The various post mortems of from the West Tyrone byelection won't be especially animated affairs and are unlikely to feature any gnashing of teeth or broken crockery. It was a lacklustre campaign and a mildly dramatic polling day, followed by a largely unremarkable result.
Sinn Féin, as expected, topped the poll but with a reduced majority. The result won't cause any panic among republicans, however, as Órfhlaith Begley was a new, untested candidate whose vote appears based on party loyalty rather than any personal endorsement. Other factors potentially impacting on the Sinn Féin vote include a degree of apathy and a protest at the circumstances of former MP Barry McElduff's resignation – though there is little to suggest any significant outrage in this republican heartland at the now infamous 'Kingsmill' tweet.
The DUP too saw its vote drop, albeit by a lower margin, but again the performance is unlikely to prompt widespread soul searching in the party ranks. There was never any chance of Tom Buchanan taking the seat and you sense many among the unionist electorate knew this, and therefore stayed at home.
However, it was a good day for both the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists in what could have been a disastrous byelection. SDLP candidate Daniel McCrossan, who saw his share of the vote increase by nearly five per cent, will certainly be encouraged by Thursday's performance, which suggests the constituency party's internal squabbling and resignations of recent years are now a thing of the past.
Likewise, the Ulster Unionists will be glad of a modest bounce, given that the party's vote has been steadily sliding southwards for a decade or more. However, for leader Robin Swann to regard the West Tyrone result as indicative of a renaissance would be premature.
Alliance held the ever so slender middle ground but still has a long way to go before it can mount a serious challenge in any constituency west of the Bann.
