Unity (Northern Ireland)

"Unity" was the political label for a series of electoral pacts by Irish nationalist, Irish republican and socialist candidates in Northern Ireland elections in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It also contested elections as a party in its own right, electing six councillors in the 1973 local council elections in the Fermanagh and Dungannon areas,^[1] although this was reduced to two members of Fermanagh council in the next election in 1977.^[2]

The first victory came in 1969 in the Mid Ulster by-election which was won by 21-year old student Bernadette Devlin.^[3] She held her seat in the 1970 general election,^[4] when Fermanagh and South Tyrone was won by her colleague Frank McManus.^[5] Both lost their seats in the February 1974 general election.^[6] Bernadette would later go on to join the IRSP. ^[7]

In the October 1974 general election the spirit of Unity was revived, if not the name, when Frank Maguire won Fermanagh and South Tyrone as an agreed independent Republican.^[8] He held the seat until his death in 1981.^[9] In 1978 Unity merged with the remnants of the Nationalist Party to form the Irish Independence Party.^[10]

Election Results

By-election

Election		First-Preference Votes	FPv%
1969 Mid Ulster by-election		33,648	53.3%
	Unity gain from UUP

General elections

Westminster

Election	First-Preference Votes	FPv%	±%	Seats	Seats %	±%
1966 United Kingdom general election	14,645	2.5%	New	0 / 12	0.00%
1970 United Kingdom general election	140,930	18.1%	15.6%	2 / 12	16.67%	1
Feb 1974 United Kingdom General Election	17,593	2.4%	15.7	0 / 12	0.00%	2

Local elections

Election	First-Preference Votes	FPv%	±%	Seats	Seats %	±%
1973 Northern Ireland local elections	10,281	1.5%	New	6 / 462	1.30%	New
1977 Northern Ireland local elections	5,528	1.0%	0.5	2 / 462	0.43%	4

References

1. "Local Government Elections 1973". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
2. "Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: Fermanagh". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
3. "Bernadette Devlin Wins Election". RTÉ Archives. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
4. "1970 Westminster Elections". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
5. "Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1950-1970". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
6. "Hard‐Line Protestants Win 11 of the 12 Northern Ireland Seats". The New York Times (published 2 March 1974). 1 March 1974. p. 10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
7. Holland, Kitty (22 November 2016). "Bernadette McAliskey: 'I am astounded I survived. I made mad decisions'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
8. "Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1973-1982". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024. Westminster Election, 10 October 1974 (one seat). Frank Maguire (Independent) 32,795 (51.8%)
9. "Frank Maguire, Ulster M.P., Dies; Helped Defeat Callaghan in 1979". The New York Times. 6 March 1981. p. 16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
10. "Local Government Elections 1981". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024. On the Nationalist side, the Irish Independence Party emerged from the remnants of the old Nationalist Party and the Unity movement.