Sinn Fein has emerged from the Assembly election as the largest party in the rural constituencies of West Tyrone, Fermanagh-South Tyrone and Mid Ulster. Sinn Fein took three of the six seats in Mid Ulster, increased its vote by 10 percentage points and took two seats in each of the other two constituencies.
The Ulster Unionists suffered as a result of division in the party, particularly in Fermanagh-South Tyrone, where an Enniskillen bomb victim, Mr Jim Dixon, a former party member, polled particularly well for the United Kingdom Unionist Party. Mr Dixon failed to get elected, even with more than 4,200 first-preference votes. The combined UUP vote in the constituency fell from 32 per cent in the 1996 Forum elections to less than 25 per cent.
In Mid-Ulster, where one of the party's candidates, Mr John Junkin, was opposed to the Belfast Agreement, the UUP vote was also down. The party's share of the vote fell from 18 per cent in 1996 to less than 14 per cent, and just one Ulster Unionist candidate, Mr Billy Armstrong, was elected.
In West Tyrone, the constituency of the dissident Ulster Unionist MP, Mr Willie Thompson, the UUP share of the vote fell from 17.9 per cent to 15.75 per cent. The SDLP vote in the constituency remained steady, but Sinn Fein gained some 1,400 extra votes from last year's Westminster election to take 34 per cent.
The result in Mid Ulster was particularly disappointing for the SDLP, where just one of the party's two candidates, Mr Denis Haughey, was elected. Sinn Fein's tight vote management meant the party took three seats with just over 40 per cent of the vote, while the SDLP had 22 per cent. The SDLP had only one candidate elected in Fermanagh-South Tyrone, but the party took two seats in West Tyrone.
The Rev Willie McCrea of the DUP topped the Mid Ulster poll, and the party increased its share of the vote from 16.5 per cent in 1996 to over 21 per cent. The DUP share did not increase significantly in either West Tyrone or Fermanagh-South Tyrone.