DUP had ‘very good day’ as NI vote count continues

By News Desk

BELFAST: Vote counting continued across Northern Ireland on Saturday following the local government elections with around a third of the 462 seats expected to be filled before the final make-up of the region’s 11 councils could be revealed.

The first day of the count saw gains for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the centralist Alliance Party, while the Ulster Unionists suffered some losses. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said his party had had a very good day.

“I am delighted with some of our results west of the Bann, we are taking extra new seats in places where we haven’t done before, and pleased that a lot of our sitting councillors have been returned, but we have also got some very good fresh blood coming through,” he said.

At the start of Saturday’s count, the DUP were leading the pack with 81 seats, ahead of Sinn Fein on 74, the UUP on 57, the SDLP on 42 and Alliance on 36. Later, a former Sinn Fein MP who resigned after angering relatives of 10 Protestants shot dead in a sectarian massacre will discover later whether he has won a council seat.

Barry McElduff is standing for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in the local government poll. He stepped down last year after an outcry prompted by him posting a video of himself balancing a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head.

It was put on his Twitter account on the anniversary of the Kingsmills atrocity. Ten workmen were shot dead by republicans in Co Armagh on January 5 1976. The contest was dominated by early gains in the greater Belfast area for the Alliance Party and Green Party, solid performances from Sinn Fein and the DUP and a slump in support for the Ulster Unionists.

Of the smaller parties, the Progressive Unionists suffered a blow in Belfast with the loss of Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston while People Before Profit gained a seat with Fiona Ferguson. The son of a prison officer shot dead by dissident republicans in 2012 was also elected for the DUP.

In Ards and North Down Council, Tom Smith, deselected as a DUP councillor after he voted to light up a council building in rainbow colours, retained his seat as an independent. In Londonderry in the far west, the nationalist SDLP’s Mary Durkan was elected. The barrister is the sister of Stormont Assembly member Mark H Durkan.

The north-west city also saw Anne McCloskey become the first candidate from the anti-abortion all-Ireland Aontu party to be elected. In Belfast, Ulster Unionist councillor Sonia Copeland dedicated her victory to community worker, Ian Ogle, who was stabbed to death on a street in East Belfast in January.

In Antrim and Newtownabbey a former DUP mayor was returned with an increased vote following his recent conviction for drink-driving. Thomas Hogg served a five-month suspension from the council earlier this year. He is one of two councillors to be re-elected after a drink-driving conviction.

Alliance councillor Patrick Brown topped the poll at the Rowallane district electoral area in the Newry, Mourne and Down council. He was caught riding his motorbike while under the influence of alcohol in 2017. Hogg said: “I am overwhelmed to have been elected with 999 votes — my largest ever.” The council election is being conducted by single transferable vote, a proportional representation system. A total of 819 candidates are standing for 462 available seats across 11 council areas in Northern Ireland.