I used my voice - i just don't think anyone heard

So I went and handed in my vote. I won’t say what direction I voted – I know people who read this on both (all?) sides who wouldn’t speak to me for weeks either way. I remember once at a BB Camp telling one of the helpers I had voted a certain way. Within minutes he had announced this to all the other helpers and most of the boys – hardly the most discrete person I’ve met. So much for secret ballots. I wouldn’t have minded so much but I wasn’t actually being serious when I told him… still, reputations are formed on less.

A

nyway, as usual I turned up in the closing minutes of voting. I like to leave it to the last minute in case some reaction to the election changes my mind. There was a volunteer outside the Polling Station who handed me a piece of paper showing how to vote in order to maximise the DUP mandate. He didn’t say anything, try to gauge my intentions. I wanted him to say “I trust you will be supporting the DUP this evening?” I wanted to ask him his policy on education and the environment. I wanted to listen earnestly to his reply then point out that that is the precise reason I wouldn’t be supporting the DUP that evening. He didn’t say anything.

So you know I didn’t vote DUP but that is hardly a surprise. And, in all likelihood, I doubt if they really missed my vote.

Mr Paisley would have proved it is possible to triumph at the ballot box without abandoning religious views considered prehistoric or abhorrent by mainstream Christianity. His website still contains polemics against Roman Catholicism, Billy Graham and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Van Peebles Land

I live in a particularly unionist part of the world. It would be a massive shock if the good Dr’s crowd didn’t match or improve upon their standing in 2003. I reckon it’ll turn out a bit like this:

And if the results do turn out like that I'm going to quit my job immediately and start training to be the next Peter Snow. Despite the fact that it has been one of the lowest-key elections in years with everyone expecting a dead cert and parties lacking motivation for a full out fight there was an impressive turnout. Over 60% in my area. Having said that with minutes remaining there wasn't too much of a queue when I arrived.

I was a long time in the booth – there was quite a queue when I left. It wasn’t that I was finding it tough to come to a final decision – I just found it interesting looking at the list of candidates. For the first time I noticed that five of them – fully one third of the candidates came from the small town in which I teach. Each of the main parties had a candidate from Limavady – as did the Green Party. I didn’t know it was such a political town; well not beyond writing sectarian slogans on walls anyway. Maybe I should pay more attention to the kids I teach – one of them may just represent me in Stormont someday.