Outsiders to insiders
The party with the most MPs and MLAs has, in the main, successfully influenced important policies, especially when in government.
Full of statements and criticisms of their three main rivals rather than pledges, the DUP’s 2005 manifesto claims that the election would be “a battle with Sinn Féin.”
The transition from a “battle” in 2005 to the ‘Chuckle Brothers’ in 2007 saw the party accused of a u-turn by hard-line unionists.
However, they would argue that they did what they had to do to defend the union against the possibility of increasing influence from Dublin, whilst delivering on ‘bread and butter’ issues.
The manifesto’s opening pages told voters that the DUP would oppose the destruction of grammar schools, the new rating system, water charges and the euro. It claimed the party would replace the
Parades Commission and provide greater funding for the Ulster-Scots culture.
With nine MPs elected, it had more of a chance to fulfil its manifesto commitments than the UUP, Sinn Féin or the SDLP.
In hindsight, the party has achieved on these matters. Under Nelson McCausland, DCAL has gained £1 million a year for the next five years from its counterpart in England for a new Ulster-Scots broadcast fund.
And following the talks on the devolution of policing and justice, the DUP and Sinn Féin are now drawing up a draft parades bill with the party pushing for the replacement of the Parades Commission.
However, education is in chaos and water
charges – which have been paid by the Executive since they were introduced in 2007 – could soon be implemented.
Policing
The party insisted that the devolution of policing and justice would not occur unless there was unionist community support. This may have been achieved as the DUP constantly cited community support as a reason for not signing the Hillsborough Agreement and only signed when parading and funding concessions were made.
They strongly opposed a reduction in police numbers, particularly reservists, but were defeated in this as PSNI numbers are being reduced with full- time reservists to be gone completely by next year. In addition, the DUP’s pledge to keep small rural police stations open has faltered as the PSNI are selling off many rural stations in order to maximise its funds.
The party called for presumptive mandatory minimum custodial sentences for those who commit repeat burglaries and for longer sentences for paedophiles. These policies were covered in the Sentencing Framework Review, which was passed in January 2008.
Health
Few pledges were included on health. But the party did state: “A future local minister should be accountable for targeted strategies.” Because the UUP received this role, the DUP had little influence on the matter.
Other statements were that 20 per cent extra spending per capita was needed on health care in order to get in line with services in England and “a concerted effort is needed to deal with delayed discharges which sees 400 hospital beds permanently blocked because of insufficient resources in the community.”
Agriculture
The manifesto states that the Nitrates Directive, which was due to be implemented in 2007, had the potential to destroy the intensive farming sector. The party succeeded in lobbying the then Agriculture Minister, Lord Rooker, to relax planning restrictions to allow farmers to construct buildings for storing slurry and manure. In addition, the beef ban on Northern Ireland’s producers was lifted in 2006, but all parties lobbied hard for this development.
Local government
Rates and waste management were the two big issues for the DUP. They didn’t agree with proposals that valuation would be carried out on the basis of discrete capital values, saying: “It is vital that rates are kept as low as possible.” To that end, a DUP Finance Minister has seen that regional domestic rates have been frozen since devolution was restored in 2007.
Water charges were a big issue of contention for the DUP, who blamed the UUP for allowing them to be implemented in the first place under the review of rating. The Executive, with Ian Paisley and then Peter Robinson at the top, managed to stave off water charges until 2008 when non-domestic premises were charged. The DRD has been paying for domestic bills but households could soon have to begin footing the bill.
The manifesto called for “an efficient, joined-up approach to waste management” and Edwin Poots recently announced that he aims to have a single waste authority established by next year. He also introduced a Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendment) Bill which would give councils power to investigate and prosecute anyone who illegally disposes of waste.
Governance
Opposed to EU involvement in Northern Ireland, the party in 2005 said it would not support the EU constitution. The constitution was subsequently withdrawn and replaced by a similar Lisbon Treaty in December 2007. This has now been ratified by EU members including the United Kingdom.
Education
Saving grammar schools and promoting excellence in education were the party’s main educational priorities. With Peter Robinson recently stating that he would ensure that academic selection remains in controlled grammar schools and that Catholic parents were considering sending their children to those schools, it is safe to say that they are sticking to their first priority. However overall, education, which is under Sinn Féin’s remit, is at a stalemate. The manifesto also calls for the current method of testing to be amended “so it is less stressful for children.”
Senior citizens
This is the only section where the DUP had specific pledges. These included reducing the threshold for free public transport fares from 65 to 60. This was done in 2008 under a Sinn Féin led regional development department.
“We will campaign for a substantially increased state pension to ensure everyone can afford daily living costs,” the party said. The 2008 Pension Act (Northern Ireland) did increase the state pension by £13.20 and reformed entitlement so that both men and women reaching pension age only need to have 30 qualifying years of national insurance contributions to build up entitlement. However, the direct influence of local parties in this outcome is debatable.
Their pledge to get free TV licences for over 65s did not come to fruition as this is currently only available to over 75s.
They also proposed an Older People’s Commissioner and in 2008 the First and Deputy First Ministers announced that a commissioner would be appointed. A consultation and draft bill was subsequently published. The deadline for the consultation was January 2010 therefore it is expected that the post will be created soon.
Victims
Instead of one victims’ commissioner (as called for in the DUP manifesto) Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness surprised the province by appointing four. It was a compromise between the two parties which was justified by Paisley who claimed that four commissioners would clear the significant backlog of urgent work and difficult challenges in this area more efficiently than a single commissioner.
Summed up
· 9 MPs
· 241,856 votes
· 33.7% overall share
· 65% unionist share
Assessment
· Success in freezing regional domestic rates and water charges
· Limited success on sentencing, victims and waste
· High profile leaders in the shape of Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson
