SINN Féin’s Órfhlaith Begley comfortably secured her seat in West Tyrone in the early hours of today, but the count at Omagh Leisure Centre saw the Alliance Party break new ground west of the Bann.
Fresh from securing the first Alliance seat in Omagh for 22 years in May, Stephen Donnelly’s 3,979 votes represented a four-fold increase on its performance in the 2017 Westminster race.
He said the party will now be a serious contender for one of West Tyrone’s Assembly seats in any potential election next year.
“I think people realise now, whether it’s east or west of the Bann, Alliance is viable positive, progressive alternative that they can bide to and can generally challenge the status quo,” said Mr Donnelly.
SDLP candidate Daniel McCrossan said it had been “a very good day for middle of the road parties in West Tyrone”.
“The 7,300 votes is the highest I’ve got in this constituency yet and it’s certainly the highest we’ve had for a long number years.”
Both Sinn Féin and DUP improved on the number of votes they secured in last year’s by-election, but saw a dip in their overall percentage share.
The parties performed well below the high watermark of 2017. In Ms Begley’s case, her 16,544 votes from Friday was 5,516 below the record 22,060 taken by Barry McElduff two years ago.
Nevertheless, the returning MP said voters in West Tyrone had come out in numbers to “reject Tory austerity, to reject Brexit and send a very clear message that we in West Tyrone see our future in a new and united Ireland”.
She added: “On the doors people were very enthused and obviously Brexit is the issue of the day.
“This is a border constituency that is going to be detrimentally impacted by Brexit. The people on the doors wanted to have that conversation, to reiterate their concerns.”
But DUP candidate Tom Buchanan said the overwhelming issue he encountered on doorsteps was the absence of the Assembly.
“People right across the divide, doesn’t matter from what class or creed they come from, they are suffering and they are hurting, because there is no government, no delivery and we can understand that.”
Ahead of the resumption of talks on Monday, he said: “I realise there are issues that Sinn Féin feel strongly about. But set them aside, let’s get the Executive going, deal with those issues that are causing so much concern and hurt to our people, get those issues dealt with, and bring these other issues and discuss them when the Assembly is up and going.”
Elsewhere, the UUP suffered another poor election in West Tyrone, achieving just a 6.7 per cent share, while former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín’s new republican party Aontú fell just short of 1,000 votes in the constituency. Despite its decision to step aside in a series of constituencies as part of a pro-remain alliance, the Green Party failed to improve on its 2017 result in West Tyrone.
NAME VOTE % SINCE 2018 BY-ELECTION
Órfhlaith Begley (SF) 16,544 (39.9%) -6.8%
Tom Buchanan (DUP) 9,066 (21.9%) -2%
Daniel McCrossan (SDLP) 7,330 (17.7%) -0.2%
Stephen Donnelly (All) 3,979 (9.6%) +6.4%
Andy McKane (UUP) 2,774 (6.7%) -1.6%
James Hope (Aontú) 972 (2.4) +2.4%
Susan Glass (Greens) 521 (1.3) +1.3%
Electorate 66,259
Turnout 41,375 62.44% (+7.3%)
Majority 7,478
