The republican party Sinn Féin obtained more than half of the councilor posts after the local elections held last Thursday in Northern Ireland, according to the provisional official results released today.
The political arm of the disbanded guerrilla group of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) interpreted the good results as support from the population for the restitution of the Northern Irish autonomous institutions, suspended after the withdrawal of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the main monarchical force, from the coalition government that demands the peace agreements signed after more than three decades of violence.
So far, after two days of counting, the Republican group confirmed 99 councilor positions, compared to 85 for the DUP, 40 for the Alliance Party, 36 for Ulster Unionists, 21 for the Social Democratic and Labor Party and 18 for other formations. reported the Europa Press news agency.
The elections were held under a system of proportional representation and in them 462 councilor posts were decided.
Historically, turnout has been slightly higher in areas considered nationalist or republican and lower in those considered unionist.
“We will see what the final result is when the count is over and which is the most important party, but if Sinn Féin is the most voted in the local elections I think that, as we have already said consistently, there are lessons that unionism must learn “, admitted the leader of the DUP, Jeffrey Donaldson.
“We cannot continue in a situation in which the unionist vote continues to split (…). The result is that seats are given away to Sinn Féin and other parties. Unionism must look where it is going and regroup,” said the top leader of the grouping favorable to maintaining ties with London.
A year ago, Sinn Féin obtained a historic victory in the elections for the autonomous regional Parliament of Northern Ireland, where they promised to start a “new era”, although they could not govern due to the political blockade by the monarchical opposition.
These new local elections confirm that the Republican force is in the majority, something unprecedented in the 100 years since the partition of the island of Ireland, in 1921.
Source: Ambito
