This seat remains well known as the site of two bitterly fought by-elections in 1981. Bobby Sands, an IRA prisoner on hunger strike, fought the election from prison and won, only to die during the protests at the Maze Prison the following month.
In the ensuing by-election, his election agent, Owen Carron, won the seat, although he lost to sitting MP Ken Maginnis in 1983, when an SDLP candidate split the Catholic vote.
The largest town in the constituency is Enniskillen, which the IRA bombed during the 1987 remembrance day ceremony. It has a population of over 11,000, and is a popular shopping centre, with a large lakeside theatre and excellent angling facilities. Also in the town are Enniskillen Castle and an Anglican cathedral.
The other principal town is Dungannon, a textile manufacturing town in the south east of County Tyrone, which attracts many visitors to both the glassware works of Tyrone Crystal and the Moygashel Mills, one of the most famous names in Irish linen history.
Today there is an almost 50-50 Protestant-Catholic split in the seat: in recent elections the SDLP and Sinn Féin have both fielded candidates, whereas the unionist vote has united behind the UUP.