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N. Ireland rivals win mandate

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Northern Ireland's electorate on Friday gave a thumping mandate to Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party to form the next government, setting the stage for a historic arrangement in which for the first time the bitter rivals from two extreme ends of the Catholic/Protestant divide could share power.

While Sinn Fein, led by Gerry Adams, represents the Catholic Republican movement seeking unification with Ireland, Ian Paisley's DUP is the voice of hardline Protestants bitterly opposed to the Republicans. And until recently, DUP leaders refused to even shake hands with Sinn Fein representatives describing them as "terrorists'' because of their past links with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). As the results of Wednesday's elections to the 108-member Provincial Assembly started to come out, Sinn Fein and the DUP emerged as the two major political blocs, leaving other Republican and Unionist groups way behind.

Between them, Sinn Fein and DUP took more than half the first preference votes, both winning more seats than they had in the previous Assembly, dissolved in October 2002 following allegations of spying against the IRA.

Of the 78 results declared by late afternoon, DUP had got 27 seats, and Sinn Fein 24 — both two up from last time.

The moderate Ulster Unionist Party, which was Sinn Fein's coalition partner in the previous government, was decimated.

Under plans drawn up by British and Irish Governments, a new administration should be in place by March 26 failing which the Assembly would be dissolved with London and Dublin assuming joint responsibility for Northern Ireland.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain warned that there could be no change in the March 26 deadline. "I have no discretion on the 26 March situation. Either there is devolution and a power sharing executive in place or it falls away," he said.

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