ELECTIONS are often a good snapshot of society - as the Euro: pean elections in the six counties proved.
It didn't matter who won because the party in real control doesn't have to stand. Whichever party of imperialism is in power knows it doesn't require the flimsiest mandate. It can lecture about its commitment to democracy without being put to any democratic test.
The election was another sectarian headcount in a gerrymandered constituency that guarantees victory for the unionists. Their only concern was the possibility of demoralisation leading to a fall in unionist participation.
This in turn feeds the republican dream of Catholics outbreeding the unionists and voting for a united Ireland. This unlikely scenario in a very distant future would have to rely on both the British and unionists holding their hands up and declaring it a 'fair cop.
The election showed the hollowness of this dream. Sinn Fein ran a sectarian campaign for a second nationalist seat, relying on a unionist division so deep that they would rather see a Sinner elected than a unionist rival. There never was and never will be any likelihood of that.
The reasonable vote for the Ulster Unionist Party's Jim Nicholson and the transfers that finally got him elected reflected fear of a republican victory, both among anti-agreement Official Unionists and 'non-sectarian and terribly nice middle class' Alliance party supporters.
The election was also a series of sedamie secarian contecte John Hume's ridiculous claim to be campaigning on European issues was parroted without the slightest hint of derision but even the dogs in the street know that the key issue was sectarianism.
Paisley demonstrated his status as number one rottweiler in this sectarian dog fight. His election marked a consensus that 60 per cent of unionists now oppose the Stormont Agreement, undermining the moral legitimacy of the new deal.
Hume and Sinn Fein both argued this didn't matter - there was still an overall 70-30 majority in favour. But the rotten, sectarian framework they now so vigorously support only gave a veto to nationalists because it also gave one to unionists Were the Assembly to reflect the European election nothing would happen without Paisley's prior approval. This is the potential future of the peace process.
The British will do all they can to shore up Trimble's wing against such an outcome, and Nicholson's election holds off the complete victory of Paisley's raw sectarianism, and spared Trimble an immeClinging on to the Assembly: Paisley diate challenge to his leadership.
But unionism is demanding that republicans not only vote for the unionist veto in the south's constitution, accept that self determination means partition and sit in Stormont, but completely surrender. This is the programme of all unionism, not just Paisley.
This election also demonstrated Paisley's weakness. His post-election rant appealled to the British to respect his mandate. The UUP Assemblyman Esmund Birnie ridiculed the Democratic Unionist Party's participation by wondering how they were defending the union by sitting on the Assembly's gift shop committee.
Paisley clings to the Assembly that the Agreement gives him but he cannot use it on his own terms. Trimble repeatedly points out his lack of alternative. If the deal collapses so might his beloved Stor: mont.
Paisley's only hope is to put pressure on the British by destroying Trimble. His other hope is Drumcree and a victory for the most rabidly sectarian forces that will establish 'facts on the ground' that the nationalists will have to accept, powersharing or not.
In this framework the increased vote for Sinn Fein is no more than an advance in narrow party terms that clouds the underlying reality of the collapse of their political programme. The Irish Times quoted Sinn Fein saying that their good result should give heart to Tony Blair. This says everything about the current process and republicanism's support for it.
There was no working class voice in this election. No one proclaiming opposition to the new sectarian deal and to the new Stormont. No one advancing the case for workers unity and independence. The analogy of a football match in which sectarianism wins is inappropriate, for at least in a football match there is an opposition. Our task now is to create one.