As previously reported in the WAR Report, the parliamentary elections in the UK were likely to have a profound effect on the peace process in Northern Ireland. Prior to the election, it was anticipated that the hard-line Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), led by the Reverend Ian Paisley, would consolidate its hold on the Protestant vote. It was also anticipated that Sinn Fein would consolidate its position as the majority Catholic party, possibly obliterating the moderate Social and Democratic Labor Party (SDLP).

As things turned out, the SDLP managed to cling on by its finger nails, wining three votes and losing only one seat to Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein increased its percentage of the vote and gained one more seat, taking its total in Westminster to five and becoming the undoubted majority Catholic party. On the Protestant side, the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party, which had dominated protestant politics just seven years previously, was reduced to just one seat in the new parliament. On the other hand, the DUP picked up another four seats taking its total to nine out of the 18 allocated to Northern Ireland in the UK parliament. The DUP is now the majority Protestant party, and its share of the vote is a clear indication that the majority of Protestants are unwilling to tolerate Sinn Fein?s continued involvement in the political process, unless the IRA is disbanded and disarmed.