So, every Monday that ever comes along, I get up early and sing this little song

With éirígí having declared they will be engaging in electoralism at council level while rejecting it at Stormont (on grounds of ideology, not because they’d get totally tanked) and the IRSP expected to announce a similar return to council level electoralism in the north (also ignoring Stormont for ideological reasons, not fear of getting spanked) and expectations of an independent republican council candidate in Newry and the odd two in Fermanagh – I thought I’d run my eye over the electoral demography to see how many council areas dissenters or non-SF republicans could consider running in.

Where is the market deep enough that it could produce enough republican voters that aren’t SF and could even hope for a half quota? Dissenting republicanism is patchily organised, so even where a potential vote base may exist, structures mainly won’t be there to capitalise on it.

Surprisingly the list of wards that dissenters should be checking out is quite extensive and the fact they tested so few is a demonstration of how totally disorganised and split non-Agreement republicanism is.

Here’s my list of areas dissenters should have the balls to start running in or test at least once:

Armagh

Armagh City
Crossmore

Belfast

Lower Falls (eirigi)
Upper Falls (eirigi)
Oldpark (IRSP with RNU support)

Craigavon

Portadown (personality candidate – Breandan MacCionnaith for eirigi)

Derry

Northland (IRSP with RNU/32CSM support)
Shantallow(IRSP with RNU/32CSM support)
Cityside(IRSP with RNU/32CSM support)

Lisburn

Dunmurry Cross

Newry

Newry Town (Hyland Ind)
Crotlieve
Slieve Gullion

Omagh

West Tyrone
Mid Tyrone

Strabane

Mourne

Dungannon

Torrent

Fermanagh

Erne West (Swift – for eirigi)
Enniskillen (McHugh Ind)

Magherafelt

Sperrin

Moyle

Ballycastle
The Glens

That’s 22 seats I reckon dissenters should be having a go at if they want to get serious. I doubt they’ll actually be able or willing to contest in more than five.

Did I miss any? Any of them so ridiculous that the dissenters shouldn’t even give them a pop?