Advertisement

N. Irish Moderates Lose Seats in Parliament

Share
Special to The Times

Nobel Peace Prize laureate David Trimble and other moderates went down to defeat Friday while hard-line parties on both sides of the Protestant and Catholic divide claimed victory in Northern Ireland’s hotly fought elections to the British Parliament.

In mainly Protestant areas, the Rev. Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists, riding a wave of anger over the collapsed 1998 Good Friday agreement and alleged criminality by the nationalist Irish Republican Army, trounced three Ulster Unionist members of Parliament, including party leader Trimble.

In the Catholic community, Irish nationalist Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams increased his share of the vote despite his party’s ties to the IRA, whose members have been blamed in recent months for a bank robbery and the slaying of a Belfast Catholic man.

Advertisement

Sinn Fein’s other three members of Parliament easily won reelection, and the party grabbed an additional seat from Ulster Unionists.

The province has 18 seats in Parliament. In addition to the Sinn Fein victories, Democratic Unionists won nine seats; Ulster Unionists one spot; and the Social Democratic and Labor Party, a Catholic moderate group, three positions.

The counting for Thursday’s election began Friday in Northern Ireland, and the results were announced late in the day.

Although the IRA-linked scandals did not stop Irish nationalists from supporting Sinn Fein, British unionist anger at the IRA cost the moderate Ulster Unionists, who previously held five seats. Democratic Unionists, who oppose the landmark Good Friday power-sharing agreement between minority Catholics and majority Protestants, labeled Ulster Unionists as soft on Sinn Fein and the IRA.

“Northern Ireland politics will never be the same after today,” said Paisley, the firebrand Democratic Unionist leader and fierce advocate of Northern Ireland’s union with Britain, which the mainly Catholic nationalists reject. “The whole picture has changed. I thank God that the people of Ulster are standing up today” against Sinn Fein and the IRA.

Adams said in his acceptance speech that the results had vindicated his party after months of intense criticism in the media. Democratic Unionists vowed in their campaign not to share power with a party they said was linked to terrorists. Adams, however, told BBC Radio that Sinn Fein had won a mandate and that Paisley’s party would have to negotiate with it.

Advertisement

“The DUP used to talk about taking sledgehammers and smashing Sinn Fein,” he said. “All of that has changed. I am not naive -- it’s obvious the DUP will not be queuing up to go into government with Sinn Fein -- but it’s only a question of when.”

The dominance of Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein could mean a gridlock for the peace process, said Paul Dixon, a University of Ulster professor.

“If you’re voting for these parties, you’re not really voting for compromise,” he said. “It will be interesting to see whether the parties’ leaders will be able to stretch across the chasm and reach a deal. It’s possible, but you wouldn’t bet your pension on it.”

Democratic Unionists won 34% of the vote, an increase of 11 percentage points. Sinn Fein won 24% of the vote, while the moderate Ulster Unionists and SDLP each won 17%. The Ulster Unionist Party was in disarray after losing four out of five seats.

“I believe the situation in Northern Ireland is now a much better one as a result of what we have done,” said Trimble, who served briefly as first minister of the province. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998, along with Northern Ireland’s John Hume, a Roman Catholic.

The SDLP saw a drop in its mainly Catholic support, but defied predictions of a meltdown by keeping its three seats.

Advertisement

SDLP leader Mark Durkan won a close race against a Sinn Fein candidate, and the party had a surprise win in the Protestant district of south Belfast where the unionist vote was split.

“Tribal politics is not the only way forward,” said deputy party leader Alasdair McDonnell, who won in south Belfast. “The SDLP is still here and still kicking.”

Advertisement