IT IS the end of an era with the retirement of the Rev Ian Paisley, now Lord Bannside, founder and former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and former Northern Ireland first minister.
He is also a former Westminster MP for the North Antrim constituency and at the last UK election he was succeeded by his son, Ian Paisley jnr. The latter was also an Assembly member, but had to step down when he was elected MP last year. He was replaced by DUP colleague Paul Frew.
This will be the first Northern Ireland election without a Paisley as a candidate for decades.
Jim Allister of the TUV, which is opposed to mandatory powersharing with Sinn Féin, garnered more than 7,000 votes in the Westminster election. He failed to take a seat on that occasion.
It will be a shock if he is not elected to the Assembly, although there is some surprise that his organisation is fielding a second candidate, Audrey Patterson.
The constituency lost some territory to East Antrim under boundary revisions, leaving North Antrim with about 3,000 fewer nationalists. As a consequence, the SDLP may lose a seat here, but possibly gain one in East Antrim.
Highlighting the prospect of Martin McGuinness as first minister if Sinn Féin becomes the largest party, Allister has challenged the DUP to say it will block McGuinness by refusing to nominate one of its own as deputy first minister.
Allister has criticised the coming visit of Queen Elizabeth to the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin as “unwise”, whereas DUP leader Peter Robinson has welcomed what he calls “peacetime politics”.
The Paisley family have been playing a supportive but low-key role in the campaign. Mervyn Storey and Paul Frew are seen as strong DUP contenders.
Here, as elsewhere, the Sinn Féin candidate is expected to gain from the “bounce” which the party is enjoying at the moment.
Declan O’Loan of the SDLP, married to former police ombudsman, Baroness Nuala O’Loan, faces an uphill struggle but should not be ruled out.
The Ulster Unionists are running two candidates, Robin Swann and Bill Kennedy, a former mayor of Ballymoney who is well known on the local scene. The party should hold off the DUP challenge and keep its single seat.
OUTGOING:
Robert Coulter (UUP)
Daithi McKay (SF)
Declan O'Loan (SDLP)
Ian Paisley (DUP)
Paul Frew (DUP)
Mervyn Storey (DUP)
CANDIDATES:
Jim Allister (Traditional Ulster
Voice)
Jayne Dunlop (Alliance)
Paul Frew (DUP)
Bill Kennedy (UUP)
David McIlveen (DUP)
Daithí McKay (SF)
Declan O'Loan (SDLP)
Audrey Patterson (TUV)
Evelyne Robinson (DUP)
Mervyn Storey (DUP)
Robin Swann (UUP)
LOCAL ISSUES:
Unemployment is a key area of concern, here as elsewhere. The position in the grammar-school
sector since the abolition of the 11-plus exam is also a hot topic.
