IN THE OFTENTIMES dramatic landscape of Northern Irish politics, the matters of local Government – including local tourism, waste management, and planning – could be trivialised.
But as the main political parties continue to fail to restore devolved Government, there are doubtlessly a growing number of voters who would rather opt for a lengthy discussion on recycling facilities than watch another news bulletin about the repetitive deadlock at Stormont.
Besides, in the absence of a working executive, local councils in the North have played a key role in keeping politics alive, from having key debates on rent controls, to setting crucial climate targets.
Today, voters across Northern Ireland will head to the polls to have their say in the first local council elections since 2019.
In the last election, voters were also having their say in local Government elections without a working Stormont executive in place, after Sinn Féin walked out of the assembly over the RHI scandal, and the lack of an Irish language act.
Today, there are 462 seats up for grabs across 11 councils. 807 candidates have been competing for them on the doorsteps, in a contest that has had few sparks, or noteworthy moments, but will be pivotal all the same.
In the last election, the big story was the success of the Alliance Party (a centrist, interdenominational party with a manifesto focused on climate change and transparency) which gained 21 seats, bringing them to a total of 53.
At polling stations, Alliance are expected to make further gains that could see them emerge as the region’s third biggest party, at the expense of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
The other big story of 2019, which also seems likely to be replicated tomorrow, was the DUP’s loss of eight seats – though the beleaguered party kept its position as the biggest party in local Government overall.
That position now stands at considerable risk, as many voters who turn out tomorrow will either be doing so in support of the DUP’s initial refusal of the protocol and continued opposition to the Windsor Framework, or to protest against it.
The protocol was a post-Brexit agreement that saw Northern Ireland placed outside of the EU single market, while retaining EU free movement of goods and customs, which was designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
The DUP, after initially backing the agreement, walked out of the assembly in 2022 over the protocol, which it characterised as a fundamental change to Northern Ireland’s position within the United Kingdom.
Not liking the protocol has pretty much been the DUP’s main talking point since then, a stance that has been weakened by Westminster’s production of the Windsor Framework which amends the protocol to ease trade barriers between the UK and Northern Ireland.
Award-winning crime correspondent with the Belfast Telegraph and political commentator Allison Morris said that because of the framework, the DUP will have a harder time selling its stance to voters tomorrow.
“This isn’t a normal local government election, because none of the parties are campaigning on local issues, their manifestos contain little mention of the things that local councils actually do, and the work they do is not insignificant, because they have kept governance going here.
“Essentially this has become a protest election. The DUP are hoping that their stance against the framework will hold their council seats, so they can consolidate what they have.
“Sinn Fein are hammering home the fact that they want to get the assembly up and running on the doors, so people are being asked to vote on that issue either way,” Morris said.
This isn’t about getting your bins collected.
“This is about the current form of Government in Northern Ireland, and the ongoing impasse. Voters will either punish the DUP for staying out of the executive, or stick by them,” she added.
Morris further stated that tomorrow, regardless of whether the DUP manages to keep its seats, analysts seem in agreement that we are due to see the Alliance Party jump into third place.
“Three definite voting blocks are about to emerge. Commentators have been saying that the bounce to Alliance has to plateau, but there are no signs that it will.
“Naomi Long is running candidates in new areas, and her party is attracting a different kind of voter to what we have traditionally seen. They are young, typically middle-class people, who have good jobs and want to make a future in Northern Ireland for themselves.
“Meanwhile, the SDLP and the UUP have failed to soak up that middle ground, and could be headed towards wipeout,” she said.
Voter turnout in Northern Ireland for local elections has never been impressive, and with the current logjam at Stormont, it will be a feat if last year’s 52% rate is matched.
This won’t necessarily hamper Sinn Fein’s effort to become the biggest party in local Government, or the rise of the Alliance however.
“People are really turned off from politics at the moment because of the stop and start nature of the Assembly. That means that the people who do turn out are more likely to be angry voters,” Morris said.
John Hyland, 32, is an Alliance candidate hoping to get elected tomorrow to a seat in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
A Liverpool native who arrived in Northern Ireland three years ago, his path into politics there has been far from traditional, and his pro LGBTQ+ policies have had mixed reactions on the doorsteps.
“I moved to Broughshane to be with my partner.
“I just found myself becoming obsessed with Northern Irish politics, and I kept coming back to the Alliance Party, I was impressed with their vision,” Hyland explained.
In the space of 12 months, the Liverpudlian got a job as assistant to Alliance Party councillor Patricia O’Lynn, and then found himself being co-opted into her seat 10 months ago.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind, in all honesty, but it was also amazing,” Hyland said.
He joined the council at a time when it was embroiled in scandal, following a police raid on its Ballymena headquarters, in an ongoing probe into suspected misconduct in public office.
This came after controversy surrounding the council’s involvement in removing workers administering the Irish Sea Border at Larne Port, and over allegations of harassment and bullying within the authority.
“That really impacted people. On the doors, it’s all they want to talk about, that and the collapsed executive. People actually ask us why they should vote when we aren’t working, and we have to remind them that we are,” Hyland said.
He has also been talking to voters about LGBT issues, and the need to support diversity in the area.
“One woman asked me ‘Are you the gay fella?’ when she opened the door, but she ended up saying ‘Good for you, we need that here’.
“I haven’t had a lot of bad experiences on the doorsteps. People ask me all the time, why have you moved to Ballymena if you are gay? But you would be surprised at how open people are to having a conversation.
“One of our members was canvassing on my behalf, and a voter told her ‘Oh he’s the gay boy, I don’t like that, I’m not voting for him’.
“She asked him why that would have any impact on how I would get the job done, and he turned round and said, “Now that I think about it, I don’t suppose it would,” Hyland said.
“It goes to show, If I keep chipping away, we can make progress,” he added.
Polls open at 7am today and close at 10pm. Counting will take place across tomorrow and Saturday.
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