Stephen promises to deliver ‘unique Alliance vision’

THE Alliance Party more than held its own this time around, gaining an extra seat on Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

Clanabogan man Stephen Donnelly retained his seat in the Omagh Town ward, while the party also successfully returned Eddie Roofe in Fermanagh.

Speaking to the Tyrone Herald before his election, Mr Donnelly confidently asserted that there is “a real appetite” for Alliance politics.

“We are very much going to be putting in a strong performance here today,” he remarked, just before first preference votes totalled 872.

And, after securing a total of 958.92 votes in the end, Cllr Donnelly said he felt “enormously proud” to be re-elected in the Omagh Town DEA.

“This is a community that I love more than any other place in the world. It’s the ultimate honour that I’ve ever been given to be re-elected for a second term,” he stated.

Cllr Donnelly also expressed his gratitude to local people for their strong presence at the polling stations, and for ‘trusting’ Alliance with their vote.

Alliance also celebrated unprecedented success in Fermanagh as Eddie Roofe gained a seat in the Enniskillen ward – the first ever party member to be elected in the Erne county.

“It was great to see such good numbers in the west of the province and to see the election of my colleague in Enniskillen, Eddie Roofe,” continued Cllr Donnelly, “we are going to be a really strong team and I’m looking forward to the work ahead.”

Finally, outlining his plans for a second term in council, Cllr Donnelly stated, “We want to make sure that we play our constructive role in bringing forward that unique Alliance vision – bringing people together, building a united community and making sure we get value for money in terms of the money being put forward by ratepayers.

“We wish to make sure that people get good quality services from the local council because fundamentally that’s what we are here to do, and that work starts from this week onwards,” he concluded.