Not saying it with an X
Before I begin, this is not Mark Devenport, but his colleague Martina Purdy. Mark - who is on leave until Monday - asked me to update the blog but it has taken a good 24 hours to "hack" in.
By now the Dromore byelection has been carefully dissected, no doubt. The Ulster Unionists whose candidate won the seat called it a black day for the DUP. The Traditional Unionist Voice MEP Jim Allister described a massacre on St Valentine's day. But today the DUP leader Ian Paisley said the press coverage had been ridiculous and there was no massacre or bloody nose, pointing out that his party topped the poll.
The DUP, had the voters been asked for a St Valentine's Day X, indeed would have won in a Westminister-style first past the post vote. But alas, voters were asked for a 1,2,3 (etc) as it was a proportional representation election.
Either way, the DUP should be worried, say some, as the TUV has eaten into their vote. The question is can the DUP woo back hearts and minds before the next poll?
No doubt some of the DUP MPs who are in Lisbon on a Westminster factfinding mission will take some time to discuss the matter. (Three DUP MPs, I'm told, are not there, as they have other commitments. They are William McCrea, Iris Robinson and Ian Paisley Sr.)
P.S. for the record, the first count results were as follows:
DUP 1069
UUP 912
TUV 739
Alliance 357
SDLP 290
SF 350
Green 59
I'm 
