DUP – Page 29 – Slugger O'Toole

After #AE17, the DUP…

Mick Fealty on March 9, 2017, 11:10 pm

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Last Thursday changed everything and nothing for the DUP. Gone is the petition of concern. Gone too is the large buffer of seats with Sinn Fein. What hasn’t change is the outcome. They still have the First Minister’s position and with the UUP’s downsizing are more dominant in unionism. On the other hand, in the course of less than a year, Mrs Foster has overturned recent patterns of nationalist and unionist turnout in a way that has cost her both in seats and …

Playacting will be hard to distinguish from authenticity in the early phases of the negotiations

Brian Walker on March 8, 2017, 10:08 am

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The three regional papers have had a great few months. With so much to feed off, that comes as no surprise. I hope it boosts their circulations permanently. They deserve credit for editorially keeping their heads, the nationalist Irish News, unionist Newsletter and let’s- be- sensible unionist- with a-look across -the -divide Belfast Telegraph. Remarkably the slide to collapse and the historic election result haven’t driven them to go blindly partisan. This is good leadership, in both senses of the …

“No surrender” from Arlene, as she calls for a united unionist party on the eve of negotiations

Brian Walker on March 7, 2017, 9:54 am

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Arlene’s call for a single unionist party in the Belfast Telegraph is a clear sign she’s going make fight of it. Coming on the eve of first stage negotiations, it suggests a different focus – defiance. The move is out of kilter with the one action that would false foot Sinn Fein or get them back in government – standing aside as first minister even temporarily. Ideally, I would like to see a renewed attempt to create unionist unity where …

Building a bigger tent should still be a priority for Nationalism

David McCann on March 6, 2017, 4:08 pm

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Nationalism stands strong in the new Assembly with more seats, more votes and is now in a position to deliver more. I watched from the Titanic Count Centre on Friday, victory after victory for the Nationalist parties. Sinn Fein’s tsunami started in West Belfast and swept the province leaving opponents from People Before Profit to the UUP reeling. The SDLP also had some resilience and managed to gain a seat in Lagan Valley and came close to winning another in …

“we’re all a bit punch drunk already. But it’s the only show in town.”

Mick Fealty on March 6, 2017, 1:58 pm

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Few people have as close up a perspective on what divides the DUP and Sinn Fein as David Gordon: Given the Sinn Fein electoral surge, you can guarantee that unionist unity and unionist turnout will be major themes of the next Assembly poll. And for all its damaging losses last week, it has still, if anything, tightened its grip on unionism, given the UUP’s woes and the TUV’s failure to make inroads. The last DUP-Sinn Fein Executive collapsed in the most spectacular and …

Skids under Arlene?

Brian Walker on March 6, 2017, 10:07 am

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Will she be gone by tonight? Temporarily or permanently? No one better than historian Eamonn Phoenix to put it into context. The resulting loss of a Unionist majority at Stormont for the first time has shocked Unionism to its core. The political and, especially, the psychological implications of this as the centenary of Partition approaches in 2021, should not be underestimated. Is there any more to say except wait on events? And perhaps spare a thought for Mike Nesbitt. Did he …

It’s Groundhog Day! Looking ahead to a potential second 2017 Assembly Election

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on March 6, 2017, 12:43 am

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The clock is ticking. Following the seismic results of last Thursday’s Northern Ireland Assembly elections, the rules state that the local parties have three weeks to form a government before the people of Northern Ireland are asked to go to the polls for the fourth time in a year. Previously, I had discussed the forecast model that I had created for the election, based on the results from 2016 and polling published by Lucid Talk. Overall, the accuracy of the …

All very exciting, Sandra and Sean. But in the cold light of day the election changed nothing except dreams and nightmares

Brian Walker on March 4, 2017, 1:00 pm

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Now that the election is over, all the politicians have turned into commentators tweeting all over the place, giving pious little lectures about what the other guy should do now. Not a word about what they themselves should do to reach agreement. In the cold light of day the undoubted Sinn Fein victory makes neither them nor the DUP more amenable to compromise: rather the reverse. The mutual veto is rock solid. The centre ground was rescued from oblivion at …

The pendulum swings – time not for Unionist panic nor inaction

Turgon on March 4, 2017, 11:30 am

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So the elections results are in: a sea change has occurred. The bark of unionism’s boat is near overflowed. All may not yet be lost but all is about to be. Wail, lament, tear clothes, put on sack cloth or more realistically start surfing rightmove to find a nice house in the North of England or Midlands or maybe Wales (house prices preclude the south and Scotland will soon be gone). Well maybe and only a naïve unionist would dismiss …

Observe the sons of Ulster, marching towards the bin

Gerry Lynch on March 3, 2017, 11:52 pm

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It was the best of campaigns, it was the worst of campaigns. Arlene’s decision to meet the three letter problem of RHI with the three letter solution of IRA worked masterfully in terms of holding the DUP’s vote together; despite three months of unremitting negative publicity and a collapsed government, DUP losses were kept to just 1.1%, with the drop in seats not much worse than the five likely to go with the shrinking of the Assembly. The DUP actually …

Despite going to the polls today, the Northern Ireland voters will have no say in the outcome. The two governments’ hands- off approach to Stormont will have to change

Brian Walker on March 2, 2017, 10:53 am

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People going to the polls today are being sold badly short. They do not know whether they are electing members to an Assembly that will function again. Northern Ireland is facing not an existential crisis but a failure of politicians to work a workable system consistently. The trouble is that no effective means of calling them to account has yet been developed. Most people, the public and politicians alike don’t seem to realise how appalling this looks to outsiders and …

Robinson “step back, take a breath and ensure there is sufficient space for an agreement to be reached in the calmer times that follow the hustings”

Soapbox on March 1, 2017, 1:23 pm

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Former First Minister, Peter Robinson has taken to Facebook to give his views on the most recent election. He has allowed us to re-post his views on Slugger Over the past few weeks many of you have sent me messages asking for my views on recent events. When I retired as First Minister and Party Leader, I determined not to be enticed into providing a running commentary on local political events. The level of peace and stability that has characterised …

#AE17 draws to a close; what’s your punt for count day?

David McCann on March 1, 2017, 12:24 pm

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Tonight we have Slugger’s Big Election Punt (in partnership with MW Advocate) where our panel will have to make some key predictions about the upcoming election. In that spirit we thought we would ask you about what you think will happen tomorrow in terms of the parties. For what it’s worth here is my punt (Some variation as a few seats such as South Belfast & Upper Bann are just too close to call). DUP; 30-31 Sinn Fein; 23-24 UUP; …

#BBCNIDebate sees energetic exchanges & a broad range of issues discussed

David McCann on February 28, 2017, 11:07 pm

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The five main party leaders gathered at the BBC Blackstaff studio tonight to discuss issues such as RHI, Brexit, Direct Rule & cross community voting. Chaired by Noel Thompson, he very ably directed candidates and the audience through out the night. For me, the strongest performance was from Colum Eastwood. For parties like the SDLP, just letting people know that you are on the stage is an achievement and he did this in spades tonight. From the opening segment on …

Aiken believes that the UUP could win more seats than Sinn Fein

David McCann on February 28, 2017, 9:31 am

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It was a bumpy ride for Steve Aiken on Nolan yesterday. In politics it is a good thing to go into a contest with high ambitions but they also need to be credible. For information the UUP are running 24 candidates, Sinn Fein are running 34 candidates. UUP are at roughly 13 seats in a 90 seat Assembly, Sinn Fein are at around 24 seats. As for the DUP they are running 38 candidates and are at 31 seats in …

A border poll can be held at any time

Brendan Heading on February 26, 2017, 9:28 pm

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There’s widespread misunderstanding of the legal provision around holding a border poll which seems to rear its head not only on social media, but sometimes within the print media and even among the ranks of senior politicians. It’s an innocent enough situation, but it could become important in the period ahead as we start coming to terms with brexit and Northern Ireland’s relationship with Europe. The misunderstanding holds that, following the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, a border poll cannot be held unless there …

DUP received £425k for the Brexit referendum

David McCann on February 24, 2017, 8:24 am

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The wait is over and we now know how much the DUP received during the Brexit referendum and just who donated. RTE reports that; The Democratic Unionist Party has confirmed that it received £425,000 from a group of business people led by a Scottish Conservative party member and passed it on to help fund the UK pro-Brexit campaign. The money was used to help finance an advertising campaign in Britain during the EU referendum. The money was given to the …

Is there an election coming up?

Sara McCracken on February 21, 2017, 12:00 pm

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I took the end of last week for half term. That meant minimal social media, no newspapers and not watching or listening to the news. It was a happy couple of days in a little bubble known as the real world. In that world, there is very little inkling that there is an election coming up. Imagine! Even when out and about, Lagan Valley is a poster-free zone so how normal voters who aren’t generally about to watch political programmes …

DUP set out their battle lines in a question less manifesto launch

David McCann on February 20, 2017, 7:03 pm

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The DUP launched their manifesto at Stormont Hotel today. The document which is basically an appendix to their 2016 Manifesto sets out some of the party’s approach towards the negotiations that are likely to follow this election. Arlene Foster set out 10 principles; 1. We will work to avoid Direct Rule and get local government back at Stormont as quickly as possible. That means we will work with all of those who have a mandate to see if it is …

Arlene says ‘it’s dangerous to transfer to nationalists’, but without cross community transfering it’s just another standoff…

Mick Fealty on February 20, 2017, 1:14 pm

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I can only assume from the demeanour of DUP friends that this latest statement comes in reaction to wisdom distilled from the doorsteps… “It is dangerous to advocate supporting candidates who are Pro-United Ireland above preferences for fellow unionists. The greater the number of nationalist MLAs elected the stronger the push will be for a Border Poll.” She then goes on to point out that neither the SDLP nor the UUP had enough candidates in this election to supplant either the …