‘Mum was looking down on me’, says successful SDLP candidate

BERNARD McGrath, one of the few bright spots for the SDLP in the local government elections, dedicated his victory to his late mother who died recently.

Mr McGrath’s success in Mid-Tyrone came after the party lost Mary Garrity in West Tyrone on Friday.

For a number of hours after that disappointment, the SDLP faced the prospect of having no councillors in the three District Electoral Areas covering Omagh.

The party’s third candidate, Brenda Mellon, polled 385 first preferences, but fell away in the later stages.

Mr McGrath, who polled just 462 first preference votes, said he was initially “worried” about his chances.

However, he came with a late surge which saw him win the final seat in Mid-Tyrone at the expense of independent, Emmett McAleer.

The Knockmoyle man’s success was particularly poignant as it came after the recent death of his mother, Mary.

“It has been a very difficult week for me,” Mr McGrath admitted.

“My mother wasn’t well for the past year and was in a lot of pain.

“We spoke five or ten minutes before she died and were talking about the election.

“She encouraged me to keep knocking on the doors. It was so good to have got that last chat because losing a parent is extremely tough.

“I’ll miss her, but I know she has been looking down on me.”

Mr McGrath has stood for election on previous occasions, but this was his first success.

He is the son of Brian, an independent nationalist councillor for 16 years in Omagh and chair for three terms in the 1980s.