South Down
OUTGOING MEMBERS
(Six seats)
*Jim Wells DUP 6,789 (15%)
*Dermot Nesbitt UUP 5,368 (11.8%)
*PJ Bradley SDLP 5,337 (11.8%)
Caitriona Ruane SF 5,118 (11.3%)
Margaret Ritchie SDLP 4,261 (9.4%)
Willie Clarke SF 4,083 (9%)
* denotes those also elected in 1998
Quota = 15%
NATIONALIST BATTLEGROUND:In their respective ideal worlds, the SDLP and Sinn Féin would increase their South Down presence by gaining a third seat.
Specifically, the SDLP wants to claw back the seat it lost in the Assembly elections of 2003 when Eamonn O'Neill was edged out by Sinn Féin's Willie Clarke. The SDLP is running three candidates - sitting members Margaret Ritchie and PJ Bradley plus Michael Carr, who is chair of Newry and Mourne District Council - for three seats. Sinn Féin has done the same with sitting members Caitriona Ruane and Willie Clarke joined on the ticket by Downpatrick councillor Eamon McConvey.
SDLP councillor Eamonn O'Neill, it's claimed, withdrew from the fray because he would have to resign from his position as a human rights commissioner if elected to the Assembly. Had he not done so, the SDLP would have run the four for three seats. The withdrawal from elected politics of ex-environment minister Dermot Nesbitt could see a nationalist gain. Sinn Féin is facing another a challenge from independent candidate Martin Cunningham, an ex-Sinn Féin councillor on Newry and Mourne District Council.
UNIONIST BATTLEGROUND:The Democratic Unionists hope to double their share of the South Down pie to two pieces, with wins for sitting Assembly member and ardent environmentalist Jim Wells and William Burns. But changes to the Ulster Unionist Party in South Down are expected to have the most glaring impact on the unionist vote here.
The biggest challenge to the party's fortunes has come with the retirement from elected politics of Dermot Nesbitt, a well-known face in Ulster unionism. His replacement as a candidate is a 34-year-old Rathfriland farmer and relative unknown John McCallister. Ex-Ulster Unionist councillor Henry Reilly was rejected as Assembly candidate in McCallister's favour and he has now joined the anti-European Union UK Independence Party and is running in the Assembly as a UKIP candidate.
Peter Bowles, once one of the party's freshest faces, left the Ulster Unionists some time ago for the Conservative Party. Robert McCartney's UKUP is fielding a candidate here and Frederick Wharton may attract some DUP voters who are uncomfortable at the prospect of sharing power with Sinn Féin. Retired teacher David Griffin is the Alliance Party candidate, which has held on to 1 per cent of the constituency's vote in all elections since 2001. But this time round, it's hoping to increase their South Down vote, partly by exploiting the fragmentation of the unionist vote.
WILDCARD:The Green Party has pinned its hopes of getting its first Assembly seat on South Down candidate Ciaran Mussen and Brian Wilson in North Down and plenty of leg work is going into their campaigns. Mr Mussen was an independent councillor in Newry and Mourne for about 20 years before joining the Greens so he's a well-known face.
Another break from the (constitutional) green and orange is provided by Malachi Curran, who's running for the Labour Party of Northern Ireland and is also the party's leader. The ex-councillor has been involved in the labour and trade union movement for 50 years.