Letter: The unionist voting bloc is bigger than the provisional republican one

By Letters
Published 22nd May 2023, 21:18 BST
Updated 22nd May 2023, 21:18 BST
Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill voting in Coalisland last week. Her party got 54,827 votes less than unionists but the media has gleefully concentrated on the fact Sinn Fein has most seats. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA WireSinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill voting in Coalisland last week. Her party got 54,827 votes less than unionists but the media has gleefully concentrated on the fact Sinn Fein has most seats. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill voting in Coalisland last week. Her party got 54,827 votes less than unionists but the media has gleefully concentrated on the fact Sinn Fein has most seats. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
A letter from Tom Carew:

Re the Northern Ireland council election results, the overall unionist bloc (DUP and UUP and TUV and PUP) – even minus some independent unionists – got 54,827 more votes than Sinn Fein. They got 285,620, which equals 38.3 % of the overall votes cast, while Sinn Fein got 230,793, 30.96%, and the unionists also got 186 seats or 42 more than SF who got 144 seats. The unionist seat total is more a quarter larger than the republican one.

The media has gleefully concentrated on the fact that Sinn Fein has the most seats but ignored the fact that the unionist bloc is far bigger than the Provo bloc. SF no more won on Thursday in NI than they did in the Republic in the Feb 2020 general election with 37 of 160 TDs, which is 23.1% of the seats. So are those in media who now highlight the latest SF result in isolation, not really distorting the broader picture?

Tom Carew, Dublin

Related topics:DUPSinn FeinNorthern IrelandUUP