Trimble takes to the streets to woo undecided voters

David Trimble brushes down the lapels of his suit with his two hands, adjusts his spectacles and flicks his hair

David Trimble brushes down the lapels of his suit with his two hands, adjusts his spectacles and flicks his hair. The mannerism denotes a politician bracing himself for another round of Yes campaigning.

He is chatting to party workers and some passers-by in the centre of Omagh, Co Tyrone, with a few reporters and camera crews huddled around them. Detached from this group is Traolaoch Mac Gabain, who observes proceedings with a stern countenance.

"This is the first time I have seen that man that I didn't want to take a swing at him," said Mr Mac Gabain. "I don't like the man. I don't like his politics, but I admire him for taking his chances for peace," he added.

Mr Mac Gabain is a Sinn Fein supporter, and therefore a Yes man in the referendum. But he was not the sort of voter Mr Trimble was trying to woo when he went walkabout in Omagh, Enniskillen and Dungannon yesterday. His target was the undecided unionist voter.

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Omagh is in the heart of Willie Thompson country, the maverick West Tyrone MP who keeps snapping at his leader's heels. Mr Thompson did not bother to welcome Mr Trimble yesterday. But local Ulster Unionist Party councillors and senior members of the party's constituency association turned out in strength.

Eddie Turner, from Strabane, vice-chairman of the West Tyrone constituency association, points to his colleagues as if to say: "That's the answer to Willie".

Beside him, Bertie Moses, a reserved former councillor from Seskinore, near Omagh, said the unionist Yes campaign was going well. A polite man, he is reluctant to be over-critical of Mr Thompson, but there is no doubting his views. "Willie's a good steady man, but he was too quick on it, I thought."

Mr Trimble began his tour of Fermanagh and Tyrone in Enniskillen, outside the Impartial Reporter offices in the town centre, close to the scene of the IRA Remembrance Day bomb which killed 11 people. First to greet him was Bertie Kerr, a UUP councillor from Ballinamallard, about six miles from the town. He told Mr Trimble he had addressed a group of Orangemen from Mid-Ulster in Stewartstown, Co Tyrone, on Monday night. "They were hostile at first, but when they heard our arguments their mood changed."

"That's good, that's good," said Mr Trimble.

Fermanagh District Council has also swung behind the agreement, despite the opposition of two DUP members and an independent nationalist councillor. Mr Kerr is a believer. He argues that Ian Paisley has pulled out of this week's proposed television debates because the DUP leader would not be able to counter the logic of supporting the Belfast Agreement.

"Our problem is that we are campaigning against people who use simple sloganeering - `No Compromise', `No Surrender', `What about the police', `What about the prisoners'; that's their line. Time is needed to explain the agreement. The thing is this thing has to be thought through."

The first woman Mr Trimble meets on his brief canvass is polite but non-committal. So has she not yet figured which way she will vote? "I am far from undecided," she tells The Irish Times with vehemence. "I am a definite No. That's what my conscience is telling me, and that's the way I'll be voting." Mr Trimble sweeps on with his entourage. Across the road from him, Tom Lehane, in rich Mayo accent, shouts: "Keep it up, boy, keep it going!" Mr Trimble waves at him. Mr Lehane has been living in Enniskillen for a dozen years, has a vote and will vote Yes - "anything to give peace a chance".

In Enniskillen, Omagh and Dungannon yesterday, Mr Trimble tells reporters that if the vote in favour is 70 per cent or more, then the No camp is sidelined - enough unionists will have supported it. If it's below 60 per cent, then the Yes camp is in trouble. "If it's between 60 per cent and 70 per cent, then it's a matter of judgment."

On the street in Enniskillen a retired civil servant and his wife, both unionists, are firmly in favour of the agreement, although the sight of the rapturous reception accorded to the Balcombe Street Gang at the Sinn Fein ardfheis almost changed their minds. "SF - Sick Fenians, that's what it stands for; that was clapping killing. I could easily have voted No when I saw that, but I have to think of the longer view."