NORTHERN IRELAND: NEW ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS

Описание: (26 Jun 1998) English/Nat

Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein leader, has won a seat in the new Northern Irish assembly according to first results declared in the landmark election.

The Sinn Fein president topped the poll in West Belfast.

Along with Joe Hendron, S-D-L-P (Social Democratic and Labour Party), and the D-U-P's (Democratic Unionist Party) Gregory Campbell, Adams became one of the first winners of the 108 seats.

Other leaders, such as the Ulster Unionist Party's David Trimble, are still waiting for the completion of vote counting to know their fate.

Early returns in the election for Northern Ireland's new compromise government show strong backing for moderate Catholics - but troubles for the main Protestant party with
whom they're supposed to share power.

Adams, whose party is the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (I-R-A), took one of six seats in the strongly Roman Catholic West Belfast constituency.

It will be the first time that Sinn Fein has taken up seats in a provincial administration under British sovereignty.

Adams stated that nationalist support came through strongly as he always believed it would.

Now he is eager to effect change as soon as possible.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The big story of this election is that the nationalist vote has come out and has been strengthened right across the main parties. And Sinn Fein going into the election called for that, called for a strengthening of the Nationalist axis because we understand as the "no" vote congeals - and there's others within the bureaucracy and the securicrats as they come into position, they will start to try to prevent the type of changes which are required and what Sinn Fein wants to see is the people that we have elected joining with others and the institutions and the executive. We want to see all the structures put up as soon as possible. We want to see the agenda for change implemented as soon as possible."
SUPER CAPTION: Gerry Adams, Leader of Sinn Fein

Other leaders, such as the Ulster Unionist Party's David Trimble, are still waiting on the election count to know their fate.

Trimble, the would-be leader of the 108-seat Assembly, says an exit poll putting his party at just 20 percent support is disappointing.

It indicates that the north's Protestant majority is fundamentally split over whether to make the peace agreement work.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If the opinion poll is correct, then I'm sorry, we've had a slightly disappointing day and not made the progress that I hoped we were making after the referendum. Indeed we might even have slipped back a little bit compared to the referendum and I think that must be due partly to poor turn-out but also partly to events in the last week."
SUPER CAPTION: David Trimble, Leader of Ulster Unionist Party

Support from the Ulster Unionists, the largest Protestant party is considered crucial for the new Assembly's operation.

Official results on how many seats each party won may not be finalised until Saturday because of the number of candidates - 296 - and the vote's painstaking "proportional representation" system.

Six winners will be declared in each of Northern Ireland's 18 electoral districts.

The Assembly is expected to meet for the first time on Tuesday in Stormont, the centre of British administration for Northern Ireland.

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