The steady march of SF in Newry/Armagh
By Brian Campbell
At 11am on Friday, two hours after counting had begun, Seamus
Mallon briefly wandered into the Banbridge count centre, then
went out to speak to Radio Ulster.
``This constituency has now become the cockpit of the fight
between the SDLP and Sinn Féin. People who have written the SDLP
off will get a surprise. We will take three seats, Sinn Fein will
get one and the DUP and UUP will get one each,'' he predicted. ``In
this election, SDLP voters operated the PR system like
clockwork.''
I had been watching the Newry and Armagh count since 9am and
Mallon's comments were astonishing. The SDLP had no chance of
three seats, partly because they didn't operate the PR system and
partly because they didn't get enough votes. They had two and a
half quotas but Mallon got almost two of those.
Sinn Fein, on the other hand, played the PR system to perfection.
So well, in fact, that even by 2am on Saturday, they didn't know
which of their three candidates would take the two seats. There
were just 65 votes covering all three. In the end Davy Hyland was
eliminated. If he had got 28 more votes, Conor Murphy would have
lost out. It was that close.
When it comes to vote management, Sinn Fein in Newry and Armagh
take top prize but it doesn't do anything for their candidates'
nerves. In the early hours of Saturday the fifteen SF activists
at the count hugged and shook hands. It was a tough moment for
Davy and his wife Bronagh.
Then Davy's votes were transferred. Vote after vote after vote
went to his running mates. Seamus Mallon was there to see the
clockwork distribution and Pat McNamee and Conor Murphy elected.
The SDLP's second seat was the last of the six declared.
The count ended at 4am and the Sinn Fein activists drove home in
the brightening dawn. Mission accomplished: two seats, increased
vote.
Newry and Armagh perfectly represents the changing face of Six
County elections. Less than fifteen years ago it was a Unionist
seat. From Armagh to Loughgall to Markethill to Bessbrook to
Newtownhamilton, Unionist voters kept it like that. By the
mid-eighties, the SDLP had edged in front. Today it is two thirds
nationalist/republican with Sinn Fein on a steady rise. In Newry
and South Armagh, Sinn Fein is the largest party. And now Pat
McNamee has built an electoral base in the north of the
constituency.
As with other areas, that success is built on dedicated
activists. No other party is on the ground the way Sinn Fein is.
I was in Newry on election day, along with over one hundred
election workers. And everyone was busy: staffing caravans,
working as polling agents, giving out leaflets, delivering food
to the workers and ferrying voters to the polling stations.
d they know their voters. How else, after seventeen hours and
eight counts, could they keep their three candidates within a few
dozen votes of each other? And how else could their voters
transfer with such precision to bring in two seats?
Next time, with more hard work around Sinn Fein policies, Davy
Hyland won't be disappointed. And Seamus Mallon won't be making
predictions.
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