NI Assembly Elections - A rerun of the GFA referendum?

I don't think this thread has gone the way that the OP expected. In fact, according to this article, it couldn't be more of a car crash as an attempt to predict the direction of the election campaign.

"The oddest thing that happened last week was the sudden disappearance of a border poll as a talking point which happened almost just as the campaign began. It was an oddly precipitous shift in focus for Sinn Fein who had been fundraising like mad in New York on that theme just weeks before."

"For example to the statement “The next Executive should prioritise jobs, health and welfare over constitutional issues” to the response is pretty unambiguous. Some 74% of all respondents agree. And of those, a higher proportion of nationalists give it their positive assent than unionists."

Funny eh?

jasas that would be great if we could lock up all those scummy terrorists and criminals on both sides who should never have seen the light of day again wouldnt it

might hurt your party a lot though francie

Aw come on francie, we have been through this before , at least have the balls to stand by them , your posts here , this profile at least is dedicated solely to promoting and excusing the crimes of one "party"

I dont need to find a political voice , just calling out criminals and terrorists masquerading as Politian's is fine for me :-)

your posts tell the truth better than any denials an deflection ,

do you think "the party" will be effected if its members are exposed in court during this case ? hardly be covered under GFA would it ? just some criminals executing a sadistic murder ?

McConville family raise €20,000 to sue Sinn Féin over murder (msn.com)

thats why i asked did you think it that case would be relevant to GFA ? fairly on topic

dont want to answer ? ok

so you dont want to answer ok no problem

It is actually the obsession of the two extremist parties with sectarian constitutional issues that is becoming the focus of the election, and in particular, their failure following 15 years of power to do anything to improve the lot of people in Northern Ireland.

"Stormont’s leading parties are using rows about the Brexit protocol, ministerial titles and border polls to distract from the “scandal” of poverty in Northern Ireland, the SDLP leader has claimed.

Colum Eastwood accused the DUP and Sinn Fein of presiding over 15 years of failure as he launched his party’s manifesto for the Assembly election."

To borrow a SF slogan, it is Time for Change, and that change means getting rid of the DUP and SF.

Jaysus Francie, you can't have it both ways.

On one hand you're telling people to stick to the OP, don't stray into talking about Sinn Fein, and on the other you say leave the modding to the Mods.

You're some man.

It is obvious from the title of the thread and the tone of the OP that the OP believed at the time the thread was opened that the Assembly elections are a rerun of the GFA referendum.

That has been so out of touch from the course of the campaign itself, where even Sinn Fein have had to drop their focus on a border poll to address bread and butter issues. Quite a difference from the expectation of the OP.

Interesting way to measure bigotry and belligerence in this poll.

"Nine percent of TUV supporters won’t transfer — the second highest of the eight Stormont parties.

Only Sinn Féin was higher — 17% of its voters won’t give another party a preference."

Is anyone surprised that the two most extreme sectarian parties poll like this?

I'm not sure it's really fair to equate the TUV and Sinn Fein in quite that way. Sinn Fein is a broader church than the TUV. It has extreme members and more moderate members, the TUV is really an extreme splinter group.

A better comparison would be at least between Sinn Fein and the DUP plus TUV combined - I suspect the numbers would be more equivalent too.

Look at my point, it is the percentage of their voters that don't transfer anywhere else. That is a clear indicator of bigotry and belligerence. Yes, because Sinn Fein is the bigger party they will, in absolute terms have more moderate members, but that also means it will have more bigoted members.

I get what you're saying - that the percentage who would not transfer are bigoted because they wouldn't in any situation consider voting outside their sect. There a couple of fallacies there, it would only be true if it was a hypothetical question measuring whether they'd transfer their vote to another party that had the same policies but from a different sect. but that's not the case, there are specific parties with specific and mostly differing policy positions, but that's not reflected in the poll. we don't know the ratio of those unwilling to transfer are doing it because of policy position versus those who are bigots. Could be all one one side or none at all or any value in between.

As regards my Point about Sinn Fein you missed it I think. It's not just that because they are a bigger party they'll have more moderate members in absolute numbers, they'll also have a higher proportion of moderates as, un like the TUV they are not an extreme splinter group of another party.

That is not to suggest that Sinn Fein as a whole are moderates, or not belligerent/bigoted, just that you can't really equate them to the TUV alone.

The figures say different. At 17%, the number of Sinn Fein voters unwilling to transfer is far higher than any other party. That reflects a certain way of thinking, a way of "othering" those who disagree, of one-sided bigotry, of a community that isn't reaching out. It is very sad.