A very bad day for the DUP

[tom8517]

Enjoyed the election so much I decided to stop back. Both major parties lost ground but while Sinn Fein maintained their count at 7, the DUP lost two to drop to 8. One to Sinn Fein, one to the SDLP. The later also taking Foyle back from Sinn Fein.

Perhaps worse for the DUP is the huge Conservative win. Their influence is gone. The dinosaur is nearing extinction.

[FuckingRotter]

I’ll write more about the election later, but more significant than DUP losses, is the shift in the balance of MPs.

For the first time, nationalist party MPs outnumber unionist party MPs in Northern Ireland. Talks resume today aimed at restoring power sharing in the province.

[tom8517]

While Sinn Fein maintained their seat count at 7, they saw a significant drop in their total vote count, as did the DUP. Both major parties were punished for their inability to get Stormant up and running. The DUPs losses were mainly the result of Alliance and SDLP standing aside for Sinn Fein in north Belfast and Sinn Fein returning the favor for the SDLP in south Belfast. The DUP was unable to work similar deals with the UUP
One time alliances only, still bitter rivals as shown by Colum Eastwood thrashing Sinn Fein in Derry.

[FuckingRotter]

Or just as in England and Wales, not so much in Scotland, Brexit has broken the hold on tribal voting in Northern Ireland?

[tom8517]

Dont be so sad Nigel. Maybe you can be the Dail TD for east Belfast.

[FuckingRotter]

Time is running out for the DUP and Sinn Fein. They have until next Thursday to reach an agreement and get Stormont sitting again. The Royal College of Nursing is now taking strike action in protest in Ulster at the lack of budget setting by Stormont which has seen their wages fall behind their mainland counterparts in the last three years. This is unprecedented, in its entire history, the RCN has never sanctioned strikes.

Could these two parties receive the sort of kicking in their ballots that Labour received last month in the UK general election?

[tom8517]

It appears the DUP and Sinn Fein have both signed off on a preliminary agreement to restore Stormont. Although these things have gone up in flames st the last minute before. We shall see.

[FuckingRotter]

The agreement was handed to them by the Westminster and Dublin governments. The DUP and Sinn Fein both accepted, to do otherwise may well have proven to be political suicide as the UK government would have forced an election otherwise.

With figures fully analysed, in the UK general election, Sinn Fein lost 1 in 4 voters, DUP 1 in 6. The Alliance Party, a non-sectarian organisation, increased its share of the vote by 50%. It would seem that loyalist and separatist parties can no longer rely on the loyalty of their respective communities.

It has been a long time coming, but in the December election, English and Welsh working class voters punished Labour for their failures. Come an Ulster election, the DUP and Sinn Fein may well expect the same.

[FuckingRotter]

Remember the £2bn "bribe" that Dithering Doris offered the DUP for the confidence and supply arrangement after her disasterous election result in 2017? Well, with power sharing restored, the money, which Northern Ireland never got because of Stormonts failure to do its job, is back on the table.

The only condition is that the DUP/Sinn Fein government provide greater accountability for public spending. That should be interesting!

[tom8517]

While Sinn Fein did take a hit in the north they are surging in the south. Recent polls have them within a few points of the big two. FG and FF still maintain they will never enter a coalition with Sinn Fein, but the press and public are questioning why.

[FuckingRotter]

Who gives a shit about the South? It's a backwater economy, heavily reliant on subsidies from Brussels, which are surely going to be hit if the UK actually does leave and stops contributing to the EU budget. Only a deadbeat political ideology would want Ulster to join forces with that!

[FuckingRotter]

Well, the good news is, EU patsy, Leo Varadkar has experienced a case of constructive dismissal - where an employee is pushed in to a position where they feel they have no choice to resign.

After the official IRA fan club won the most votes, but no over all majority in the recent pointless democratic exercise in Ireland, the paddies parliament rejected LVs bid to form a government and continue as priminister.

As I wrote, pointless. The EU makes the rules. Soon it will also be collecting the taxes and deciding how the money will be spent. Democracy in Ireland is being eroded, the military of this supposedly neutral state is being wiped out on EU missions in central Africa. All cheered on by their treacherous political masters. How long before Ireland follows the UK out of the EU?

[tom8517]

EU membership is a total non issue in the south, FF FG and Sinn Fein are all firmly pro remain, as are the vast majority of the Irish people. and a majority in the north as well, including a fair number of unionists.

[FuckingRotter]

You should pay attention. Polling suggests support for the EU in Ireland is falling. Talks to secure an EU budget for the next seven years are deadlocked, with Ireland objecting to paying more in to help plug the gap left by the UK, whilst getting less back in CAP and Cohesion payments.

Can’t see that increasing popularity, especially as France looks set to get more!

[FuckingRotter]

Also, there is the question of just how much sovereignty will Irish voters be willing to relinquish in exchange for perceived benefits of EU membership? This has been a big decider in the Brexit vote. It would be surprising for a territory that fought such a violent civil war in the cause of self-determination to then surrender to the authority of foreigners.

I was possibly a bit unfair when I described Ireland as an economic back water. It has been quite successful in the last 20 years, despite the pressures experienced during the economic crash of 2008. That the EU is demanding a greater contribution for less benefits is testament to this.

Part of what makes Ireland so successful is its competitive tax rates. The EU wants to destroy this. EU federalists want to expand the organisations taxation and spending powers, and move it toward being a sovereign state. That would make current member states in fact vassal states.

Does any one think the Irish would stomach this?