With the leader of the main Unionist party applauding speeches calling the GFA 'iniquitous' and 'deceit' are the upcoming elections a test for the seminal agreement?
It's hard to know what will happen if the DUP manage to get their vote out and maintain the majority vote.
Inherintly yes, as the government is cross-party and cross-community.
You are constantly contradicting yourself here. You so desperately wish to reduce NI politics to the us vs them sectarian crap of old, so much so you are grasping at straws now. A conventional parliament with govt & opposition would be a far more partisan & sectarian system of government than the current powersharing agreements seen in Stormont.
There are obviously sectarian elements to most of the parties themselves in NI, but to state with certainty that Stormont itself and its powersharing structures are sectarian shows you havent a clue what you are talking about.
Had the SDLP done well you can be sure Mark would be including them in his non-sectarian list.
That he casts them aside because they are no longer useful shows how desperate these guys are.
I suppose but will it make any difference to their lives at the end of the day? Nope?
SF will be in for a hiding the next time out once that 'achievement' is ticked off.
Then get rid of power-sharing and let the best man,woman and political party win and take power?
Most other EU countries do it, but the North is different, because political power is divided down the sectarian lines.
So you're complaining about people voting along sectarian lines, while ignoring that the election system requires voting along sectarian lines for a statelet that was created to facilitate sectarianism
Odd that you can't follow the breadcrumbs of your own train of thought
We are doing it here with MM and Leo...
When was PR introduced to NI politics.... was it part of GFA... it may have always being there but its not in UK i think...
Opposition is optional for parties that aren't in FM/DFM positions. UUP and SDLP have opted for it before.
You know quite well what is meant by cannibalising the vote of another party. We saw it in full flow in recent elections down here, relentless political attacks whether justified or not on the Labour Party and others of the left. Intimidation on the canvas, lies spread, posters ripped down - all that sort of stuff. Politics conducted with no holds barred. So other parties are entitled to fight back and criticise policy and public figures.
People go into ballot boxes and make a decision. Their votes aren't owned by anybody so therefore cannot be 'stolen'. It's patronising to suggest they are.
OK, so do you think it OK for Farage and Johnson etc to indulge in nefarious practices and make up a heap of half truths and lies in order to win a Brexit majority?? Or the Make America Great rhetoric from the likes of Trump and so on, with all the massive advertising spend.
Probably not I guess. Likewise that applies to politics here.
What's that got to do with the point?
while ignoring that the election system requires voting along sectarian lines
The election system requires no such thing. If 95% of people voted for the likes of Alliance, PBP, Greens and other non-sectarian parties, then we wouldn't need power-sharing.
Is RTE going to go into official mourning over the SDLP? Cringe
Nationalist vote down about 18% from 2017... kissing goodbye to a UI for now and later.
Border Poll? What Border Poll?
Source on your 18%?
So far First prefs are showing ~1% dip in "nationalist" vote (if you consider SDLP to be that) according to BBC
SF + SDLP vote well down from last time out.
Its now about retaining the status que.... as i said earlier the only person wants a UI is Boris... it has been clear to me sonce Brexit...
????
Unless you're referencing absolute votes, in which case turnout is down across the board so its irrelevant
Struggling to see this 18% drop youre talking about
Maybe the poster meant 1.8 and instead in their excitement typed 18?
Change seems top have worked in Derry
Sinn Fein certainly top dog in all Border Constituencies and polled 64% in West Belfast retaining 4 of the 5 seats.
At the end of the day those living on or close to the Border in Louth, Monaghan, Newry, Tyrone all seem to vote for Sinn Fein in huge numbers why should " i'm alright Jack with the way things are " merchants in South Dublin dictate what happens on the Island??
Ah yes no actual informed points around policy or rethoric of the parties,which yous wish to label sectarian,just throw out baiting vitrol instead
Who needs facts and logic,when your free to make random nonsense up about any party you disagree with
I am assuming he is drawing attention to the fact that combined vote of parties wanting UI continues to fall further behind parties wanting to maintain the Union. It is reassuring that this long trend is continuing
If sinn fein bring the level of vote management they have in this election to the next free state general election**......theres a fair chance that they could dominate in every constituency and be within single figures of an overall majority
**though the prospect of michelle oneill being the first nationlist,first minister,may have brought out extra votes that normally would have gone elsewhere
Good day for SF, those who said they would lose support and seats will be crying in their beer tonight, a good few on here who know they are.
A very bad day for SDLP who maybe will regret bringing FG, FF and Labour to campiagn with them as a huge mistake, also not acknowledging the anger amongst the Nationalist Community about being treated like 2nd Class Citizens over the First Minister role.
Finally a very good day for Aliiance whose leader Naomi Long who had to put with sickening abuse from Loyalist Scum, delighted for her
A bad day for partitionists/unionists. The TUV helped relegate the DUP to second largest party. Unionism continues on its death-spiral. I doubt unionism will be able to cope with having a SF First Minister of the Assembly in the northeast which is as good as admitting failure of the sectarian statelet.
when will the 32 counties be one?
And it starts..... SF would be near 45% of the first preference votes to get near a majority. Hasn't happened since 1977 and wont happen in a few years time.
Keep dreaming.
That's the next step...Unionism will show the world how undemocratic they really are.
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