Battle Starts for Votes of Protestants in Assembly Elections
May 25, 1998 - 0:0
BELFAST Only a day after the historic vote in favor of the Northern Ireland peace deal, a fresh battle began Sunday for the hearts and minds of Protestants in next month's elections to the new Belfast assembly. Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam urged the people of Northern Ireland to vote for parties committed to the spirit of the peace deal in the forthcoming June 25 elections.
We had a vote for peace, we had a vote for non-violence, and if people are going to mirror that, they have to vote for people that will implement the spirit of that agreement and I hope that's the case in five weeks time, she said from Belfast in an interview for Britain's GMTV television. The votes in Nnorth and South of the border favor the peace plan 71.12 percent in Northern Ireland and 94.39 percent in the Irish republic have cleared the way for the creation of the new 108-member body, which will be an essential part of the province's future government.
Under the agreement, Northern Ireland is to become semi-autonomous, remaining part of Britain but allowing Dublin a formal say in its future for the first time. The main focus of attention in the assembly election campaign is certain to be on the battle for the Protestant Unionist vote after the bitter contest between the `yes' and `no' campaigners in the referendum contest.
(AFP)
We had a vote for peace, we had a vote for non-violence, and if people are going to mirror that, they have to vote for people that will implement the spirit of that agreement and I hope that's the case in five weeks time, she said from Belfast in an interview for Britain's GMTV television. The votes in Nnorth and South of the border favor the peace plan 71.12 percent in Northern Ireland and 94.39 percent in the Irish republic have cleared the way for the creation of the new 108-member body, which will be an essential part of the province's future government.
Under the agreement, Northern Ireland is to become semi-autonomous, remaining part of Britain but allowing Dublin a formal say in its future for the first time. The main focus of attention in the assembly election campaign is certain to be on the battle for the Protestant Unionist vote after the bitter contest between the `yes' and `no' campaigners in the referendum contest.
(AFP)