Hunger striker’s nephew to run in Mid Ulster Council election

KILEESHIL Republican Kevin McElvogue has signalled his intention to run as a candidate in the Clogher Valley constituency in next year’s Mid Ulster Council election.

A nephew of Martin Hurson, who died in the 1981 Hunger Strike in the Maze, Mr McElvogue officially announced his intention at an event on Wednesday night attended by more than 60 supporters, including Mid Ulster Independent Republican councillors Barry Monteith and Dan Kerr as well as leading Republican activist Tommy McKearney.

The current councillors in Clogher Valley, who were elected in 2019, are Sean McGuigan and Phelim Gildernew of Sinn Féin, Sharon McAleer (SDLP), Wills Robinson and Frances Burton from the DUP and Meta Graham (UUP).

Mr McElvogue said his primary objective was not to target anyone’s seat rather to serve all the people in his community regardless of their background.

A former Republican prisoner, he spent two years on remand in the early 1990s before being released when charges against him were withdrawn.

He told the Herald, “I have been interested in politics since I was no age. I was 13 when my uncle Martin died in the Hunger Strike.

“Maybe I did not fully appreciate the political ramifications of what was going on at that time but it was a terrible shock to me.

“I knew my uncle very well and was very fond of him.”

Mr McElvogue does not believe the current political structures are working. He added, “Stormont is little more than a sectarian carve-up. It is going and stalling for so many years, what is it achieving? The Health Service is a shambles with huge waiting lists and ordinary people are facing going hungry or without heating this winter.

“The cost of living is totally out of control. It is appalling.

“We want the socialist Republic that we fought for down the years and that won’t be achieved by Stormont.”

Looking forward to next May, he concluded, “I am excited about this election and if elected I will do the very best for all the people. There are many day-to-day issues locally to be addressed.”