Word: sinns
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...over the next six weeks than the couple's political careers: the scandal comes at a critical time for the province's shaky power-sharing agreement. For months, the two biggest parties in government, Robinson's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is mostly supported by Protestants, and the Catholic Sinn Fein, have been at loggerheads over the devolution of policing and justice powers from London. Sinn Fein wants control over the police to be transferred to Belfast to end what it perceives as a pro-Protestant bias. But many Protestants are reluctant to change the status quo. Now, Peter Robinson...
...elections to the Assembly. And this may not be good for the DUP. Iris Robinson's affair has rocked the rural evangelicals who comprise the party's base, and may lead some to drift toward two smaller Protestant parties. A three-way split of the Protestant vote could give Sinn Fein the largest number of seats in the Assembly, causing the political process to grind to a halt. Such an outcome would also be a disaster for Robinson, who has steered the DUP away from its original firebrand populism to its current position atop Northern Irish politics. If he fails...
...County Fermanagh. Many fear that a political collapse could play into the dissidents' hands - and bring more violence. "A lot depends on the next few days in relation to progress on policing and justice," says Michael Graham, a political-history professor at Queen's University in Belfast. "If Sinn Fein don't feel they're getting very far, I think they're likely to pull the plug." (See pictures of the British army leaving Northern Ireland...
...Peter Robinson has said he will continue to negotiate with Sinn Fein during his six-week break. But a failure to reach a consensus could cause the fragile coalition to fall apart, which would trigger new elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. And this may not be good for the DUP. The party's traditional base - rural Evangelical Protestants - has been rocked by Iris Robinson's affair, which may cause some voters to drift toward the anti-power-sharing Traditional Unionist Voice Party or the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party, which recently forged an alliance with the British Conservative Party...
...most worrisome outcome for the DUP would be if a three-way split of the Protestant vote allowed Sinn Fein to emerge as Northern Ireland's biggest political party. That potential power swing and the inevitable friction between Sinn Fein and rival Unionist groups could see political progress grind to a halt. Such an outcome would also be a disaster for Peter Robinson, who for almost 30 years has carefully steered the DUP away from the firebrand populism of its founder, the Rev. Ian Paisley, to its current position at the top of Northern Irish politics. If he fails...