Sinn Fein describes SDLP's claim of five to seven seats as arrogant

SINN Fein has described as "arrogant" a claim by the SDLP chairman that his party will emerge; from the British general election with at least five, and possibly seven, Westminster seats.

Mr Jonathan Stephenson said the votes that Sinn Fein gained in the Forum election had been "borrowed" from the SDLP and would return to the SDLP.

"If anyone thinks that the Forum elections of last May were an accurate indicator of what is going to happen this May, then they are in for a rude awakening," he told a rally of campaign workers in West Tyrone.

"The Forum poll was a hybrid one-off election that no nationalist wanted to fight, and thousands of natural SDLP supporters used it to lend their votes to Sinn Fein in the hope of peace. That investment was immediately betrayed by the republican movement and those voters are returning to us," Mr Stephenson added.

He conceded that Sinn Fein has the advantage in West Belfast, but said Dr Joe Hendron could still regain the seat there despite the challenge of Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams.

"All the indications we are getting are that we are ahead of Sinn Fein in Mid-Ulster and West Tyrone, ahead of Sinn Fein in Fermanagh-South Tyrone and North, Belfast, and narrowly behind but closing the gap in West Belfast.

Joe Hendron came from behind to beat Gerry Adams last time and that is how he likes it."

Mr Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein's candidate in Mid-Ulster, said Mr Stephenson's remarks were arrogant and inaccurate. The claim that SDLP votes were "lent" to Sinn Fein did not stand up to scrutiny.

While the SDLP vote in the Forum election had largely held up, Sinn Fein made substantial gains. In Mid-Ulster Sinn Fein was undoubtedly the largest party, particularly with the incorporation into the constituency of the Torrent electoral district, which is "staunchly republican," added Mr McGuinness.

The SDLP candidate in West Tyrone, Mr Joe Byrne, said that if Sinn Fein was serious about challenging the SDLP for "the hearts and minds of the nationalist community, then they must accept that politics must be about dialogue and not an amorphous mixture of violence and coercion.

"They must also realise that this involves representing your electorate and taking your arguments wherever they need to be taken," Mr Byrne added.