THE impressive figure of former rugby international Mr David Tweed dominated the local election count at Ballymena Town Hall yesterday. Mr Tweed, a first time candidate for the Democratic Unionist Party, who is closely associated with the contentious Orange parades, was elected on the first count.
He had run in the Ballymena South Ward, which includes the district of Harryville, where loyalist protests have continued outside a Catholic church since last September. These demonstrations are in protest at the blocking of
Orange parades through the nearby nationalist village of Dunloy.
Mr Tweed, who is one of the Orangemen demanding the right to parade through Dunloy, received 832 first preference votes, less than 100 behind the outgoing Ulster Unionist Mayor of Ballymena, Mr James Currie. This represented a significant increase in the DUP vote.
However Mr Currie, who took a stand against the Harryville protests and went to Our Lady's Church to show solidarity with the Massgoers, was also rewarded. His vote increased by more than 300 from the 1993 result.
The SDLP candidate Mr Declan O'Loan, topped the poll in the ward.
Mr Tweed admits to being a "hardliner", but insists his main concern is to protect the civil and religious liberties of Protestants.
"I am a voice for people who want to live in peace and who are sick to the teeth of having their faith driven into the dirt," he said.
"The big difference is that the protesters in Harryville are not stopping people from going to the chapel, but we are being stopped from going to our services in Dunloy."
He also accused the RUC of "brutality" in stopping a parade in Dunloy last Sunday, and said he could understand why the homes of three police officers were petrol bombed in Ballymena on Wednesday night.
As an elected representative Mr Tweed will not be meeting residents' groups in Dunloy for talks. These groups, he says, "are part of IRA Sinn Fein strategy."
Overall, the balance of power in the 24 seat council was unlikely to change significantly, with the UUP remaining the largest party.
The SDLP, which had two seats, succeeded in taking a third seat on the Ballymena District Council when Ms Margaret Gribben was elected on the first count in the Bannside ward.