Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, 1981 (April)
Encyclopedia
The by-election held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on 9 April 1981 is considered by many to be the most significant by-election
held in Northern Ireland
during the Troubles
. It saw the first victory for the militant republican
movement, which the following year entered electoral politics in full force as Sinn Féin
. The successful candidate was the IRA
hunger striker
Bobby Sands
who died twenty-six days later.
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament
Frank Maguire
.
and Dungannon
, was created in 1950 and had seen a series of closely fought elections between Unionist and Nationalist candidates, with several elections being won due to the absence of competing candidates on one side or the other. Nationalists of various hues had won the constituency in the 1950
, 1951
and 1955
general elections, whilst the Ulster Unionist Party
had won in 1959
, 1964
and 1966
. Amidst the Troubles, nationalists agreed the Unity
pact to run agreed candidates in border seats, with Frank McManus
capturing Fermanagh & South Tyrone in the 1970 general election
.
The February 1974 general election
was the first to take place after several major political realignments in Northern Ireland. Opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement
led to an alliance of Unionist parties under the label of the United Ulster Unionist Coalition running agreed candidates in all constituencies, here putting forward the new leader of the Ulster Unionists, Harry West
. Although Unionist supporters of Sunningdale ran Hubert Brown, West garnered 26,858 votes (43.8%) to Brown's 3,157 (5.1%). The Nationalist vote was very evenly split with McManus gaining 16,229 votes (26.3%) and Denis Haughey
, standing for the new Social Democratic and Labour Party
, winning 15,410 votes (25.0%). Many Nationalists believed that the constituency could have been won had there been an agreed single nationalist candidate. When a second general election was held in October
Frank Maguire
stood as an Independent Republican
with backing from all Nationalists, whilst West was the sole Unionist. Maguire gained 32,795 votes (51.8%) to West's 30,285 (47.9%) and 185 (0.3%) for Alan Evans, standing for the Communist Party of Ireland
.
The fine balance of the seat continued in the 1975 elections to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
when UUC gained 52% of the vote (with the small Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
gaining an additional 2.3%). In the 1979 general election
neither side fielded sole candidates. Maguire was challenged by Austin Currie
, a local SDLP activist (and later official candidate) who disagreed with the party's decision to give Maguire a clear run, whilst the new Ulster Unionist candidate, Raymond Ferguson
, was challenged by Ernest Baird
, leader of the United Ulster Unionist Party
, who sought to cement his new party's electoral position. Additionally the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
ran Peter Acheson. The results were: Maguire 22,398 (36.0%), Ferguson 17,411 (28.0%), Currie 10,785 (17.3%), Baird 10,607 (17.0%) and Acheson 1,070 (1.7%).
was underway. The by-election was seized on by supporters of the hunger strike as a way to register a protest and the leader of the hunger strikers, Bobby Sands
, was nominated on the label "Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner". Owen Carron
served as his agent and Danny Morrison
organised the campaign.
The Ulster Unionist Party
nominated Harry West
, who had by now stood down as leader.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party
had already selected Austin Currie
as prospective candidate for the seat before a by-election was in prospect. When Sands' candidacy was announced the party came under pressure to withdraw in his favour, as putative candidates Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey and Noel Maguire had done, although initially it was said that the mainstream of the party was resistant. On the last day for nominations the party executive decided not to stand, explaining that they wished to concentrate on local government elections which would take place in May; there was speculation that the executive did not share the local party's confidence and feared a poor result. The SDLP decision not to stand in the by-election caused a great deal of dissent within the party.
No other candidates contested the seat, making it one of the last occasions when a Westminster constituency had only two candidates. Currie railed against the SDLP's decision not to stand, but the result was a highly polarised contest between unionism and republicanism.
or the Republican Clubs
.
was passed by Parliament to bar "convicted felons" from standing for election; as a result another hunger-striker could not be nominated and so Owen Carron
stood as "Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner". The following year saw Sinn Féin
begin to contest elections in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
during the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
. It saw the first victory for the militant republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
movement, which the following year entered electoral politics in full force as Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
. The successful candidate was the IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
hunger striker
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
who died twenty-six days later.
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Frank Maguire
Frank Maguire
Meredith Francis Maguire was an Independent Republican Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.- Early Life :...
.
Background of the constituency
The constituency, based on the districts of FermanaghFermanagh District Council
Fermanagh District Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. The borders of the district are very similar to those of the traditional County Fermanagh, containing all of that county plus a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore Road and Kilskeery Road areas. Council headquarters are...
and Dungannon
Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council
Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. Its main town is Dungannon, where the council is headquartered. The council area covers the southern part of County Tyrone and has a population of nearly 48,000...
, was created in 1950 and had seen a series of closely fought elections between Unionist and Nationalist candidates, with several elections being won due to the absence of competing candidates on one side or the other. Nationalists of various hues had won the constituency in the 1950
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
, 1951
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
and 1955
United Kingdom general election, 1955
The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...
general elections, whilst the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
had won in 1959
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
, 1964
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
and 1966
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
. Amidst the Troubles, nationalists agreed the Unity
Unity (Northern Ireland)
"Unity" was the political label for a series of electoral pacts by Irish nationalist and Irish Republican candidates in Northern Ireland elections in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
pact to run agreed candidates in border seats, with Frank McManus
Frank McManus (Irish politician)
Frank McManus is an Irish nationalist activist and former Member of the British House of Commons.Born in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh,he is a brother of Father Seán McManus, the Irish-American lobbyist and Catholic priest, and Pat McManus, a member of the IRA killed in an explosion in 1958.He...
capturing Fermanagh & South Tyrone in the 1970 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
.
The February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
was the first to take place after several major political realignments in Northern Ireland. Opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...
led to an alliance of Unionist parties under the label of the United Ulster Unionist Coalition running agreed candidates in all constituencies, here putting forward the new leader of the Ulster Unionists, Harry West
Harry West
Henry William West was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979.West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen...
. Although Unionist supporters of Sunningdale ran Hubert Brown, West garnered 26,858 votes (43.8%) to Brown's 3,157 (5.1%). The Nationalist vote was very evenly split with McManus gaining 16,229 votes (26.3%) and Denis Haughey
Denis Haughey
Denis Haughey is a former nationalist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Coalisland, Haughey studied politics at Queens University, Belfast, becoming involved in the civil rights movement and the first Chair of the Tyrone Civil Rights Association and a founder member of the Social Democratic...
, standing for the new Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
, winning 15,410 votes (25.0%). Many Nationalists believed that the constituency could have been won had there been an agreed single nationalist candidate. When a second general election was held in October
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
Frank Maguire
Frank Maguire
Meredith Francis Maguire was an Independent Republican Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.- Early Life :...
stood as an Independent Republican
Independent Republican (Ireland)
Independent Republican was a political title frequently used by Irish republicans when contesting elections in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since the 1920s....
with backing from all Nationalists, whilst West was the sole Unionist. Maguire gained 32,795 votes (51.8%) to West's 30,285 (47.9%) and 185 (0.3%) for Alan Evans, standing for the Communist Party of Ireland
Communist Party of Ireland
The Communist Party of Ireland is a small all-Ireland Marxist party, founded in 1933. An earlier party, the Socialist Party of Ireland, was renamed the Communist Party of Ireland in 1921 on its affiliation to the Communist International but was dissolved in 1924. The present-day CPI was founded in...
.
The fine balance of the seat continued in the 1975 elections to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....
when UUC gained 52% of the vote (with the small Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
The Unionist Party of Northern Ireland was a political party founded by Brian Faulkner in September 1974.-Formation:The party emerged following splits in the Ulster Unionist Party in 1973 and 1974 over the British government's white paper Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals, the Northern...
gaining an additional 2.3%). In the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
neither side fielded sole candidates. Maguire was challenged by Austin Currie
Austin Currie
Austin Currie is a former politician who was elected to the parliaments of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland....
, a local SDLP activist (and later official candidate) who disagreed with the party's decision to give Maguire a clear run, whilst the new Ulster Unionist candidate, Raymond Ferguson
Raymond Ferguson
Raymond Ferguson is a Northern Irish former rugby union player with Ulster Rugby and a politician with the Ulster Unionist Party .-Early life and career:...
, was challenged by Ernest Baird
Ernest Baird
Ernest Baird was a politician in Northern Ireland. Baird was born in County Donegalin the Irish Free State but moved with his family to Belfast at an early age....
, leader of the United Ulster Unionist Party
United Ulster Unionist Party
The United Ulster Unionist Party was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1984.It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the late 1970s...
, who sought to cement his new party's electoral position. Additionally the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
ran Peter Acheson. The results were: Maguire 22,398 (36.0%), Ferguson 17,411 (28.0%), Currie 10,785 (17.3%), Baird 10,607 (17.0%) and Acheson 1,070 (1.7%).
Candidates in the 1981 by-election
Maguire's death led to a by-election in early 1981, when the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
was underway. The by-election was seized on by supporters of the hunger strike as a way to register a protest and the leader of the hunger strikers, Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
, was nominated on the label "Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner". Owen Carron
Owen Carron
Owen Gerard Carron is an Irish republican activist and who was Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 1981 to 1983.Carron is the nephew of former Nationalist Party politician John Carron....
served as his agent and Danny Morrison
Danny Morrison (republican)
Daniel Gerard Morrison , known generally as Danny Morrison is an Irish republican writer and activist...
organised the campaign.
The Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
nominated Harry West
Harry West
Henry William West was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979.West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen...
, who had by now stood down as leader.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
had already selected Austin Currie
Austin Currie
Austin Currie is a former politician who was elected to the parliaments of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland....
as prospective candidate for the seat before a by-election was in prospect. When Sands' candidacy was announced the party came under pressure to withdraw in his favour, as putative candidates Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey and Noel Maguire had done, although initially it was said that the mainstream of the party was resistant. On the last day for nominations the party executive decided not to stand, explaining that they wished to concentrate on local government elections which would take place in May; there was speculation that the executive did not share the local party's confidence and feared a poor result. The SDLP decision not to stand in the by-election caused a great deal of dissent within the party.
No other candidates contested the seat, making it one of the last occasions when a Westminster constituency had only two candidates. Currie railed against the SDLP's decision not to stand, but the result was a highly polarised contest between unionism and republicanism.
Results
The turnout was 86.9%. There were 3,280 spoilt ballot papers. The second by-election saw far fewer spoilt papers, with most of these votes going to either the Alliance Party of Northern IrelandAlliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
or the Republican Clubs
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
.
Consequences
Sands died only twenty-six days later, precipitating a second by-election. New legislationRepresentation of the People Act 1981
The Representation of the People Act 1981 provides: for the disqualification from membership of the House of Commons of any person who is detained anywhere in the British Islands or the Republic of Ireland for more than a year for any offence, that the election or nomination of such persons shall be...
was passed by Parliament to bar "convicted felons" from standing for election; as a result another hunger-striker could not be nominated and so Owen Carron
Owen Carron
Owen Gerard Carron is an Irish republican activist and who was Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 1981 to 1983.Carron is the nephew of former Nationalist Party politician John Carron....
stood as "Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner". The following year saw Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
begin to contest elections in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
.