Letter: After the election we as a unionist people need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and move on

By Letters
Published 8th Jun 2023, 01:33 BST
DUP vote held up well in the council elections, despite the pressure on them. If unionists came out in the numbers of nationalists things would be differentDUP vote held up well in the council elections, despite the pressure on them. If unionists came out in the numbers of nationalists things would be different
DUP vote held up well in the council elections, despite the pressure on them. If unionists came out in the numbers of nationalists things would be different
A letter from Nigel Mooney:

As a lifelong unionist voter I, like many others, am disappointed at the outcome of the recent council elections. The results tilted in favour of Sinn Fein, which emerged as the largest party overall. Having said that, I think of the glass half full rather than half empty. The Democratic Unionist Party vote help up well with 173,033 votes at 23.3% of the total, considering the pressure and bullying tactics used by our opponents to try to force the DUP back into government, considering Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s brave stand against this Windsor Framework and the threat that that poses to our very identity.

Also taking into account the other unionist parties we gained overall 285,620 votes at 38.4%. Sinn Fein and the SDLP vote along with People Before Profit (PBP), which in your paper are classed as a united Ireland party, totals 303,848 votes or 40.6%. We shouldn’t forget as Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said himself the nationalist vote hasn’t really gone up since 1998, when it came out at 39.9%. If unionist numbers came out to vote in the same numbers in majority unionist areas to the same amount as nationalists have done of course things would be different.

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We as a unionist people need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and move on, between now and the next election when it comes, with the general election probably next year. We’ll have challenges to face, to present a brand of unionism that will appeal to those who wouldn’t consider themselves unionists culturally, yes nationalists who could be convinced to see the benefits of Northern Ireland remaining in the UK financially, and really look to align some policies within our main unionist parties to at least maybe consider pacts to maximise votes where I am in the west of the province.

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Finally as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I would draw our people to the scriptures the lord spoke to Solomon in a way which could easily apply to our situation today: ‘If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’

How we in Ulster today need to hear and do as God would wish at this fraught time that we are in.

Nigel Mooney, Waterside, Londonderry

Related topics:Sinn FeinJeffrey DonaldsonIrelandSDLP