Ginger Group
DURING the pre-election campaign in Northern Ireland, Unionist spokesmen put forward the remarkable theory that the only opposition the Government needed was the opposition of their own back-benchers. The electors did not agree; they returned four Northern Ireland Labour candidates, thus bringing the party back to Parliament for the first time for a decade; and from now on Stormont should prove a more lively place.
The interesting aspect of the Labour Party's resurgence is that its campaign was fought mainly on economic issues. Northern Ireland is now the unemployment 'black spot' of these islands with over 10 per cent. of the labour force idle, The Labour Party made this the basis of its cam- paign, and kept off the old political and religious differences on which Unionists and Nationalists still fight. While Unionist and Nationalist speakers and canvassers were careful not to cross the traditional street demarcation lines separating their supporters, the Labour Party canvassed ,in Catholic as well as in Protestant areas.
The Unionists are noticeably shaken by the results. Not only has this Labour Party gained four' seats, but the Nationalists have also sub- stantially increased their majorities. The most , important result, though, is that Stormont now has an active opposition as much committed as the Government to retaining the constitutional link with Britain. From now on, politics in Northern Ireland should be more rationally con- ducted than they have been at any time in the past thirty-six years.
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