Our Day Will Come: 2024 Northern Irish Assembly Election RP

[Hestia]

Hey folks! I decided to give it a shot to run another RP on a bit of a smaller scale this time. I'll give background (for those of you who may not follow Northern Irish politics closely), the current state of play, and the available parties to choose. 

Background

Stormont elections were last held on the 5th of May, 2022, just under 2 years ago. Those elections were won by Sinn Fein, who captured 27 seats to the DUP's 25. The popular vote was even more slanted, with Sinn Fein taking 29% of the vote to the DUP's 21.3%. 

In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union via referendum. At this time, Northern Ireland voted to remain by a margin of 56-44. This held great uncertainty for Northern Ireland, due to the potential for customs checks on the border with Ireland and the potential threat of nationalist unrest. In 2017, the DUP formed a confidence and supply agreement with the Conservatives in Westminster, allowing the DUP more control nationwide. However, that control didn't last long.

In 2019, the European Parliament elections saw the Alliance Party, a non-unionist, non-nationalist force take third place for the first time from the Ulster Unionists. The Conservatives held a snap election in December 2019, where they won with a huge majority. For the first time, Irish nationalist parties won more seats than traditional unionist parties. While Sinn Fein declines to take up their seats, in addition to the DUP, the SDLP currently holds 2 seats at Westminster and the Alliance Party holds 1. 

Flash forward to 2021 and the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement that was agreed to between the EU and the UK resulted in the Northern Ireland Protocol. The protocol governs the customs issues between Ireland and Northern Ireland and allowed the region to be technically outside the EU single market, but EU free movement of goods and EU Customs Union rules still apply. This means that goods can flow freely between Ireland and the North, as well as between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, but not from the rest of the UK to Northern Ireland. The terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol allow the Northern Irish Assembly at Stormont to terminate or continue the protocol arrangements. The UK government has confirmed this. The DUP collapsed the Stormont government in retaliation, resulting in anger from nationalist and unaligned parties.

2022 Northern Irish Assembly Elections were then held on the 5th of May of that year, largely in the shadow of the Protocol. The DUP and TUV (large unionist forces) were opposed to the Protocol. The UUP was as well, but to a lesser extent. The St. Andrews Agreement of 2006 allowed the largest party of either a unionist or nationalist force to nominate the First Minister. For all of its history, this has been a unionist from either the UUP or DUP. For the first time, Sinn Fein topped the poll and were given the right to nominate their leader, Michelle O'Neill, as First Minister. The DUP refused to nominate a Deputy First Minister, and Stormont remained collapsed after the elections. 

Elections were then due in October of that year, but Northern Irish Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris postponed them until January 2024. Now, time is up. Due to the unwillingness to get into the issue once again, elections are due to go forth on the 18th of January, 2024. 

State of Play

Party Name: Seat Count (Popular Vote Percentage) U (Unionist)/ N (Nationalist) / O (Other)

Sinn Fein: 27 Seats (29.0%) N

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP): 25 Seats (21.3%) U

Alliance Party: 17 Seats (13.5%) O

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP): 9 Seats (11.2%) U

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP): 8 Seats (9.1%) N

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV): 1 Seat (7.6%) U

Initial Polling

Sinn Fein: 29.5% @Rezi

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP): 25.0% @Blockmon

Alliance Party: 14.5% @WVProgressive

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP): 10.5% @Pringles

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP): 7.0% @Fbarbarossa

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV): 6.0% @The Blood

Undecided: 7.5%

Feel free to claim a party, any party! I'm going to keep it at these six though for now, just to make it a bit more manageable. Once you claim a party, you'll get a little blurb about your party's goals and state of play for that specific one. It will be in the traditional forum quick shot model (3 actions, no endorsements for this one, but there'll be something a bit extra I'll explain when we get into it - nothing time consuming of course, just some added spice) and I hope to move turns at least once every three days, if possible.

[The Blood]

TUV for me, please.

[Rezi]

Sinn Fein please.

[WVProgressive]

I'll take Alliance, please.

[Fbarbarossa]

May I play the Conservative party? They do run in Ireland!

[Hestia]

1 hour ago, Fbarbarossa said:

May I play the Conservative party? They do run in Ireland!

For now, I would say no as long as we dont have 6 yet. The odds they gain a seat under Northern Irish rules are pretty slim at the moment.

[WVProgressive]

1 hour ago, Fbarbarossa said:

May I play the Conservative party? They do run in Ireland!

You could be the Ulster Unionist Party, they're practically Northern Ireland's Conservative Party, in fact until 1972 they were effectively the party's Northern Irish branch.

[Fbarbarossa]

You know what? I'll try to be serious for once, give me the SDLP

[Pringles]

UUP please 

[Hestia]

Just need a DUP! I'll be posting some blurbs periodically as I get them written to set the stage!

[Blockmon]

On 10/7/2023 at 5:49 PM, Hestia said:

Just need a DUP! I'll be posting some blurbs periodically as I get them written to set the stage!

gladly take the DUP

[Hestia]

Ms. O’Neill @Rezi ,

As the head of Sinn Fein, you have led the party to unparalleled heights. In Stormont, you were the rightfully elected First Minister - until the DUP refused to enter government with you. The collapse at Stormont has led to boons for your party electorally, but has hampered your ability to ingrain yourselves within Northern Ireland politics as a feasible party to lead the region. That means your lead, while still tangible, is more fragile than it appears. 

 

At the last election, you said that you were ushering in a new era. You likely knew then that it was unlikely the DUP would come to Stormont, but few could have predicted just how deadlocked this era was going to be. Your party became the largest party in local government in 2023 for the first time ever, which has created even more opportunity at a local level. 

 

Your party is popular, but it is important to acknowledge your weaknesses. With links to the IRA in the past, unionists simply view Sinn Fein as a poison. They will never vote for you. The way to expand, as you have been, is to squeeze the SDLP and Alliance. Your own party recently collapsed Stormont in 2017 over the Renewable Heat scandal and the lack of an Irish Language Act in Northern Ireland. 

 

Ms. O’Neill, you are the most popular politician in Northern Ireland. Many think that your personal popularity is something to ride this election off of. But there are bigger problems in Northern Ireland, structural ones. The region is despairing, driven by divisions strongest since the Good Friday Agreement. Without an executive since the 2022 election, the region has not been able to move forward on issues that matter most to your party’s base - uplifting the poor and improving Northern Ireland’s health services. 

 

To be successful this election, Ms. O’Neill, you have a fairly low bar. Your party is reluctant to get rid of leaders even in poor elections. You have been the most successful of them all, in the Republic or the North. You could get second and still retain your leadership, surely. But the party’s baseline is another victory, even a narrow one, over the DUP. A thumping by the DUP would potentially result in your ouster, but it isn’t for certain. Still, the ultimate prize - First Minister - is completely out of your hands. Whether or not you can convince the DUP to return to Stormont with the Protocol intact is perhaps the greatest test of any Northern Irish political leader.

[Hestia]

Mr. Donaldson @Blockmon ,

Your unionists are in disarray. After Arlene Foster led your party to great victories, including at Stormont and a Conservative-DUP government in Westminster, she stepped aside. In 2020, your party signed the New Decade, New Approach agreement with Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Fein, reforming the executive. That was about the last victory for your party. 

 

In 2021, the DUP ousted Foster with letters of no confidence. You ran to succeed her, narrowly defeated by Edwin Poots. Claims arose that Poots and supporters had bullied Foster supporters and some of your supporters walked out of his leadership speech. Poots soon allowed his close ally, Paul Givan, to head Northern Ireland. In return, he let Westminster pass an Irish Language Law for Northern Ireland, as was agreed to by the DUP in the New Decade, New Approach agreement. The DUP then forced him to step down, in which you took over.

 

As leader, your top priority was said to be the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Protocol. And sir, that is no easy task. A crown jewel for the republicans, they will never abandon it. Alliance supports it wholeheartedly, and all of Westminster backs it as well. Even the UUP is uncertain if they can continue to oppose it. It seems inevitable your party will have to cave. This election may be your last opportunity to give unionists a fighting chance to defeat the Protocol - and even if you win, the odds are still very much against you. If the Protocol has consumed Northern Ireland, it has ravaged your party. When the Windsor Framework was agreed to by Rishi Sunak, he undercut the DUP and unionists hard. The Conservatives will not come and save you. 

 

For the very first time, your party was overtaken by Sinn Fein at Stormont and locally. The Conservative Northern Irish secretary called upon you to end your boycott of Stormont and work with Sinn Fein. No longer do they hurl stones at Sinn Fein - you are alone. 

 

Your party has done what it can to try to pull itself out of the doldrums, but you remain personally unpopular. Your best hope may be to rally unionists to your side and hope that will be enough to edge Sinn Fein out of first. Your task is very tall. Unionists are counting on you. 

 

In order to be successful this election, Mr. Donaldson, you will have to win first place. Your party will not accept another second place to Sinn Fein - at least for you personally. You aren’t well liked within the DUP, and if you come second in seat count again, they will toss you out. However, for your party to be successful, a close second to Sinn Fein will be enough. Disastrous results could see you narrowly escaping Alliance’s popular vote from going over yours. You have set a very tough course in trying to get rid of the Irish Sea barrier. Even your best result may not be able to take it down.

 

[Hestia]

Ms. Long @WVProgressive ,

Your stewardship of Alliance has brought the party from fifth place to third in record time. From having no seats in Westminster to winning your first seat in North Down and stealing the third European Parliament seat in 2019 from the UUP has solidified your hold on third place. Largely credited were your party’s slogans. First, to break free from the ‘orange and green politics’ of the DUP and Sinn Fein, as well as unionists and nationalists. Second, in your vocal opposition to Brexit, using the slogan “demand better”. 

 

In the 2019 election, you received 7.9%. In 2022, you received 16.8%. Your party holds an interesting place in Northern Irish politics, one that has benefitted you recently while hurting you historically. In 2022, you said that the DUP and Sinn Fein were “addicted to crisis and conflict”. Many agree with that statement today. 

 

Despite this, your party still does hurt from the fact that you are neither unionist nor nationalist. Unionist voters say that your commitment to the Northern Irish Protocol - one of the stronger voices for it - positions you right alongside nationalists. Nationalist voters say that because you don’t wish to exit the Union, you are unionist by default. Both sides alike say that since you do not hold a community, a vote for Alliance is wasted since you will not be able to hold the First Minister or Deputy First Minister positions.

 

Your campaign has potential to be transformative - both for your party and Northern Ireland. Your transcendence from green and orange politics leads you to be uniquely primed to take on issues that affect Northern Ireland in a day to day manner. Healthcare, housing, and cost of living are just as important here as they are elsewhere in Britain. Some in Alliance want a riskier strategy - eliminating the requirement for a First Minister or Deputy First Minister to come from a unionist or nationalist community. This would, in practical terms,  enable a potential Sinn Fein-Alliance coalition to take power if your party was able to defeat the DUP for second. 

 

In order to remain leader, your bar is also very low. You have helped the party move from fifth to third, and even vied with the DUP for second during some polling in 2022. Another third place will surely keep that position. However, being cast down to fourth would call into question your campaign habits and put you on risky ice. Losing to both the UUP and SDLP would surely result in your ouster. Finishing second would be a watershed moment for Northern Irish politics. If you can do that…perhaps things will really begin to change. 

 

[Hestia]

Mr. Beattie @Pringles ,

Your party is in stagnation mode. You are not falling hard, like the SDLP, but many are afraid that you will follow your former coalition members’ descent into complete irrelevancy. The UUP is very unique, and in doing so, has twisted itself in trying to appeal to more moderate unionists that flirt with Alliance and more traditional unionists who have tied themselves to the DUP. In doing so, you have twisted yourselves into a pretzel. 

 

Your party has been slipping for years, culminating in your status as fourth largest party in Northern Ireland and the loss of the European Parliament seat in 2019 to Alliance. That same year, your party lost out on representation in Westminster by just 57 votes in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, where you failed to defeat Sinn Fein. Locked out of Westminster and with Stormont idle, you have very few ways to get the word out. 

 

The UUP is, on paper, opposed to the Northern Ireland Protocol. However, your party backed Remain in 2016, the only unionist party to do so. Ironically, Remain’s victory likely would’ve meant a stronger unionist force. Unfortunately for you, no one rewards you with any thanks in retrospect. In the 2022 elections, your party worked with the DUP and TUV to hold joint-unionist rallies against the Protocol. However, as the other two parties began to invite unionist paramilitaries, the UUP pulled out of them entirely. 

 

That leaves questions - questions for you to answer. The Protocol seems here to stay, but unionists are not ready to hear that. Despite that, some more moderate members have been picked off by Alliance, repulsed by your party’s not backing the Protocol. It’s up to you how to square that circle. You can elect to run on more bread-and-butter issues, but you won’t be able to ignore the Protocol entirely. Oh - and by the way - Rishi Sunak’s approval rating is almost 70 points underwater in Northern Ireland. The Conservatives will not be able to help you. 

 

At the very least, getting Stormont up and running again is positive news for you. But you have really no say on whether or not that happens. Some whispers in far corners of your party argue for a change to the rules, just as Alliance does. But this calls for a coalition to be made with just a single party from another community, not the largest. In practicality, this would mean a Sinn-Fein-UUP deal. These are risky calls that would need Westminster’s approval. But as Stormont remains lapsed, maybe it becomes more likely by the year.

 

In order to continue as leader, you will likely need to at least lodge a strong fourth place, above 10% of the popular vote. Slipping below that would certainly mean your ouster. A third place return would certainly secure your spot. Your job is tough, and much of it lies outside of your control. But as is politics, eh?

 

[Hestia]

Mr. Eastwood @Fbarbarossa ,

Your party, much like the UUP, is in a very complex - but even worse spot. On paper, your party should be doing better. Nationalists are growing in power at Stormont, your party holds two MPs in Westminster - the largest Northern Ireland contingent that attends besides the DUP - but are still languishing in a far fifth place. Missteps and sheer dominance by Sinn Fein have hurt your party, with few seeing a path back to serious power anytime soon.

 

2019 was your high water mark. In an election defined by Brexit, Remain-backing parties stood together and lodged joint candidacies in many Northern Irish constituencies, mostly targeting the DUP. The SDLP managed to win one of those, led by unorthodox new-Belfast South MP Claire Hanna. You won the other, besting Sinn Fein in Foyle. Westminster elections are good for your party - allowing you to stand on the fact your party takes seats there, while Sinn Fein continues their abstentionism. Unfortunately for you, that does not translate to Stormont.

 

Your party backs the Protocol, it backed Remain, and yet you are still roadkill in polls. Your party has historically cooperated with the Labour Party, who seems to be on the precipice of power. But in 2019, your party approved a cooperation agreement with Fianna Fail, an Irish party opposed to Sinn Fein. This made Labour in Ireland very angry, which has poisoned the well with some in Westminster as well. Help from Keir Starmer seems a distant prospect. Ms. Hanna even left your party over the partnership, though was persuaded to rejoin to pursue the South Belfast constituency in the election that winter. It is likely best that you say that the deal with Fianna Fail is dead, since it is in all but name anyways. Still, some say that explicitly returning to a deal with a UK-based party calls into question your nationalist credentials - whose voters you need to claw back from Sinn Fein.

 

The SDLP’s calling card against Sinn Fein is its moderation. Your party has always been one of the political process, and John Hume remains a popular figure, rest his soul, across the political spectrum. Together, the SDLP leader and the UUP leader won a Nobel Prize for their efforts in brokering the Good Friday Agreement. History that is long in the past now. 

 

Success in this election will be difficult, Mr. Eastwood, and prior missteps make your path that much harder. Another fifth place, especially a distant one, would likely mean your ouster. Your former deputy, Nichola Mallon, and your fellow MP, Claire Hanna, would be popular favorites to succeed you. A drop to sixth below the TUV would likely mean your outright banishment from future party events. A return to fourth or third, however, would mean you would be secure for another term as leader. You said in the leadup to the 2022 Assembly election that “the SDLP stands on its own two feet”. But for how much longer?

[Hestia]

Mr. Allister @The Blood ,

We can all be very rational and say that advice to you isn’t usually the best. Your party operates how it wishes, we all know that. But still, the result in 2022 is encouraging for your party - but shows the limits of the unionist vote. You have little choice but to try to outrace the DUP to its right, but there’s little sign yet that you can completely defeat them. Luckily for you, you don’t have to. 

 

Despite returning just one MLA in the 2022 election, your party raced out to a 7.6% popular vote total - up from 2.6% in the previous election. You were only about a point and a half from overtaking the SDLP in the total vote, but ended up with 7 fewer seats than them. The math is just difficult for you to break through from your North Antrim beachhead. 

 

One quirk of your party is that it does not support the Good Friday Agreement. Not the Protocol - the Good Friday Agreement. Of course, you don’t support the Protocol either, but no one would expect you to. Your party will never agree to go to Stormont and sit in either the First Minister or Deputy First Minister’s chairs. That’s a divisive stance that you’ve been able to get away with because you haven’t come first. But as your party rises, you will be faced with greater questions about the point of voting for TUV instead of the DUP if you won’t even agree to lead the region if you win. 

 

Your party is relatively new, formed in 2007 as a protest movement. The TUV typically fights elections on just unionist/nationalist lines, but still are socially conservative and emphasize those as well. You’re not going to win any nationalists, and many moderate unionists are put off from you as well. Your best hope is to eat into the DUP, weakening them and causing more chaos inside their party to let hard-Eurosceptics take over and continue opposition to the Protocol. 

 

Success for you personally is retaining your seat. Your hold on the TUV is iron-clad and no one can really change that until someone else wins a seat or you lose yours. Abysmal results would see you lose your seat, while a great success would be to gain more. The party expects to win at least 1 or 2 more seats this election, as math and the quirks of the Northern Ireland system kept you out from gaining more last time. Overtaking the SDLP would be considered a barnstorming election. There’s little else to say about the TUV and its chances, Mr. Allister, besides…Northern Ireland braces for your campaign. 

[Hestia]

Note: I'll give further instructions for turns and everything tomorrow, when it will officially kick off!

[Hestia]

Our Day Will Come: 2024 Northern Irish Assembly Election RP 

Turn Guides

Hi all! This is a brief overview of what the RP is going to be like. It's going to be very similar to other quick-shots, but I've thought of one or two things to change it up a little bit. Here we go!

1) There will be 10 turns, following which will be the election. Typical of a quickshot on the forum. 

2) You will be allowed 3 actions each turn. There aren't endorsements, as they aren't a huge thing in Northern Ireland (and there'd be a very limited number of endorsement-capable people/media orgs). 

3) There will be 2 debates of which all six parties are invited. They will take place on turn 3 and on turn 7. 

4) You can ask for private polling on one region of the eighteen on the map below every turn. Keep in mind that private polls are not completely reliable! You may get some tilted results, but they will be +/- 5 points for each party. I'll either DM you here or on Discord with the result and they will come after the turn has been processed, not before.

Those are the typical rules. Here's the two new things to keep in mind as you go!

5) You have 3 media interview events. These can be with the BBC Northern Ireland, Channel 4, RTE One, or ITV. You get to decide where to place these. These are akin to supercharged events and are double the points (both for or against). You do not have to use all 3 if you do not wish to. Please denote when you use one so I can keep track in the spreadsheet. These replace one generic event, they do not add to it. 

6) On turn 10, I will ask for you to devote 5 regions below for Get Out the Vote (GOTV) tactics. This won't affect momentum, but will enable you to potentially have a stronger (or weaker) result in some key areas on Election Day. 

@Rezi @Blockmon @WVProgressive @Pringles @Fbarbarossa @The Blood

Turns can be moved at any time after all six of you get in events, but I will try to move it at least twice a week. Once between Monday-Wednesday and the other between Thursday-Sunday. If it can move faster, we may, but we'll see. 

Campaigning is devolved into Northern Irish Constituencies for Westminster (18 Northern Irish Westminster seats * 5 = 90 potential Northern Irish Assembly seats)

Campaigning will take place in these 18 regions. N, W, S, E denote North, West, East, and South Belfast. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask! 

[The Blood]

Event One: Enough is Enough

Jim Allister sat in his office, amused. He had just got off the phone with Nigel Farage. On the eve of the TUV launching its assembly campaign, who else would he talk to except the titan of British right-wing populism, and an expert on Irish issues at that? Jim knew the advice Nigel provided was sage, and he intended to implement it fully in his upcoming campaign. To come into its own, the TUV must step out of its role as an agitator, a fringe unionist sideshow. It must instead become the champion for the fed-up, the vanguard of the revolutionary conservative position on all matters, yet still centered on correcting the mistake of '98 and tearing down the undemocratic power-sharing system. Jim finally got up, prepared for the day to come. 

North Antrim, TUV Campaign Launch:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the TUV is standing in this assembly election because there is a rot at the heart of Northern Irish politics. This rot is not limited to the contrived, undemocratic, and failed mandatory coalitions which have stoppered good government, or to the terrorists who for two decades have been allowed to stand in these elections. No, this rot is much deeper, and now threatens the very soul of Northern Ireland. This rot is found in the open border to our south, marking yet another of our capitulations to IRA terror. It is found in the erosion of Christian, family values, as Islamic fundamentalists pour across our open border and social experimenters attempt to rewrite the definitions of marriage and biological sex. This rot is discovered in the parties opposing our cause, be they faux unionists, anti-family liberals, or radical socialist terrorists. And finally, this rot is uncovered in the very document defining Northern Ireland's devolution, the wicked, terrorist-enabling, and failed Good Friday Agreement. Well, in tearing down this rot in our politics, the TUV recognizes the only solution is to tear this entire political system down! The TUV will bring the mandatory-coalition system to its knees with the fury of the voting public, and with the power of the ballot box, we will force a proper peace for Ireland which does not concede to terrorists and socialists. If you think Stormont has been dysfunctional these last few years, fear not, because the TUV will send Stormont crashing down, and from its ashes, we can forge a truly democratic system disallowing dangerous radicals. The TUV is the voice for those who have seen our broken system, our society's collapsing morals, an invasion of migrants, and deranged socialists and liberals, and who are ready to say enough is enough! Thank you!"

[WVProgressive]

The Alliance Party’s campaign is kicked off with a gathering in Belfast East, which Party Leader Naomi Long formerly represented as an MP. Dark yellow posters with the Alliance logo, and campaign slogans adorn the drab gray walls. ‘Step Up, Stand Together’, ‘Everyone Else Is Talking About The Union; We’re Talking About Unions’, and ‘Alliance: Government That Works For A Change’ being just a few examples. Alliance’s commitment to inter-community unity is succinctly visualized when the opening statements of the event are given by Naomi Long – a Protestant – and Stephen Farry – a Catholic.

“Our party rejects the divisive view that there are two Northern Irelands. We don’t believe in an Orange Ireland, or a Green Ireland. What we believe in is one Northern Ireland, where people are able to set aside their differences, and work together to improve society for everyone. That is why we are calling for the rule dictating that the first minister, and deputy first minister must come from either a republican, or unionist party. This broken system only allows division to fester, and impedes good governance.”

“Sinn Fein, and the DUP say that a vote Alliance is a wasted vote, we say that any vote not for Alliance is wasted. Sinn Fein, and the DUP have both proven themselves incapable of ruling, as evidenced by Stormont’s perpetual collapse. The Alliance party is uninterested in petty squabbles, or divisive sloganeering. What unites us is far greater than what divides us. We are all Christian. We all pray for our children to inherit a better world than we did. We all need a roof over our head, education for our children, healthcare when we’re sick, and an affordable cost of living. We’re the only party talking about the everyday issues affecting everyone in Northern Ireland.”

“We are calling on all of Northern Ireland to reject the lie of division, and to join arms in the march towards a better future. A future where children are not maimed by paramilitary brutes. A future where we celebrate our diversity. A future where no one must suffer through poverty. That kind of future needs leadership, and Alliance is the only party interested in actual leadership. Vote for the future you want, vote for Alliance.”

[Hestia]

@Rezi @Blockmon @Pringles @Fbarbarossa

If you could get just a launch event up sometime tomorrow, that would be great! Tuesday I have quite a bit of time and can get us going! Thanks! 😎

[Pringles]

Doug Beattie Announces UUP Campaign Effort in Upper Bann. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, people of Northern Ireland. Today we begin the effort to ensure that Unionism, positive, unifying unionism doesn't fall dead in its tracks. The last few years have been a chaotic time for Northern Ireland. But under my leadership, I promised you that we would form a party that reaches all voters. Of any religion, creed, sexuality, or philosophy. I am still committed to that promise. I come into this election issuing a grave warning to you all: If we fail to stop Sinn Fein, unionism may be dead in its tracks. The 2023 local elections were a tough lesson. However, there is also significant blame to place on some of our fellow unionists. The DUP, with its harebrained leadership over the last couple of years, has led to the crisis we find ourselves in today. I'm calling on voters across the entire political spectrum: Reject demagoguery and division, reject harebrained antics, reject opportunist parties who take no stance on the defining issues of Northern Ireland, vote for principled Unionist leadership, vote for positive unionism, VOTE UUP!"

[Hestia]

17 hours ago, Hestia said:

@Rezi @Blockmon @Pringles @Fbarbarossa

If you could get just a launch event up sometime tomorrow, that would be great! Tuesday I have quite a bit of time and can get us going! Thanks! 😎

Just need @Rezi @Blockmon and @Fbarbarossa

[Rezi]

Michelle O'Neill opens Sinn Fein campaign in Craighavon

"I'm honored to have the opportunity to be here with all of you today. As you all know very well, the people of Northern Ireland have continually handed Sinn Fein a clear and concise mandate to govern our province. But that doesn't matter to the unionists in this country! They would rather sit down and deny the will of the people than come to the table in good faith. And frankly, it's embarrassing to the people of our nation! They couldn't deal with the mandate we were given, so they threw a hissy fit and let Stormont remain in shambles. The English are laughing at us as the good people of Northern Ireland attempt to strike each other down rather than band together as a people of one history, one culture. We can not let this happen! We can not let our nation be embarrassed, we can not let our culture be erased, we must fight, and we must win! Right now, Sinn Fein is the only party that is truly fighting for a better future for Ireland. And the people know it! twenty-nine percent, thirty-one percent, these have been our best results ever. But you know what? It's not enough. We need a bigger mandate, an even clearer mandate! We can make history this year, Ireland. And you know what? I think it's about time. Vote for a Sinn Fein that understands the past while moving towards the future, a Sinn Fein that stands for every Irish man, woman, and child. A Sinn Fein that wants to govern this as a serious country! Vote for Ireland, vote for Sinn Fein!"