Northern Ireland

How Doug Beattie survived - with a little help from his (TUV) friends

John O'Dowd is congratulated on topping the poll in Upper Bann by Sinn Fein hierarchy Michelle O'Neill and MaryLou McDonald. Picture: Mal McCann
John O'Dowd is congratulated on topping the poll in Upper Bann by Sinn Fein hierarchy Michelle O'Neill and MaryLou McDonald. Picture: Mal McCann John O'Dowd is congratulated on topping the poll in Upper Bann by Sinn Fein hierarchy Michelle O'Neill and MaryLou McDonald. Picture: Mal McCann

THERE was a certain irony in Doug Beattie's eventual re-election in Upper Bann.

He and running mate Glenn Barr failed to muster a quota between them, and after the first count the UUP leader was in big trouble. Pens and pundits were being sharpened for his political obituary.

Mr Beattie, who looked a pained man at close of counting near midnight on Friday, needed transfers in spades to stay in the race and, in an election of shock high-profile departures, prevent the biggest of them all.

And while it was those of Diane Dodds which eventually got him over the line, the 679 votes he garnered from excluded TUV runner Darrin Foster when the count resumed on Saturday morning proved the clincher.

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The TUV delegation at Magherafelt insisted he'd get "absolutely nothing" from them. If only he'd listened to others and hadn't criticised the Irish Sea border protests he would have been home and dry, they said, almost gleefully predicting his political career would flounder because he wasn't in touch with unionism's grass roots.

But that wasn't accounting for the vagaries of the electorate, who didn't look past Beattie with their lower-order preferences, and in the end it was comfortable.

And even though he admitted it had been a nightmare 36 hours since the polls closed, he stressed he has no plan to change course after the party failed to see a growth in its support.

"We can all work together, we should all work together, and I will not be derailed. I will not change course. I will continue to promote positive, confident, optimistic unionism. It's the only way to go, " he said.

The only power-shift in Upper Bann, then, was the loss of the SDLP's Dolores Kelly to Eoin Tennyson, the first time Alliance has make the breakthrough in this seat after decades of trying (remember "Flash" Harry Hamilton?).

Admitting it had been "an emotional roller coaster", Eoin said: "They told us Upper Bann was always about orange and green, but we've smashed that narrative. Proper politics is not about working for one section of the community, but for the entire community."

Sitting MLA Jonathan Buckley, who was returned without fuss albeit at stage five, polled the second highest first preference votes for the DUP (8,869) across the north, beaten only by party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

"Divided unionism cannot win elections. We must now put differences aside and work together for the good of the country we all cherish. The union must come first. Our country needs it, and our people deserve it," he said.

Amidst all that drama, Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd, who has served the constituency since 2003, quietly topped the poll, as he did in 2011. And although 109 short of the quota, was always able to breathe easy. It was a nice early present ahead of his 55th birthday on Tuesday.

"We've sent out a clear message that people in Upper Bann want power-sharing to work and people to work together," he said.

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