A DUP candidate hoping to gain a seat for the party in Fermanagh and Omagh in next week's council elections says there are ‘serious problems’ with the local council’s spending priorities.
Aaron Elliott is one of the youngest candidates standing in the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area at 23, and is the son of current Enniskillen councillor Keith Elliott.
One contentious issue which has sparked the ire of local residents across the district in recent weeks is the £145,000 spend on welcome signs for Enniskillen and Omagh, which have been described as ‘ugly’.
READ MORE: Cost of new Enniskillen and Omagh welcome signs hits almost £150,000
The local authority also faced criticism last year for cancelling Halloween fireworks displays and Christmas lights events in both towns due to ‘financial pressures’.
Speaking to Belfast Live ahead of next week’s council elections, Elliott said they were issues that pointed towards ‘serious problems’ in the council’s spending.
“Unfortunately with councils, particularly in Fermanagh and Omagh, it wouldn’t be the first time that situations like this have arisen.
“A person came into our office last week was complaining that there was a new sign installed at the end of his road there two years ago, and the council obviously has its dual language policy so that new sign was dug up and replaced by a new dual language sign.
“Is that an appropriate use of public money at this time? Particularly in Fermanagh and Omagh here there are a lot of examples of people whose bins haven’t been lifted in two or four or six weeks.
“It particularly seems to have taken a turn in the last year or so and it comes down to the core issues that people want to see their council deal with.
“So far there have been serious problems with your everyday functions of the council - it’s those bread and butter issues that people really focus on when it comes to their local council that it is failing to deliver for them.”
Elliott has previously spent time working in the constituency office of DUP MP Carla Lockhart, and now forms part of Fermanagh South Tyrone MLA Deborah Erskine’s team.
The council candidate defended his party’s stance over the Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework, which has led to it refusing to enter Stormont to form an Executive.
“No two politicians are calling at the same set of doors. There is obviously, especially down this way, concerns over the health service but the reinstatement of Stormont overnight and the reintroduction of ministers will not fix everything in a day.
“The Bengoa report has sat for years and years now and not yet been implemented.
“From my point of view as a DUP candidate the best way we can sure those issues are addressed is that we have a sustainable footing for devolution here.
“The only way we can do that is to ensure that the deal with the framework is right and one that has the buy in and support of the unionist community.
“Unionist support for the agreement and the institutions is probably at its lowest that it has been in many years. It’s important for the institutions to be stable in the long run so that we can address these issues.”
One of those issues that faces the people of Co Fermanagh is the suspension of emergency general surgery at the South West Acute Hospital.
READ MORE: NI woman on life without electricity or running water in rural cottage
Most local representatives have been critical of the Western Trust’s handling of the issue, and while Elliott admits they have made mistakes, ‘constant negativity’ around the hospital is not helping.
“I don’t believe that an overhaul of the Trust board or its resignation would be the right thing to do - the last thing we need at the minute is more uncertainty.
“People were finding out about things through other avenues before it was being announced by the Trust. All it does is add to the anxiety and fear, especially when it’s something related to healthcare.
“I think they (the Trust) allowed a vacuum to develop that was not good for the public and led to anxiety and fear over what the suspension of services would actually mean for people.
“Some parties, if they want to continually attack the Trust that’s fine, but I don’t think the continual jabs and negativity when it comes to the conversation around the SWAH is helpful.”
Fermanagh and Omagh is one of just two local council areas where the DUP has less councillors than the UUP (5 vs 9), and Elliott says the party is hoping to claw back that gap, with his own Erne West DEA as one of the targets.
“Traditionally on the unionist side it would be an Ulster Unionist party stronghold but they have a change in candidates this time around, so we’re hoping that there’s maybe not that established sitting councillor there then there is an opportunity there.
“Fermanagh and Omagh would be quite unique when it comes to unionism at local government level, in that the UUP would still be the bigger of the two unionist parties.
“At local level here our aim would be at least to make some inroads there, Rome won’t be built in a day but they have nine councillors and we have five so we’d like to at least begin to close that gap.”
READ NEXT:
See the private island on market in NI for less than you might think
Fermanagh and Omagh: All of the candidates running in NI Council Elections 2023
Hope Street actor stops filming to make plea for starving dog found with rope around neck
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our Fermanagh newsletter here.
