All eyes on North turnout amid rain and poll fatigue
THE polls have closed in the UK general election in Northern Ireland and counting commenced overnight from the region’s 619 voting centres.
With much of the region having been drenched in rain through the day, all eyes will be on the turnout to see if the relatively high 64.8% of March’s Assembly election will be replicated.
Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster avoided the rain as she voted near her home in Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, while Sinn Féin’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill marked her ballot paper close to her home village of Clonoe in Co. Tyrone.
Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann voted in Kells, Co. Antrim, with SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and Alliance leader Naomi Long voting in Derry and Belfast respectively. The election is the seventh time voters have cast a ballot in Northern Ireland in three years.
Election fatigue has been one of the explanations offered for what was a low-key campaign in the region.
For many local politicians, the snap general election was an unwanted distraction from efforts to restore the Stormont institutions.
Floundering negotiations to re-establish a coalition government in Belfast will resume once the dust settles on yesterday’s results.
The ongoing Assembly crisis blurred the lines between Stormont and Westminster issues on the campaign trail, with the blame game over the implosion of devolution spilling into the race for Westminster seats.
As in the rest of the UK, Brexit was a key campaign issue. While Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance all called for some form of special designated EU status for Northern Ireland after the UK exits, the DUP and UUP steadfastly opposed anything that differentiated the region from Britain.
Nationalists and republicans claim the UK decision to leave the EU, in the face of a 56% remain vote in Northern Ireland, highlights the case for a united Ireland. Unionists insist support for remaining in the EU cannot be interpreted as a swing in public opinion toward unification.
Those contrasting views were played out during the election, with the DUP urging voters to strengthen the union and Sinn Féin encouraging supporters to add momentum to their campaign for a border poll.