BY CONOR SHARKEY

ANOTHER piece of the local political jigsaw fell into place this week, with Sinn Féin nominating five members to sit on Strabane District Policing Partnership (DPP).

The party made the dramatic revelation at a meeting of Strabane District Council on Tuesday night. Just who the five members will be has not been revealed, however, and it may be December before the names are made public.

At present, 23 of Northern Ireland's 26 DPPs are undergoing a major restructuring process to allow Sinn Féin to take up their seats. How many seats each political party is awarded is determined by their representation on their respective district councils.

At present, Sinn Féin make up half of Strabane District Council. Therefore, under theD'Hondt system, the party is entitled to five seats on the local DPP, while the DUP will get one, the Ulster Unionist Party one and the SDLP one. All party nominees will sit on the policing partnership for a four-year term.

News of Sinn Féin's intent to take all five seats may come as a shock to some in the local republican community. Just four years ago, around 50 of the party's supporters staged a protest outside the very first meeting of Strabane DPP.

On Tuesday night, however, not only were there no protesters, but the public gallery remained empty as local Sinn Féin councillors gave their backing to policing in Northern Ireland for the first time.

OBJECTIONS

The only objections came from the DUP who voiced their opposition to the D'Hondt system, claiming that five Sinn Féin members on the DPP would not accurately reflect the political views of the Strabane district.

Despite the DUP concerns, however, the significance of the occasion was not lost on other council members.

The current chair of Strabane District Policing Partnership Eugene McMenamin paid tribute to his current colleagues on the DPP and welcomed Sinn Féin on board.

"This is indeed an historic night for Strabane District Council. It's just a pity that it didn't happen years ago," he said.

Mr McMenamin's party colleague Tom McBride added: "This reflects the progress of what has gone on in Northern Ireland in recent times.

"I hope now that Sinn Fein can work actively within their own communities and I wish them all the best."

Giving an overview of just what Sinn Fein now hope to achieve, councillor Brian McMahon added: "Some decisions have come easy for us, some have not. It has been a hard road to come down and we won't be found wanting. We will be working in the right direction to deliver something decent."

With regards to not naming the five members going forward to the Policing Partnership, he said: "It's a long road, a few weeks won't make any difference. A month or three weeks will make no difference at all," he said.

Responding to comments from councillor McMenamin regarding protests and attacks aimed at local DPP members in the past, Mr McMahon added: "They had the right to protest. It was their right to protest, but any attack on a particular member of the DPP was always strongly condemned by this party.

"It has been a long road for us, but when we do this, we will do it right," he said.