DUP Wins Parliamentary By-Election in N.IrelandThe Reverend Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party(DUP) has won the South Antrim parliamentary by-election, in a setback for the Northern Ireland peace process.Reverend William McCrea, a bitter opponent of the Good Friday Agreement, received 11,601 votes to give him a 822 majority. The former Mid Ulster MP took what had been traditionally been the second safest seat of the Ulster Unionists, who had a 16,000 majority. The first by-election since the General Election and the creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, it has been seen as a microcosm of the pro- and anti-agreement struggle within unionism across Northern Ireland. The agreement, and particularly its provisions on sharing government with republicans, paramilitary prisoner releases and reforming the Royal Ulster Constabulary, has deeply divided unionism. Six candidates were fighting for the seat left vacant by the death of Ulster Unionist MP Clifford Forsythe in April. He was South Antrim MP for 17 years. For much of the polling day on Thursday polling was sluggish as rain fell on the constituency. Turnout is believed to have been about 43%. The result was annnounced at the Valley Leisure Centre in Newtownabbey early on Friday morning. |
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