Civil rights campaigner standing in south Tyrone

A CIVIL rights campaigner and journalist widely-known for her landmark legal effort to uphold the Good Friday Agreement is standing as an independent election candidate in Fermanagh South Tyrone.

Emma DeSouza said the upcoming NI Assembly election in May had “the potential to significantly disrupt the status quo of Northern politics” and “independent voices unafraid to join the growing demographic of ‘others’ not content with being shuffled into outdated political movements with partisan ideals” would be key to that change.

“There exists a potent desire for a shared future. The ever-persistent obstacle remains Northern Ireland’s dysfunctional politics,” she said.

“As part of the Good Friday Agreement generation, my focus is on the future, not on the past. That’s why I am standing as an independent. No party politics, no political theatre, simply making politics work.”

Co Derry-born Ms DeSouza, who writes for the Irish Times, described herself as “part of a newer generation in the North”, which she said was “charged with championing the values of the Good Friday Agreement and helping to build and support a society based on the principles of parity of esteem and mutual respect.”

She said she intends to lead in these efforts “alongside those who count themselves amongst the presently emerging generation of progressive forward-thinkers, and their fittingly future-focused priorities”.

By Roisin Henderson