Please pray for Northern Ireland and its people. They are going to the polls on Thursday 2nd March less than a year after the last election.
The Province elected a legislative assembly last May (2016). Sinn Fein pulled out of that in January. Martin McGuiness, Deputy First Minister, resigned, ostensibly over a botched energy scheme. Under the terms of the Agreement, Arlene Foster, the First Minister, could not continue. Elections were called and are taking place today.
Abortion in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is the only nation of the United Kingdom to which the Abortion Act 1967 does not extend. Â Nationalist MLAs (Sinn Fein and the SDLP) have constantly put forward motions to extend it to the Province, joined by the Alliance Party.
The last vote was in February 2016, where the Assembly defeated a motion to bring in abortion in cases of foetal abnormality by 59 votes to 40. In December 2016, the Alliance Party’s David Ford introduced the bill again.
Northern Ireland does not have ‘gay marriage’
The other major issue is same-sex ‘marriage’. In November 2015 the Assembly voted for the first time to legalise ‘gay marriage’. But the measure was blocked by the Democratic Unionist Party tabling a ‘petition of concern’. This effectively exercised a veto over the legislation.
It is crucial that the largest unionist party retains enough seats to be able to exercise its veto. It needed thirty members to table a petition of concern in the last Assembly, which had 108 seats. However, the Assembly has been slimmed down to 90 seats for the latest poll. Â But the petition of concern threshold remains at 30.
Safeguard the ‘petition of concern’ veto
The Guardian says the DUP is expecting losses in the wake of the renewable heat incentive. Obviously, with a smaller assembly, every party except the tiniest will expect losses. But it is vital, at the very least, that the DUP retain enough seats to table a petition of concern and exercise the veto.
So please pray to the Lord as the people of Northern Ireland go the polls during this day. Pray they elect enough righteous men and women to thwart the devices of the enemy. Thank God the Province stands against the Abortion Act and against ‘gay marriage’. Pray that situation continues.
Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
I don’t think the people of Northern Ireland are bothered about abortion or any other issue, at least, not when they vote. They just vote tribally. This is a widely held analysis of Northern Ireland politics.
I’m not sure about the ethics of trying to influence the result of an election in one territory by the prayers of people in other territories. But in any case, what you would need to do is go over there and actually convert large numbers of Roman Catholics to Protestantism, which you would find extremely difficult.
You miss the point and the power of God.