DUP victory in nationalist Foyle 'almost a miracle'

The DUP’s William Hay yesterday created electoral history when he became the first member of his party to top the poll in the nationalist dominated Foyle constituency.

Mr Hay, an outgoing MLA, polled 6,960 first preference votes, well in excess of the quota of 5,863 and just more than 500 votes ahead of SDLP leader Mark Durkan.

While most parties believed the SDLP would hold onto its three seats and Sinn Féin its two, the mother of republican icon Patsy O’Hara, who died in the 1981 H-Blocks hunger strike, surprised many with her performance.

Standing on a republican ticket opposed to Sinn Féin’s move on policing, she received 1,789 votes.

The DUP’s only candidate in Foyle, Mr Hay described the result as “almost a miracle” and said it was due to a hardworking team in the constituency.

“For a member of the DUP to top the poll in a 75% nationalist constituency is something else,” he said. “It sends out several messages.”

“Firstly, that only the DUP can properly represent this constituency.

“Secondly, it shows how stupid the Ulster Unionist Party was in deciding to stand in the constituency and potentially undermine the unionist seat here.

“But it was a great result for us. We fought a strong campaign and campaigned twice in the constituency and took no-one’s vote for granted.”

Meanwhile, Mr Durkan said that following on from the DUP’s improved overall performance, a major question mark now hung over the chances of a powersharing executive being in place by March 26.

“We need an executive but whether or not we will get one will depends on how far the DUP push their tendency for date defying politics,” he said.

“We need to ensure that if we get a devolved government by March 26, that the DUP will be committed to it.

“The terms for going into power sharing indicate they will do it for one term only and while we want to look forward positively, we should not be naïve.

“The political uncertainty which will extend from the DUP will remain a problem and that is why the the presence of a party such as the SDLP – will be even more significant,”