Opinion

Allison Morris: Sinn Fein and DUP leaders face tough test after election setbacks

Sinn Féin's John Finucane celebrates with party leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and deputy leader Michelle O'Neill after winning in North Belfast. Picture by Liam McBurney, Press Association
Sinn Féin's John Finucane celebrates with party leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and deputy leader Michelle O'Neill after winning in North Belfast. Picture by Liam McBurney, Press Association Sinn Féin's John Finucane celebrates with party leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and deputy leader Michelle O'Neill after winning in North Belfast. Picture by Liam McBurney, Press Association

The election now over all eyes turn to talks to restore devolution and whether it’s possible to bring back Stormont early next year, if ever.

Boris Johnson is now the cock of the walk with an 80-seat majority and the Brexit stalemate at Westminster is now over as the Tory prime minister vows to ‘Get Brexit Done’.

Locally, the impact of this with the details of future trade arrangements still to be negotiated, will be economically damaging according to expert predictions.

Mitigating this will require local decision making and cooperation that currently does not exist.

But more immediate is the crisis in our health service with workers this week taking to the picket lines.

Every home in Northern Ireland has relied on the NHS at some stage, some homes rely on it more than others.

I stand in solidarity with the workers, nurses, paramedics and essential staff who went on strike this week seeking pay parity with their counterparts in Britain.

It is nothing short of a scandal that they have been undervalued in this way for so long.

And it would seem, going by the election results closer to home, that the voters agree.

When politicians told you what a great response they were getting at the doors they were leaving out the frustration of voters over the crisis in public services.

The day to day impact of no Stormont wasn’t felt for the first year, it wasn’t really that noticeable for the second year.

In fact, issues such as same sex marriage, abortion reform and the much-needed redress for abuse victims were resolved by Westminster.

But three years down the line the lack of local decision making is now impacting on people’s lives.

The DUP had a disastrous election with two of their ten MPs, including their Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds, out of a job. The eight returned are all on drastically decreasing majorities.

The DUP’s style of evangelical unionism is increasingly a turn off for voters who are switching to the socially progressive Alliance Party without so much as a stopover at the Ulster Unionists.

Sinn Féin’s success in North Belfast hides a dire election in terms of vote share across the board.

John Finucane showed the importance of picking the right candidate and not just throwing anyone out and expecting party loyalty to make up for unimpressive politicians.

In Derry, the Foyle seat the party took in 2017 with just a 169 majority wasn’t just lost, the voters turned away from the party in record breaking numbers with SDLP leader Colum Eastwood now holding a bigger majority than the party’s founder John Hume ever did.

Surely now is the time for internal reflection within the big two, but will it be enough to change the toxic working relationship that existed before the assembly collapsed?

The worst thing a bruised Sinn Féin could do now is to go back to the status quo after three years of telling voters that they wouldn’t bring them more of the same under any circumstances.

The punishment for going back into government with an angry and unyielding DUP could well be further losses.

This is a tricky time for the party which is undoubtedly feeling the loss of Martin McGuinness’s steady hand.

If a deal is done in the New Year and Stormont does return it'll be a very different assembly than it was three long years ago, with six empty seats to fill.

There's the two SDLP and one Alliance assembly seats now vacant as a result of the Westminster election and as of this week Sinn Féin have two new spaces at Stormont.

It's been known for quite some time, despite denials from the party, that Máirtín Ó Muilleoir was leaving politics. The former finance minister was more at home networking with affluent Irish America than in the corridors of Stormont.

The loss of rising star Megan Fearon was more of a surprise, the South Armagh activist was the face of new Sinn Féin, university educated, outspoken and not afraid to get involved in controversial issues. They need to attract more people like her rather than losing them.

Carla Lockhart’s Upper Bann DUP seat has also to be filled as she heads off to Westminster.

Christmas will not be a relaxing time for the political leadership of the big two, they have their feet to the fire and this is a test for them to show both strength and compromise, not an easy act to juggle.