Tears and cheers as drama unfolds in the early hours

“You did it, Tom,” smiled one long-standing party member, patting him on the back, “You did it.” “United we stand,” shouted a Democratic Unionist veteran from across the room.  In stark contrast there were more sombre scenes when a slightly tearful Ms. Gildernew embraced her mother Geraldine as she lost the seat she had held for 14 years. “You have made us all very proud, Michelle,” wept one Fermanagh man.

The hard fought election was always seen as a two horse race between Mr. Elliott and Ms. Gildernew, much to the frustration of the SDLP’s John Coyle and the Green Party’s Tanya Jones who threw everything they had at the campaign, even risking life and limb in the pursuit of votes. Just take Mrs. Jones, for example, who was bitten on the hand by a dog the day before the public went to the polls. “It obviously hadn’t read the Green Party’s comprehensive animal welfare policies,” laughed the Enniskillen woman, staying upbeat, something she maintained during the lengthy count process and campaign. “I am feeling great,” she added.

The SDLP’s John Coyle, who bravely spoke out about being bullied online during his election campaign, turned up to the count with his mother, too, and the pair posed for photographs. When asked to give her son a kiss, Mrs. Bridie Coyle replied: “Of course, I will. I am proud of my boy.” Asked how he felt, Mr. Coyle from Belleek, smiled and said: “I am excited.”  And after admitting two weeks before the election that she hadn’t visited Fermanagh during her campaign and declining invitations to several public events, the Alliance’s Hanna Su didn’t turn up the count, missing what was a nail-biting election and a winner that nobody had predicted, not even the man himself.

Although he said he was “quietly confident” when he arrived at the count in Omagh Leisure Complex in the early hours of Friday morning, it’s understood that behind the scenes Mr. Elliott, an Assembly Member for the area, was far from optimistic about his chances, as were many of the political pundits, commentators and party colleagues, with one saying: “I was talking to him an hour ago and he seemed disheartened.” This was after all one of the most hotly contested Westminster seats in the most Westerly constituency in the United Kingdom and one that had been in the possession of a hugely popular Sinn Fein abstentionist MP for three terms.  When Ms. Gildernew arrived at 4.03am she was asked how she was feeling and if she was confident of winning. “I don’t know, I haven’t got down there [count hall] yet,” she replied, just a day after phoning many of her constituents and asking for their vote. Indeed, right up to the polling day she, like the other candidates, travelled to every corner of the constituency vying for support. “We do not take the electorate for granted,” she said over and over again throughout the gruelling campaign. And as she walked into the canteen to meet supporters it was as if she had won, with loud cheers, hugs and offers of cups of tea.  Through the viewing gallery, the candidates could be observed monitoring the count and watching intently as the ballot papers were placed on tables bearing their names. Soon it was apparent that the largest piles of ballot papers belonged to Mr. Elliott and Ms. Gildernew and it was looking like it was neck and neck. Both UUP and Sinn Fein representatives could be seen huddled together in their respective camps and all eyes were on their body language to see who was smiling, and who was frowning.

At 4.26am speculation began filtering out of the hall that Mr. Elliott had been victorious, that was despite one UUP member having earlier given the thumbs down to one journalist peering through the glass. News of Mr. Elliott’s apparent win had, of course, reached Ms. Gildernew and her supporters and 30 minutes later Sinn Fein’s Sean Lynch greeted Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as they arrived to support their party colleague. Mr. Lynch, with his mobile phone to his ear broke away from his call to ask the waiting press: “How many is he [Mr. Elliott] ahead?” According to a source minutes earlier the father of two was at that stage hundreds of votes ahead.

Asked how they thought Ms. Gildernew would do, Mr. McGuinness said: “We are just here to find that out; I hear it is very close” while Mr. Adams calmly replied: “very well.” And the Sinn Fein President wasn’t wrong; Ms. Gildernew had increased her vote from 2010.

It was Ulster Unionist Councillor Rosemary Barton who at 5.11am told waiting supporters that Mr. Elliott had won and by how much before it was officially declared, uttering the words; “five hundred”. The news was too much for one party member who leapt up screaming and pushed a journalist out of the way in the process.

Councillor Barton couldn’t contain her excitement and nor could Mr. Elliott’s other supporters, including the DUP’s Keith Elliott and Paul Robinson, members of the TUV and County Grand Master of County Fermanagh Orange Lodge Stuart Brooker and Enniskillen bombing victim Stephen Gault, incidentally two men whose names had been mooted in the search for a unionist unity candidate. “This is fabulous news,” smiled Mr. Gault, “This is what we wanted for so long.” A request by Sinn Fein for a recount was rejected by the electoral office.  A little later all of the candidates took their positions and awaited the declaration, with Mr. Elliott and Ms. Gildernew and their supporters on either side of the room. The arrival of Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt sent party members into a spin; perhaps because it made the news feel that little bit more real. There were cheers as Mr. Nesbitt and Mr. Elliott embraced. “Two,” shouted Mrs. Elliott to Mr. Nesbitt, referring to the fact the party had been successful in securing two Westminster seats through her husband and his colleague Danny Kinahan . “Two,” smiled Mr. Nesbitt, hugging her tight.

Then at 5.35am the room fell silent as everyone listened to Deputy Returning Officer Martin Fox reveal that Alliance’s Hannah Su had received 688 votes, Green’s Tanya Jones 788, SDLP’s John Coyle 2,732, Ms. Gildernew 23,078 and Mr. Elliott 23,608. As Mr. Fox uttered those words, a delighted Mr. Nesbitt proudly lifted Mr. Elliott’s right arm into the air much to the delight of his party.

The other candidates were consoled by their supporters, including Ms. Gildernew who was flanked by Mr. Adams, Mr. McGuinness and a number of Sinn Fein members.  “I pay tribute to my family who were by my side the whole time. It just shows you what you can do when there is a combined effort,” said Mr. Elliott in his victory speech. He thanked the Democratic Unionist Party, the Traditional Unionist Voice, the UK Independence Party, victims’ groups and loyal orders for rallying around him. “And from right across the spectrum,” he added.   “Tories” shouted one of Ms. Gildernew’s supporters. “The SDLP” shouted another.

“The votes came from right across the community and I thank those people who realised we need representation,” said Mr. Elliott who had spent much of his seven week campaign hitting out at Ms. Gildernew’s refusal to take her seat at Westminster due to her party’s abstentionist policy.

That said, Mr. Elliott was keen to show his appreciation to Ms. Gildernew who had privately wished him well in the count hall before the pair faced the cameras.  “It would be remiss of me not to thank Michelle Gildernew who did congratulate me on my win,” said Mr. Elliott, “Fair play, and thank you very much for that.” But the Ballinamallard man again took issue with remarks that Ms. Gildernew had made during her election launch campaign in the Moy in which she said the iconic seat belonged to Bobby Sands, who famously won it in 1981 while on hunger strike.  “This constituency of Fermanagh-south Tyrone, the most westerly constituency in the United Kingdom, is not a green constituency, it doesn’t belong to Bobby Sands. It belongs to the people of Fermanagh-south Tyrone and that is who I intend to represent,” said Mr. Elliott, dedicating his win on the 70th anniversary of VE Day to those who died during the Second World War.  “I give this victory to the people who fought and fought for democracy and won that democracy. It was those people who fought for that democracy which is why we can stand here today.” Mr. Elliott said he wanted to give those listening his assurance that he would represent the people of Fermanagh-south Tyrone in Westminster.

“I will go and fight for the rights of those people on welfare reform, taxation issues and I will do that in the corridors of Westminster and in the chamber of Westminster. This is a great victory not only for unionism, for Northern Ireland and for the United Kingdom,” he said.

“The most westerly constituency is not only red, white and blue, it’s represented,” concluded Mr. Elliott, to deafening cheers.  Unlike the three occasions before, Ms. Gildernew did not stand on the podium victorious, but she did say she stood there feeling “proud and humbled”.

“It was another nail biting election in Fermanagh-south Tyrone; the difference was less than one per cent. I believe that vote represents all faiths and none,” she said, thanking all those she said she had met along the way.

And she had this warning for Mr. Elliott: “I listened to Tom’s words, and I have congratulated him on his victory here tonight, but one thing for sure this constituency has major, major difficulties and I will continue to work on behalf of the people.

“He mentioned welfare reform and I am glad he did. He didn’t mention fracking and I am slightly worried about that. We have to continue to fight for our tourism, agriculture, air quality and our water. We have much to do in Fermanagh-south so I am not going anywhere.” “Good,” shouted one of her supporters.

Ms. Gildernew thanked her husband Jimmy and their three children; Emmet, Eunan and Aoise, who were all born during her tenure as Member of Parliament. She also paid tribute to her parents, parents in law, and her extended family. But she concluded her speech with one final tribute, to the man who inspired her career and divided opinion throughout the entire campaign.  “It’s not lost on me,” said Ms. Gildernew, “In our hearts this seat will always be Bobby Sands’.” The remark was met with a mixture of cheers and boos from both sides of the room and as she thanked voters for “taking on the combined forces” she left the stage and jumped into the arms of friends, family and colleagues.

“Well done, well done,” smiled Mr. McGuinness. “You should be very proud,” added Mr. Adams.   There were tears of sadness from Sinn Fein members, including elected representatives, and before she got into her car to leave Omagh, Ms. Gildernew said her heart was “full of pride.” Over at the unionist camp there were tears, too, but of joy.  “I can’t believe it,” said one of Mr. Elliott’s long-standing staff members, “No better man.” Asked how he was feeling at winning the election, an exhausted Mr. Elliott replied: “I am overjoyed, the campaign has been really good and I am pleased that people came out to support me.” His leader, Mr. Nesbitt, who first made his call for a unionist pact back in October, told this newspaper at the time that the Ulster Unionists wanted “to regain unionist representation in Fermanagh-south Tyrone, the most westerly constituency in the UK”.

“We would be prepared to put the country first to keep Sinn Fein out,” he said. And now, the hard work for Mr. Elliott really begins.