Sound of Paisley silence (in stereo) greeted the unexpected fall of Peter Robinson, writes FRANK McNALLYin Belfast
AS ELECTION night began in Northern Ireland, there was talk about a potential revival of the “Orange card” at Westminster and about local seats generally being “in play” in the UK’s greater power game.
Then the hands were dealt and, yesterday, a poker-faced David Cameron slapped a yellow card on to the table instead, threatening to turn the NI parties into a busted flush.
Suddenly, the North’s 18 seats looked to be in play only in the sense that many of the counts took place in leisure centres, like Omagh’s, where the Fermanagh-South Tyrone epic began on Thursday in a basketball court and by last night seemed to be heading for a court of a different kind.
The Tory leader’s qualified triumph only dramatised the failure of his comrades in the Ulster Unionist Party. Despite being saddled with an acronym that should have sunk it even before it left port, the UCUNF alliance set sail 18 months ago, looking almost stately.
It promised to restore Stormont’s old ruling party to some of its former glory. Then it ran into an iceberg of public indifference. And when even party leader Reg Empey failed to make it to the lifeboats in the early hours of yesterday, you could almost hear the band on deck playing: “Nearer My God to Thee.”
Not that the UUP are given to invoking the divine on count night. That sort of thing is usually left to the DUP, whose successful candidates rarely fail to credit God as part of the election team. So it was in Ballymena, after Ian Paisley jnr won the seat held for decades by his father, in the process routing the challenge of dissident unionist Jim Allister.
“Little Ian” quoted the Book of Joshua: “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.”
He then developed the theme: apologising for what sometimes looked like “arrogance” on his and his supporters’ part, he insisted this was only the natural self-confidence of having the help of “such a great God”.
But finally, lest anyone assume the Almighty was exclusively contracted to the DUP, Paisley jnr also led his party in a song about one of God’s other responsibilities: saving the queen. This made for a rare moment of unionist unity as Mr Allister, who has not been on the same hymn sheet as the Paisleys lately, had no choice but to join in. The harmony ended with the music, however.
Even as the TUV leader began his rostrum speech, the DUP streamed out of the hall, oblivious to his insults.
“I would rather lose and hold on to my principles,” he lectured their retreating backs, “than sacrifice my principles for the trappings of office.”
Little Ian’s triumph was marred momentarily by the shock news from East Belfast, just then filtering through. Reporters seeking reaction from either of the Ians to Peter Robinson’s defeat were at first treated to that most unusual sound: Paisleyite silence (in stereo). The consoling words came later, perhaps after they checked that the result had really happened.
By contrast, Naomi Long’s triumph was a silver lining for Allister. On a night when a proud Paisley snr reminded reporters that he had given his son the same forenames as himself – Ian Richard Kyle – the twin IRKs seemed to have seriously annoyed the TUV leader. But the latter rejoiced in Robinson’s demise and predicted that one day, “he [Paisley jnr] will go the same way”.
As he awaited confirmation of his own re-election, the North’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was kinder to the DUP leader. And emphasising his long journey towards the political centre, he excoriated the dissident republicans who had temporarily disrupted the count in Derry.
“The no-hope party” and “absolutely disgraceful” he called them, adding: “These people should stop their stupid activity and go away and give us all peace.”
Even apart from Naomi Long, it was a triumphant night for Mná na hÉireann – as they don’t usually call them here.
The pain of UCUNF was only added to by the resounding victory of former UUP member Lady Sylvia Hermon, who quit the party in protest at the Tory alliance and held her North Down seat as an independent unionist with a much increased vote.
In South Down, meanwhile, the SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie assumed the seat of her veteran party colleague Eddie McGrady, who promptly presented her with a bouquet of flowers to go with it.
Then the dreary recounts of Fermanagh and South Tyrone reared their heads again and by the time they finished, Michelle Gildernew had held her seat, bringing the number of female MPs to four. Not that this was universally welcomed by members of the gender. After the first count, which had Rodney Connor – the independent candidate supported by both main unionist parties — ahead by eight, at least one female politician was among those rejoicing.
Arlene Foster, the Fermanagh MLA who temporarily replaced Peter Robinson as acting First Minister earlier this year, was clearly thrilled by Gildernew’s apparent defeat. “It just goes to show that every vote counts,” she said, which appeared to vindicate the decision of the DUP and UUP not to contest the seat. She was right about the general point. But the final margin was even closer.
And when the music finally stopped, Connor was the one without a seat, stranded by a string quartet of Sinn Féin votes, which are unlikely to be at play in Westminster, whatever else happens.