FERMANAGH-SOUTH TYRONE:A VICTORIOUS Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin held up four fingers to indicate the number of votes securing her eventual success in Fermanagh-South Tyrone after a series of dramatic recounts.
Ms Gildernew, the North’s Minister for Agriculture, and her unionist unity opponent Rodney Connor were so close that votes were counted four times. The result, declared shortly before 3pm after a third recount, was 21,304 votes for Ms Gildernew and 21,300 for Mr Connor.
Mr Connor, a former chief executive of Fermanagh District Council, ran as an Independent after the DUP and Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force (UCUNF) agreed to support a joint candidate in an attempt to win back the seat Ms Gildernew first secured in 2001.
“The forces of unionism had collected together against us and we had a mountain to climb this time,” Ms Gildernew said. Claiming “Catholic, Protestant and dissenter” had voted for her, she thanked traditional SDLP voters who switched their allegiance, and said she was “especially proud and grateful” that “Protestant people . . . came out and voted for me”.
Mr Connor, who wanted a fourth recount, said there were “certain aspects” of the election he wasn’t satisfied with, and he would be taking legal advice.
He also said he was very disappointed the people of Fermanagh-South Tyrone would not be represented in Westminster, as a result of Sinn Féin’s abstentionist policy.
The SDLP failed to make an impact, with former UTV journalist Fearghal McKinney polling 3,574 votes in the constituency, where the party had secured 7,230 votes in 2005. Sinn Féin had criticised the SDLP for not withdrawing Mr McKinney and considering a nationalist unity candidate, after Alex Maskey withdrew from South Belfast.
Alliance candidate Vasundhara Kamble got 437 votes, and Independent John Stevenson 188. A total of 47,066 votes were cast in the constituency, which was the last in the North to declare. A turnout of 69.31 per cent was down from 74.3 per cent in 2005, the year in which Ms Gildernew secured 18,638 votes. A total of 263 ballot papers were rejected.
Counting of votes in the constituency began shortly before 1am yesterday, as Ms Gildernew’s party colleague Pat Doherty was declared re-elected for West Tyrone. Just before 3am, election officials said 21,296 votes had been counted for Mr Connor and 21,288 for Ms Gildernew and, given the difference of just eight votes, a recount was immediately undertaken. The result of that first recount put Mr Connor, with 21,295 votes, 10 votes behind Ms Gildernew, on 21,305.
The results of a second recount were announced at about 4.25am, putting Ms Gildernew ahead by just two votes at 21,300, to Mr Connor’s 21,298. The count centre then closed, and the third recount began at about 11.40am.
Unionist sources claimed 36 more ballot papers were counted than were recorded as issued by the Electoral Office. During a break in counting at lunchtime yesterday, Ms Gildernew said she believed she had won the seat, but the issue was “probably going to end up in court”.
DUP Minister Arlene Foster put her arm around Mr Connor as they posed for photographs just before the result was announced. The UUP’s former MP for the area, Lord Ken Maginnis, was also present. Senior Sinn Féin figures present included its president, Gerry Adams, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Events unfolded in a simpler fashion in West Tyrone, the first Northern constituency to declare. After Mr Doherty was re-elected with 18,050 votes, he pointed out that while turnout was down, his vote was up. The DUP’s Tom Buchanan polled 7,365 votes, UCUNF candidate Ross Hussey secured 5,281 and the SDLP’s Joe Byrne, a former Assembly member, received 5,212. Alliance candidate Michael Bower got 859 votes and Independent Ciaran McClean 508. Constituency turnout was 61.54 per cent, with a total of 37,632 votes cast, and 357 ballot papers rejected.