The DUP refusing to let Sinn Fein have First Minister means a December Assembly Election. Will the numbers change in a fresh Election?
What parties seats are vulnerable or who might make gains in any constituencies ??
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And of it is true francie, would you feel she should resign ?
Already answered, I suggest you read the thread.
If proven true MLMD's position would be fairly untenable. Keeping her would severely impact the non-core vote, would SF be prepared for that hit?
Who could then replace MLMD? Maybe have O'Neill as de-facto north and south leader till after NI elections (if/when they happen).
I think it's that you won't say either way until the investigation has occurred? A very politician response (if that's how to read it).
Read the thread. I have already answered this.
I had, that's what I interpreted as your response, you can either correct the record or leave that as the interpretation (and you can question why it even needed to be interpreted by others or was unclear or took up unnecessary responses on the thread, I'll leave you to it).
If you cannot understand the answer I gave to the question:
Should any member who took money from these people resign?
which was;
If knowingly done …yes of course.
Then I can't really help here.
In actual politics news, SF down 4 points in the South this week, I haven't seen any polling updates in NI (do they have a tracker anywhere? I assumed they did but haven't found it yet). If there was an election today, what would the likely results be (and how different from the last election).
Sinn Féin drops four points in latest opinion poll (rte.ie)
Also interesting to note, that poll was conducted before the revelations from the Hutch court case came out, next one should be interesting
Leaving the issue about money to one side. Should MLMD resign if she took Dowdall on as her running mate knowing he was involved with the Hutch Organised Crime Group?
Yes.
Jesus jh79 don't you have any powers of interpretation? Could you not work out the answer to that question without wasting pixels?
My own interpretation of this is that Dowdall couldn't achieve what he wanted in SF and resigned.
Mod: I've asked nicely. This thread is not about MLMD and any connection or knowledge of Hutch.
No more discussion about this in this thread unless it directly involves NI & the Stormont elections.
Apologies.
Just to relate this to British SF as it is the NI assembly thread. They did sports washing with MTK for Feile Na Phobail.
Sorry missed your post.
Can we discuss SF links to gangland in general. It was always an issue even before this week's revelations.
Start a different thread please. 👍
Francie doesn’t answer questions when he is under pressure. See above
Just reading mode note now. Will stay well clear going forward
I even quoted the post where I answered it to another poster. Away outta that!
Deleted, didn't see mod warning.
I think the biggest fear for unionists in voting DUP and sending a strong message to government that unionists will not accept Irish Sea border, is that we might alienate those from a nationalist background who support the union. These people are key to us ensuring a United ireland never happens.
these polls keep coming that give comfort and allay those fears. All combine to ensure DUP vote rises - while they stay out of stormont.
That said, when this crisis is over I certainly will not be voting DUP as I disagree with their position on a whole raft of issues. It will be back to the UUP for me
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/12/03/poll-shows-northern-ireland-rejects-unity-by-large-margin/
When the court throws out the Allister, Habib etc case....what's the plan then downcow?
*Poll is being discussed elsewhere on the forum.
@downcow That said, when this crisis is over I certainly will not be voting DUP as I disagree with their position on a whole raft of issues. It will be back to the UUP for me
So in your view, the best way out of the "crisis" is to support the clowns who helped create it? 🤔
Tbh in my opinion this continual reassurance that the union is strong will make the extremes in our community complacent.
once we get the necessary changes to the protocol, then our community must reach out and compromise like never before to ensure that growing middle ground, who evidence again that they recognise the union is best, continue to build their sense of being northern Irish and continue to support OWC. An inclusive, strong NI within the union.
Sinn Féin’s big problem is too many people feel fairly treated in OWC and do not want to join a republic that looks so different from what we have up north. Unionists need to push harder to make sure everyone continues to enjoy owc quality of life
So you are gonna vote DUP.
OK. 😁
So you want the extremes to remain agitated or what?
So you're confirming that unionists are only willing to compromise once they've gotten what they want?
Unionists need to push harder to make sure everyone continues to enjoy owc quality of life
But the DUP and other unionist extremists are pushing to have NI treated exactly the same as GB which is suffering as a result of Brexit (rather than hold their current advantageous position). The people of NI will be losers if they get their way. How will that ensure that everyone will enjoy their quality of life?
I wish brexit had never happened. I thought it would have dire consequences for the union. But hey, peoples security in the union seems fairly unshakeable.
the big positive is that in my 50+ years living here I have never before seen the majority of unionists of the opinion that they must compromise to keep the union secure.
as for focusing for now on sorting the protocol, it is about the union. I would expect that one year from now the vast majority of ni folk will be benefiting from the inevitable changes to protocol.
it has been a rocky 3-4 years for unionism but I am confident we are coming out the other side - opposite of sf fortunes
How do you propose Unionism gets out of the tangle it is currently in?
They are not going to get what they want.
Do they just up sticks, pretend again that they never threatened what they did and accept the Protocol?
'Never Never Never..... ah shure go on' again?
We need to get enough. And I have no doubt we will.
I could list the endless demands of republicans and their subsequent climbdowns, but everyone knows them - whether Gerry predicting Ui by 2016 or the IRA accepting military defeat in 1998. Never never never! We’ll never go into executive until we have an ILA, we’ll never end the hunger strike until our demands are met, we will never accept membership of the EU, etc etc etc
So that's a yes then?
'Enough' is not what the DUP are looking for by the way.
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