Sinn Féin was the second largest party behind Seamus Mallon's SDLP in last May's elections with their highest ever vote in the constituency.
``Many of the issues are the same in this election,'' says McNamee, ``with the stalled peace process top of the agenda. There is a real mood for change.''
McNamee, a 40 year-old native of Crossmaglen and ex-POW who now works as an estate agent in Newry, is critical of Mallon's approach to the peace process. ``He has been a source of criticism right from the beginning of the Hume-Adams dialogue,'' he says.
Last May's election badly rocked the SDLP in Newry/Armagh and there are signs that they are putting many more resources into this election than last May when in-fighting and demoralisation forced them to mount a very limited campaign. Three weeks ago glossy leaflets were distributed throughtout the constituency, though so far only to a small number of voters. The SDLP is carefully targeting its vote. For example, they have had no presence in working-class areas. Instead, they are aiming their message at middle-class voters, particularly in the many new private housing estates which have sprung up in the last few years.
Seamus Mallon has concentrated on his Armagh heartland with the meaningless slogan, ``What you see is what you get'' and the message that if nationalists do not vote for him, a Unionist will win. It is a clear sign of SDLP unease at the increase in the Sinn Féin vote.
Sinn Féin, for their part, have produced a 12-page newspaper which they hope to deliver to most households in the constituency. Their canvass teams are already knocking on doors and publicity material on every issue from health cuts to the Irish language is being constantly produced. McNamee says that one of the benefits of last May's election was that it created a constituency solidarity. ``I saw our election machine in action last May,'' he says, ``and if we can replay that, I'll be confident.
There was rare excitement on bingo night in the old Frontier cinema in Newry on Tuesday. ``Oh, Jesus, look who it is,'' was the first reaction to the entrance of Gerry Adams, who was canvassing with Pat McNamee.
He was greeted with applause from the crowd of 300, mainly pensioners, and then a flurry of bingo books engulfed him. He signed them all and no doubt someone thanked his luck later as they tucked the snowball into their purse. Electioneering is in full swing in Newry.
Earlier in the evening the Sinn Féin candidates and their canvassers had been warmly received in the working class Barcroft estate and among the large houses of Highfields on the Dublin Road.
There are no areas in the town where Sinn Féin won't canvass, says Pat McNamee. Sinn Féin was the second largest party behind Seamus Mallon's SDLP in last May's elections with their highest ever vote in the constituency.
``Many of the issues are the same in this election,'' says McNamee, ``with the stalled peace process top of the agenda. There is a real mood for change.''
McNamee, a 40 year-old native of Crossmaglen and ex-POW who now works as an estate agent in Newry, is critical of Mallon's approach to the peace process. ``He has been a source of criticism right from the beginning of the Hume-Adams dialogue,'' he says.
Last May's election badly rocked the SDLP in Newry/Armagh and there are signs that they are putting many more resources into this election than last May when in-fighting and demoralisation forced them to mount a very limited campaign. Three weeks ago glossy leaflets were distributed throughtout the constituency, though so far only to a small number of voters. The SDLP is carefully targeting its vote. For example, they have had no presence in working-class areas. Instead, they are aiming their message at middle-class voters, particularly in the many new private housing estates which have sprung up in the last few years.
Seamus Mallon has concentrated on his Armagh heartland with the meaningless slogan, ``What you see is what you get'' and the message that if nationalists do not vote for him, a Unionist will win. It is a clear sign of SDLP unease at the increase in the Sinn Féin vote.
Sinn Féin, for their part, have produced a 12-page newspaper which they hope to deliver to most households in the constituency. Their canvass teams are already knocking on doors and publicity material on every issue from health cuts to the Irish language is being constantly produced. McNamee says that one of the benefits of last May's election was that it created a constituency solidarity. ``I saw our election machine in action last May,'' he says, ``and if we can replay that, I'll be confident.