The Alliance Party’s surge in recent elections has failed to make any significant headway West of the Bann, but one of their candidates in Enniskillen believes the upcoming local council elections could be ‘groundbreaking’ for the party.
Alliance more than doubled its number of MLAs to 17 in last year’s Assembly elections, but despite increasing its vote in areas such as Fermanagh and South Tyrone and West Tyrone, the party did not pick up any seats there.
Across the Fermanagh and Omagh and Mid Ulster council areas, the party still only counts on one elected representative - Omagh town councillor Stephen Donnelly.
READ MORE: Fermanagh and Omagh: All of the candidates running in NI Council Elections 2023
But hopes are high within the party that that can change in the vote on Thursday, May 18, with Alliance fielding candidates across all DEAs in Fermanagh and Omagh this time around.
Stepping up for election for the first time in Enniskillen is local pharmacist Eddie Roofe, who believes the party’s success in other areas can be replicated in the West.
Party leader Naomi Long has been in Co Fermanagh twice in the last week and Eddie says other party MLAs will be visiting ahead of the election as they try to secure their first councillor in the area.
“They know that for Alliance to be taken seriously we need to be seen on the ground,” Eddie told Belfast Live.
“Across the board we can see pathways to getting more Alliance councillors on both Fermanagh and Omagh Council and Mid Ulster Council. We want that to happen and we’re actively trying.
“I believe personally this seat is up for grabs and the response on the doors reflects that.
“A seat in Enniskillen would be groundbreaking, it would be the first ever in our history in Fermanagh, let alone Enniskillen.
“I’ll be working very hard over the next couple of weeks to get my point out. I hope that we can build on last year’s good Assembly result - I don’t see any reason why we can’t.”
On the subject of why the party has been unable to make significant progress in the area, Eddie says the party has not maintained a strong presence there over the years.
“We’ve maybe fallen foul in the past of candidates who maybe stood and didn’t stick around. I’m not going anywhere, my intention is to get selected in this election, I want to represent Enniskillen," he said.
“After that for other council elections, Assembly elections I’ll be there too. There needs to be a focal point for the Alliance Party and I’m really grateful I’ve been given the opportunity to stand in Enniskillen and be that.
“In Fermanagh and South Tyrone we nearly doubled our vote. We are on the cusp of things, we are maybe just one election cycle behind some of the success stories like Upper Bann and South Down where we’ve seen new Alliance MLAs.
“We are having candidates standing in all seven DEAs in Fermanagh and Omagh, which is the first time we’ve ever done that. That’s a good sign to show what strength of the party there is now.
READ MORE: Northern Ireland council election: List of all the candidates in the May 2023 poll
“The areas of growth for the Alliance Party are West of the Bann, there’s no doubt about that.”
Defending his party leader’s comments on healthcare on BBC’s The View this week in which Long said she would ‘rather have to travel extra miles in order to be able to receive treatment in a timely fashion’, Eddie said the comments were taken out of context.
There has been outrage in Co Fermanagh over the removal of emergency general surgery at the South West Acute Hospital, and the candidate said his party’s position is clear on the issue.
“I would suggest that The View knew exactly what they were doing, they knew it would get clicks and it would annoy people. I think they did a poor job because they didn’t put the question at the start of the clip.
“What she was actually talking about was the Ards Minor Injury Unit being centralised to the Ulster Hospital. It’s a completely different point to the South West Acute Hospital.
“We would like to see emergency surgery return to the South West Acute Hospital, I think that has to be clarified.
“I’ve been disappointed by their (The Western Trust) discourse at times, they really haven’t helped themselves.
“There hasn’t been a job role for emergency general surgery based in the South West Acute Hospital since January 2022.
“They can quote all the pressures of recruitment all they want and yes they do exist, but if you don’t even put the jobs on you don’t have a leg to stand on when councillors criticise you.”
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