Mid Ulster

Mid Ulster Constituency Profile – Assembly Elections 2022…

Michael Hehir on April 26, 2022, 7:25 am | Readers 2195

Not much seems to disturb the placid pattern of Mid Ulster voting patterns, until that curious little uptick in Others at the last election. The level of party support does give us a little more to get our teeth into. In 2013 all the unionist parties decided to pool their resources behind a single Independent Unionist candidate for a Westminster by-election. I believe the idea originated with the UUP. Anyway, it proved not to be such a great wheeze in …

Martin McGuinness (not Michelle O’Neill) describes the DUP as bigots in Mid Ulster

Mick Fealty on February 25, 2017, 7:01 am | Readers 6784

My analysis of Mid Ulster is a little harsher for Sinn Fein than most. But I can’t see much bounce for the new leader since last June since Mid Ulster was the constituency of the previous SF leader, Martin McGuinness. They’re significantly short of three quotas too. In their favour, they have an election machine second to none. Nor are they afraid to use marked registers to help them figure out who has voted and who hasn’t. Despite the fact that it’s not, …

#AE17 #SluggerReport: SF’s “snap election” to get DUP off the RHI hook, and a Mid Ulster profile

Mick Fealty on January 26, 2017, 2:59 pm | Readers 2353

So in today’s #SluggerReport, three main points: Will the DUP pay for the RHI scandal? There’s always events dear boy, but SF’s snap election eight months after the last one, helps bury it. No opposition party is ready to either exploit this story yet, or fight an election. So too does Hamilton’s rescue plan (passed by the Assembly this week). O’Muilleoir’s belated calling of a Public Inquiry (which now take six months, not the many years he previously predicted) too. The DUP’s …

DUP Mid Ulster posters take a leaf out of Sinn Fein’s FST playbook…?

Mick Fealty on April 21, 2016, 12:24 pm | Readers 2040

The burden of incumbency and being at the fullest logistical stretch clearly leads to some awkward solutions. It seems that Sinn Fein is not the only party with what Tony Benn used to call ‘ishoos’ west of the Bann. Belfast’s hardest working pol hack Sam McBride reports… Last month the DUP announced that it was standing two candidates in the constituency – despite the fact that in last year’s general election its vote was less than the quota required for …

No surprises in Mid Ulster as Molloy wins; turnout dips down from 91.5% in 1969 by-election to just 55.7%

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 8, 2013, 1:28 am | Readers 172

Some quick figures from tonight’s Mid Ulster Westminster by-election result. I’m sure Gerry will post something over the next few days that will look at the figures in more detail and give some anecdotal evidence of the spread of turnout (using the tally samples) across the constituency. Eric Bullick (Alliance) 487 (1.3%) Nigel Lutton (Independent) 12,781 (34.2%) Patsy McGlone (SDLP) 6,478 (17.3%) Francie Molloy (Sinn Féin) 17,462 (46.7%) Turnout 37208; Spoilt 223 (0.6%); result declared around 1.15am There was never …

#MU13 “Mid-Ulster is a constituency with more than its fair share of problems.”

Mick Fealty on March 7, 2013, 11:47 am | Readers 55

Nice piece by Peter Geoghegan, who’s been doing some digging in Mid Ulster, and what a functional political argument might have raised for the voters: The Irish housing boom was not confined to the southern side of the border, and the collapse in construction has hit Mid-Ulster hard. Between 2007 and 2008, joblessness in the area increased by 45 per cent. Dungannon and Cookstown have recorded the highest levels of emigration in Northern Ireland, according to figures released by the …

Making plans for Mid-Ulster, never mind plans for Nigel

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 4, 2013, 1:00 pm | Readers 649

from BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21462044

With a handful of potential candidates already rejected, Nigel Lutton’s name came very late to the unionist party leaders and constituency associations. While known to individuals in both the DUP and UUP, he wasn’t a high profile figure with a front-line political future in front of him. Martin McGuinness indicated that he would be standing down as MP for Mid Ulster on 11 June 2012, giving plenty of time for candidate selection processes within parties and behind-the-scenes conversations about unity …

Nesbitt concedes unity in a seat that no unionist can realistically win?

Mick Fealty on January 30, 2013, 9:42 am | Readers 77

So, according to the News Letter, Mike Nesbitt didn’t ask his constituency party in Mid Ulster whether they wanted a Unionist unity candidate, or not. He may not have done much of the longer term math either, or calculated that the principle he’s ceding here is that his party no longer has any designs on have representation at Westminster. As Sam McBride notes, unity candidate or not, this is a nationalist seat in waiting: If the three unionist parties’ votes …

SDLP chooses Patsy McGlone to contest Mid Ulster…

Mick Fealty on January 25, 2013, 3:23 pm | Readers 147

This is worth noting since it’s a smart choice. And the SDLP have not been known for those in recent years. McGlone has a sound rural base of voters, and a decent local machine. You can almost certainly rule out a win against SF veteran Francie Molloy. In the last Assembly elections Sinn Fein’s team scooped 50% to the SDLP’s 15%. That’s roughly in line with the last Westminster elections. McGlone may see a decent improvement in that relative performance, …

McGuinness follows Adams to become Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 30, 2012, 11:34 pm | Readers 80

Updated with a photo of the letter. Six a half months after announcing that he would resign as MP for Mid-Ulster to concentrate on being deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness today finally announced that he’d sent his letter to the Commons to kick of the process. Back in January 2011, Gerry Adams was disqualified as a Member of Parliament when the Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed him as “Steward and Bailiff of Her Majesty’s Manor of Northstead in the county …

SF’s Deputy Speaker to run for Mid Ulster Westminster seat

Mick Fealty on December 13, 2012, 9:19 am | Readers 73

So, the man who could never got the chance. I never really understood why Francie didn’t get the senior position in Stormont, but it looks like he’s off to Westminster next, as he has just been chosen (the only candidate to stand, according to Fitzy). He’s running against Patsy McGlone and Ian McCrea, but since it’s Martin McGuinness, it ought to be a shoo-in for the Coalisland man… The House of Commons is increasingly become for Sinn Fein another House …

Bigotry and NI’s regressive game of tit and tit for tat…

Mick Fealty on July 4, 2011, 8:49 am | Readers 40

Broadsheet.ie has the pair. Ian McCrea’s fervent wish that his own county GAA would get beaten by the Republic’s Donegal side, so that celebrations would be kept out of his Mid Ulster constituency, and his father’s this fake Twitter account report of an attack on Ian’s car in ‘reprisal’ for Mr McCrea (junior)’s remarks. Be careful what you say we were always told growing up. Someone clearly thinks that criticism of the GAA (or rather some of its supporters) warrants …

Ian McCrea, another one who failed to get the memo?

Mick Fealty on June 27, 2011, 2:22 pm | Readers 103

Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty