The World - News from May 17, 1985

The IRA’s political wing ran more strongly than expected in Northern Ireland’s municipal elections, and hard-line Protestants also gained, according to projections based on a partial vote count. Sinn Fein, the legal political arm of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, was making its first campaign for seats on municipal councils in Ulster. The IRA has been fighting to drive the British out of the province and unite it with the Irish Republic, which is predominantly Catholic. Sinn Fein candidates got 11.3% of the vote, according to the computer projection by Ulster Television. The projection gave 24.5% to the Democratic Unionists, the militant Protestant party, a 1.5% gain over 1982.