Some of those who shared the "cages" of Long Kesh with Gerry Adams during his internment there in the early 1970s are greatly impressed by his eager support for the d'Hondt system of proportional representation, which will give his minority party two seats in government in the North, if indeed agreement is ever reached.
They seem to recollect that as leader of the Provisional IRA prisoners in the Kesh, Adams was involved in a continuing wrangle with the minority Official IRA who represented about 40 per cent of the internees in the republican compounds. This 60-40 split between Provisionals and Officials roughly reflects the political and sectarian split in the North which the D'Hondt system is aimed at ameliorating.
The Officials put it to the Provisionals that there should be a PR (D'Hondt) election system so they could share some of the positions giving access to the camp authorities and which brought certain benefits. Adams was, they say, straight to the point: majority rule.