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The by-election held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on 9 April 1981 is considered by many to be the most significant by-election held in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.〔("one of the most significant elections in the history of Ireland", An Phoblacht, 22 April 2010 )〕〔(Harry West obituary, The Independent, 7 February 2004 )〕〔(Northern Ireland 1963-1998 Queen's University Belfast )〕〔"for a lot of Republicans that election result changed the world", Sinn Féin:A hundred turbulent years, p291 Brian Feeney〕〔(Fermanagh and South Tyrone results 1973-1982, ARK, accessed 9 July 2010 )〕 It saw the first electoral victory for militant Irish republicanism, which the following year entered electoral politics in full force as Sinn Féin. The successful candidate was the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands who died twenty-six days later. The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament Frank Maguire.〔 ==Background of the constituency== (詳細はFermanagh and Dungannon, was created in 1950 and had seen a series of closely fought elections between unionist and Irish nationalist candidates, with several elections being won due to the absence of competing candidates on one side or the other. Nationalists of various hues had won the constituency in the 1950, 1951 and 1955 general elections, whilst the Ulster Unionist Party had won in 1959, 1964 and 1966. As the Troubles gathered pace, nationalists agreed the Unity pact to run agreed candidates in border seats, with Frank McManus capturing Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the 1970 general election. The February 1974 general election was the first to take place after several major political realignments in Northern Ireland. Opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement led to an alliance of unionist parties under the label of the United Ulster Unionist Coalition running agreed candidates in all constituencies, here putting forward the new leader of the Ulster Unionists, Harry West. Although unionist supporters of Sunningdale ran Hubert Brown, West garnered 26,858 votes (43.8%) to Brown's 3,157 (5.1%). The nationalist vote was evenly split with McManus gaining 16,229 votes (26.3%) and Denis Haughey, standing for the new Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), winning 15,410 votes (25.0%).〔 Many believed that a nationalist could have been won had there been an agreed single nationalist candidate. When a second general election was held in October Frank Maguire stood as an Independent Republican with backing from all nationalists, whilst West was the sole unionist. Maguire gained 32,795 votes (51.8%) to West's 30,285 (47.9%) and 185 (0.3%) for Alan Evans, standing for the Communist Party of Ireland.〔 The fine balance of the seat continued in the 1975 elections to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention when UUC gained 52% of the vote (with the small Unionist Party of Northern Ireland gaining an additional 2.3%).〔 In the 1979 general election neither side fielded sole candidates. Maguire was challenged by Austin Currie, a local SDLP activist (and later official candidate) who disagreed with the party's decision to give Maguire a clear run, whilst the new Ulster Unionist candidate, Raymond Ferguson, was challenged by Ernest Baird, leader of the United Ulster Unionist Party, who sought to cement his new party's electoral position. Additionally the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland ran Peter Acheson. The results were: Maguire 22,398 (36.0%), Ferguson 17,411 (28.0%), Currie 10,785 (17.3%), Baird 10,607 (17.0%) and Acheson 1,070 (1.7%).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, April 1981」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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