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Tue 08 Aug 2001Wooing of the IRA is grotesque
In the Westminster elections last June, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party got a similar share of the popular vote. In terms of the mandate each possesses, the two parties are virtually equal. In terms of the place they occupy on the political spectrum, each can claim to be the hard edge of one side of the sectarian divide.
Yet Sinn Fein is seen as crucial to the peace process while the DUP is almost ignored. Everyone wants to know what Sinn Fein thinks of the peace package put forward by the Irish and British governments. Except for journalists going through the motions of gathering quotes, no one really gives a damn what the DUP thinks. Why?
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