Hardline unionists gaining strength
Supporters of the Good Friday Agreement are becoming increasingly fearful of a strong showing by hardline unionists in next week’s Northern Ireland Assembly Election, it was claimed tonight.
As Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the nationalist SDLP launched attacks on the Democratic Unionists ahead of next Wednesday’s poll, the party’s deputy leader Peter Robinson said their criticism was getting “increasingly desperate“.
The East Belfast MP declared: “We are getting a much warmer reception in this campaign than ever before and I think the other parties are worried.
“That is why with every utterance they are getting increasingly desperate in their attacks on the DUP.
“The electorate is not stupid. They are also picking up the extent to which Connolly House (Sinn Féin) is trying to run the Ulster Unionist campaign. They can see the close relationship between Gerry Adams’ electoral ambitions and the UUP’s and they know that what is needed now is an end to pushover unionism.”
In 1998, the Ulster Unionists emerged the largest Assembly party with 28 seats while the nationalist SDLP secured 24 seats, the DUP had 20 and Sinn Féin got 18.
The 2001 Westminster and local government elections saw the Democratic Unionists eat into their rivals’ lead and fuelled the belief that they could overtake David Trimble at Stormont.
The battle is equally intense in nationalism, with Sinn Féin believing it can get more seats than the SDLP – having secured one per cent more of the vote in the 2001 contests.
As he swept through his West Belfast constituency on the last weekend of the campaign, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams continued the assault on the DUP, claiming their campaign had been “dishonest“.
The West Belfast MP said: “What I find with the DUP is when the TV cameras are about they have one position but when they are privately working on committees, in councils and other places, then their more rounded members behave like proper politicians.”
Mr Adams dismissed as “silly” SDLP claims that in five key constituencies the battle was between them and the DUP for the final seats.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan hit back during his tour of five constituencies.
“In the five crucial seats of Strangford, South Antrim, East Antrim, West Belfast and Lagan Valley we are in a head-to-head contest with the DUP for the final seat,” the Foyle Assembly candidate insisted.
“In these places it is the SDLP who can stop the DUP gallop and that is why today I am taking the ’Stop the DUP’ message into these battlegrounds.”
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble predicted today his party would comfortably “extend its lead” over the DUP.
Mr Trimble played down internal divisions just days after some candidates, including Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson, South Antrim MP David Burnside and Arlene Foster in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, produced their own mini manifesto.
He told BBC Radio Ulster: “While people may have different views, the policy which they are standing on is clear and clearly endorsed by all.
“The 10 points in our Ulster Unionist charter are agreed by all. We are seeking what we call acts of completion by republicans and that is dealing with the issues of decommissioning and paramilitary activity.
“We are saying that process of transition must come to a conclusion. If we are in the position of having genuine acts of completion, I do not anticipate having any internal problems in the party.”
