Elections 2023: If Sinn Fein emerges as largest party after council elections, unionism will have to look at where it’s going, warns DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson

The DUP leader said: “Well, let’s see when the final votes are all counted who is the largest party, but if Sinn Fein do emerge as the largest party in the council elections I think yet again, as I’ve been saying, consistently, there are lessons that unionism needs to learn here.

“We can’t go on with a situation where turnout in unionist areas is significantly lower than in nationalist areas, you can’t go on with a situation where the unionist vote is continually splitting and splintering.

“The result of that is that seats are gifted to Sinn Fein and to others when the unionist vote is split, and when that unionist vote doesn’t transfer sufficiently.

“So I think we really do need to learn the lessons behind all of this, the DUP without a shadow of a doubt is by far the largest unionist party and I think that unionism needs to look at where it’s going and regroup around a strong voice for unionism, and see more co-operation between unionist parties.”

‘Doom and gloom’

When asked if negative messaging or the Stormont deadlock as a result of the DUP’s boycott may have had an influence on the low turnout in some unionist areas, Sir Jeffrey said other parties had been “doom and gloom” during the local election campaign.

He said: “Well, unfortunately, it’s been other parties who have been bringing that negative message, my message has been positive, vote for us to finish the job. Let’s get this done. Let’s sort out the problems with the protocol, and let’s get Stormont back up and running.

“Other parties have been doom and gloom and maybe that has affected the turnout.

“But I want to encourage more people to come out in the future, because if our democracy is to be healthy, it means we need more people voting.”

Stormont

Sir Jeffrey said that whether or not the party re-enters Stormont following the local election results will be down to the UK Government.

He said: “It’s really down to the Government. I’ve made clear to them what it is we need, we’ll continue to engage with the Government.

“We have clear proposals for what will help us to safeguard Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom and its internal market, and if we can get movement on that, then yes, we will be able to take things forward, we will be able to see Stormont restored, but it has to be on a stable foundation.

“That means we need to sort out the protocol, we need to remove the barriers to trade between Northern Ireland, Great Britain and we need to protect Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom in law.”

Sir Jeffrey also said he was waiting for the final result to see if the DUP is able to maintain its position as the largest party in local government.

“That’s too early to call at this stage, we’re polling well, our vote is holding up, we’re winning seats in some areas. Let’s see what the final result is,” he said.