Abuse hurled at Alliance hopeful in Omagh ‘worst he ever experienced’

THE Alliance Party’s election candidate in West Tyrone, has claimed that verbal abuse he received from two men while out canvassing in Omagh last night was the worst he had experienced during his time in politics.

Omagh town councillor Stephen Donnelly alleged that both he and a number of party activists were subjected to aggressive and abusive language from two individuals on Tamlaght Road.

Mr Donnelly said, “We were out canvassing in Shandon Park and we had a good response on the doors and people were very positive. When we made our way to the Tamlaght Road area, a woman approached us and hurled abusive and aggressive language at me and a number of others. She was then joined by a man in a white van who also hurled abusive language at us.”

The local councillor said he would like to make clear that incidents such as these were “very rare” in the West Tyrone constituency and that he had never received abuse like this before.

Mr Donnelly added, “One of the reasons that makes West Tyrone a great place is the respect we give to each other. This is the first incident that I’ve personally been involved with of this nature. These types of interactions, although intimidating and unsettling, will not put me off canvassing and talking to people anywhere in West Tyrone.”

This is not the first time during this election when candidates across the North have claimed they were made to feel unwelcome and were shouted and aggressively spoken to. In the East Derry constituency, SDLP election hopeful Cara Hunter said that she was shouted at and asked to leave an area of Coleraine while out visiting constituents.

Meanwhile, another Alliance Party candidate Eoin Tennyson, who is standing in Upper Bann, said that he and a member of his team were told they should leave a section of Lurgan they were canvassing in, as it was ‘a Protestant area’.