On the hustings

Election to the assembly takes place on Wednesday 26 November

BBC News Online takes a look at the political statements in the election campaign to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Monday 17 November 2003

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George Dawson, DUP, East Antrim
I am a devolutionist. I believe that decisions about Northern Ireland services should be taken and administered as close as possible to the grass roots of our communities. For that reason I welcome local opportunities for local constitutional politicians to participate in local politics. Indeed, I welcome those positive achievements which have been delivered by the local assembly.

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Conor Murphy, Sinn Fein, Newry and Armagh
During the last Westminster election campaign, the SDLP proclaimed themselves as being a post-nationalist party. The main plank of this approach was that the SDLP would not accept a 50% plus one vote for Irish unity in any border poll. Sinn Fein's position is crystal clear. We ensured that the mechanism to trigger a border poll and subsequent polls every seven years was inserted into the Good Friday Agreement.

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Marion Baur, Socialist Environmental Alliance, East Londonderry
The SEA calls on the electoral office to work to provide photographic ID right up to the day of the election. We recognise that there are those who have abused the voting system here. However, it is obvious that the new rules discriminate against poorer people, who are less likely to have a driving licence or a passport.

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Alban Maginness, SDLP, Belfast North
Jeffrey Donaldson and other anti-Agreement UUP figures have made their agenda clear. They want to work with the DUP. That means that they want to wreck the Good Friday Agreement. Anti-Agreement UUP candidates are little more than DUP fifth columnists. Like the DUP, they say they want the Agreement renegotiated. Like the DUP, they will actually destroy it.

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Billy Armstrong, UUP, Mid-Ulster
Once again in this election campaign the DUP have decided to attack not those who oppose the Union, but Ulster Unionists... They fail to suggest one positive initiative concerning the RIR in the face of SDLP and Sinn Fein criticisms. And they conveniently overlook the Ulster Unionist charter's commitment to support the retention of the Home Service RIR. This illustrates well that while the DUP offer only defeatism and division, Ulster Unionists are in the business of positively building a unionist future for this part of the United Kingdom.

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Eliz Byrne McCullough, Women's Coalition, Belfast North
Four out of 10 children live in poverty, and tackling this appalling situation will be our first priority in the new assembly. Every child is entitled to a clean environment, safe places to play, to good food and healthcare and to a high standard of education. We want more play parks, as well as to increase the number of high-quality childcare places in Northern Ireland.

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Stewart Dickson, Alliance Party, Antrim East
The UUP, DUP and SDLP all receive significant six figure sums from the taxpayer in the form of Policy Development Grants due to their representation in Westminster. All three of these parties presumably see themselves as part of the next executive. For far too long, parties in Northern Ireland continue to be allowed to get away with shoddy wish-lists as manifestos, with no detailed or costed pledges.

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