Omagh councillor to step up and contest Westminster election

A Clanabogan man and local councillor has been named the Alliance Party’s nominee for the forthcoming Westminster election.

Stephen Donnelly, who has held a seat in the chamber of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council for a number of years, has been selected by the West Tyrone Alliance Constituency Association as their pick for the next British parliamentary ballot.

Speaking with the UlsterHerald earlier this week, Mr Donnelly said, “West Tyrone is my home and I have been enormously proud to represent it as the Alliance Councillor for Omagh.

“From Dromore to Strabane to Castlederg and everywhere in between, our people and our environment are our strongest assets but both are facing serious challenges that require strong leadership at Westminster.

“Northern Ireland is the only devolved region that has been funded below its independently assessed level of relative need, as has been attested to by the Fiscal Council.

“Alliance has been making this case for some time and we will be to the fore in pushing the UK Government to respond more ambitiously to the strain that this unfairness presents.”

Mr Donnelly said he will be fighting for a fair deal that will empower Stormont with ‘financial firepower’ to tackle climate breakdown and protect the environment.

“As well as that, we will stand up for our farmers and protect our agri-food sector, make childcare more affordable and our health service more sustainable, regenerate our rural towns and villages as well as tackle deprivation, and build safer, more united communities.”

“The fight on this particular battleground will be at Westminster, where if elected I will be a positive, progressive, cross-community Alliance MP who will work in the interests of all of West Tyrone.”

Mr Donnelly then hit out at the North’s biggest parties for failing to make any concrete pledges to never again bring the North’s devolved government to a standstill.

“We must be cognisant of the fact that it (Stormont) remains only as stable as it was on the last day before it collapsed, and despite being given the opportunity to do so neither Sinn Féin nor the DUP have committed to never tearing it down again.

“There is a therefore an urgent need to build support across these islands for reform that will remove the veto from our politics, so that no party can ever hold the people of West Tyrone and the wider region to ransom again.”

He concluded, “I am urging the people of West Tyrone to… vote for the politics of optimism and progress, which champions the interests of all and will be your strongest voice for positive reform of our institutions at home, by voting Alliance.”