Poll victory sparks fears

Press, 25 October 1982, Page 8

Poll victory sparks fears

NZPA-Reuter Belfast The election of five hardline Republicans in'Northern Ireland has dealt a stunning blow to Britain’s plans for the province, and has raised fears of increased guerrilla violence. the five members of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, plan to boycott a Parliamentary assembly arranged by tbe British Government in a bid to foster peace. Their breakthrough, taking 10 per cent of votes in their first election, has shattered the widely-held view that parties linked with guerrilla violence had only marginal

support and has shocked the pro-British Protestant majority- ; Before last Wednesday’s -. vote it Was already clear that James Prior, Britain’s Minister in charge of Northern Ireland, faced" considerable obstacles in his bid to bring the politicians together and build a Government acceptable to Protestants and Catholics embittered by thirteen years of sectarian violence, sharing power across the religious divide. 1 In the 78-member assembly only 10 members, elected from the non-sectar-ian Alliance Party, backed Mr Prior’s scheme. Protestant voters gave

their unionist parties, which oppose in principle sharing power with advocates of Irish unity, a clear majority with 49 seats. The Catholic minority, overwhelmingly in favour of unification with the mainly Catholic Irish Republic, elected 19 candidates committetKsto boycotting the assembly? They included the ' five Sinn Fein members and 14 from the more moderate Social Democratic and Labour Party, which opposes violence and has been the main Catholic party for a decade. The S.D.L.P. had decided against- taking part in the

assembly because Mr Prior gave no role in his plans to the Government of the republic in Dublin. Before the vote Mr Prior said that he saw the assembly, initially an advisory body, as a long-term project, to which the opposition might be converted faced with continuing violence and economic crisis. With the result known, newspapers in Belfast, Dublin and London have called the idea a disaster and speculation has mounted that Mr Prior may lose his job.

Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, the politicians have dug deeper into their entrenched positions.