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.

Tuesday 18 November 2003

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Nigel Dodds, DUP, Belfast North

The SDLP campaign highlights now, more than ever, why unionists must vote DUP to halt the nationalist agenda. Unionist voters must ask themselves why the SDLP and Sinn Fein do not want the DUP returned as the largest unionist party in the next assembly. The answer is simple, nationalists want to deal with the Ulster Unionist Party because they know that they can beat them in negotiations every time.

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Mark Durkan, SDLP, Foyle
I am appealing to voters all across the north, who may be feeling a bit disillusioned with politics - don't let that disillusionment keep you at home on the 26th. Remember, bad politicians are elected by good people who don't vote. Your vote is a powerful thing - so use your vote and use it well. In an election where a handful of votes cast - or not cast - will make all the difference, don't stay at home.

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Pat Doherty, Sinn Fein, West Tyrone
Our agriculture industry and rural communities face many challenges. Not least CAP reform and the great pressures faced by farm families as a result of falling farm incomes. We face these challenges with a unique perspective. Sinn Fein are the only all-Ireland party. We engage with farmers right across this island and are the only political party who have actively engaged on every issue facing farm families.

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Sir Reg Empey, UUP, Belfast East
The DUP's billboard stunt outside UUP HQ this morning was a sign of desperation on the part of the DUP. To deliberately come to another party's headquarters is an act of provocation caused by the repeated challenges from David Trimble for Ian Paisley to debate the issues in front of the people of Ulster. His failure, so far, to do so is matched only by the pathetic attempts of his underlings to make excuses for his non-appearance.

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Naomi Long, Alliance Party, Belfast East
First we had the 'Brawl in the Hall' at Stormont. Now we are getting more half-baked 'entertainment' in the form of a 'Fuss at the Bus' (the public row between the UUP and DUP leaderships). This was the kind of behaviour you might expect in the playground. It may have been staged on the Holywood Road, but it really was a second-rate production. It is time that unionist politicians caught themselves on and showed some leadership rather than indulging in pathetic and childish insults.

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