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"Unity" was the political label for a series of electoral pacts by Irish nationalist, Irish republican and socialist candidates in Northern Ireland elections in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It also contested elections as a party in its own right, electing six councillors in the 1973 local council elections in the Fermanagh and Dungannon areas, although this was reduced to two members of Fermanagh council in the next election in 1977.

The first victory came in 1969 in the Mid Ulster by-election which was won by 21-year old student Bernadette Devlin. She held her seat in the 1970 general election, when Fermanagh and South Tyrone was won by her colleague Frank McManus. Both lost their seats in the February 1974 general election. Bernadette would later go on to join the IRSP.

In the October 1974 general election the spirit of Unity was revived, if not the name, when Frank Maguire won Fermanagh and South Tyrone as an agreed independent Republican. He held the seat until his death in 1981. In 1978 Unity merged with the remnants of the Nationalist Party to form the Irish Independence Party.

Election Results

By-election

General elections

Westminster

Election	First-Preference Votes	FPv%	±%	Seats	Seats %	±%
1966 United Kingdom general election	14,645	2.5%	New	0 / 12	0.00%
1970 United Kingdom general election	140,930	18.1%	15.6%	2 / 12	16.67%	1
Feb 1974 United Kingdom General Election	17,593	2.4%	15.7	0 / 12	0.00%	2

Local elections

Election	First-Preference Votes	FPv%	±%	Seats	Seats %	±%
1973 Northern Ireland local elections	10,281	1.5%	New	6 / 462	1.30%	New
1977 Northern Ireland local elections	5,528	1.0%	0.5	2 / 462	0.43%	4

References

1. "Local Government Elections 1973". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
2. "Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: Fermanagh". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
3. "Bernadette Devlin Wins Election". RTÉ Archives. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
4. "1970 Westminster Elections". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
5. "Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1950-1970". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
6. "Hard‐Line Protestants Win 11 of the 12 Northern Ireland Seats". The New York Times (published 2 March 1974). 1 March 1974. p. 10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
7. Holland, Kitty (22 November 2016). "Bernadette McAliskey: 'I am astounded I survived. I made mad decisions'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
8. "Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1973-1982". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024. Westminster Election, 10 October 1974 (one seat). Frank Maguire (Independent) 32,795 (51.8%)
9. "Frank Maguire, Ulster M.P., Dies; Helped Defeat Callaghan in 1979". The New York Times. 6 March 1981. p. 16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
10. "Local Government Elections 1981". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2024. On the Nationalist side, the Irish Independence Party emerged from the remnants of the old Nationalist Party and the Unity movement.

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