The SDLP candidate for Erne West in the upcoming local council elections has said he is keen to bounce back after the disappointment of falling short at last year’s Assembly election.
Adam Gannon had been tipped by many to help the party win a seat back in Fermanagh South Tyrone, but a disappointing day for the party was compounded by defeat in the constituency as Sinn Féin held on to its three seats.
St Kevin’s College teacher Gannon, who was first elected at the last local government elections in 2019, says the defeat was a difficult one to take.
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“Every pundit in the media was predicting an SDLP win in Fermanagh South Tyrone,” Gannon told Belfast Live.
“Even despite the broader national picture where we took a drop in the vote, we were still very close.
“Realistically we were only a couple of hundred votes away from a seat in Fermanagh South Tyrone and given the wider national picture of the SDLP unfortunately losing seats, to come that close to gaining a seat is encouraging.
“I worked really hard for it and it was disappointing but it’s like anything in life, you dust yourself off and get back to it and keep working, otherwise you’ll get nowhere.”
The party slumped to become the fifth largest in the Assembly following last year’s election, losing a third of its seats in the process.
However, Gannon believes nationalist voters flocked to Sinn Féin in a bid to crown Michelle O’Neill as First Minister.
“Last year’s Assembly election was a First Minister election, it was very presidential in its style and that was the reason for that,” he says.
“It just comes down to when we have instability, caused by the two main parties, it breeds this tribalism which the two thrive off electorally and use it both to their advantage.
“There has been a wider downwards trend there but there have been a few times where we’ve bucked that trend.
“It’s up to us to keep fighting, this place wouldn’t be the place it is today without the SDLP and we still have a message.”
In the four DEAs across Co Fermanagh, the SDLP is running its four sitting councillors in each area, indicating the best possible result for the party locally would be to hold what they have rather than attempt to gain more seats.
“Coming up to this election I’m optimistic, in Fermanagh and Omagh we have seven strong candidates and we are trying to be in the fight to win seven seats,” Gannon said.
“We’ll be happy to hold those four seats (in Fermanagh) and as with every election you take a look at the numbers and it was decided we would run the sitting councillors and do our best to hold those seats.
“Maybe in future we’ll look to run additional candidates, depending on votes on this occasion.”
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The issue of the suspension of emergency general surgery at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen is one that is very much to the fore for people in Fermanagh ahead of this election.
Along with other councillors in Fermanagh and Omagh, Gannon has been vocal in criticism of how the Western Trust has handled the issue.
“The Western Trust has done irreparable damage to the public opinion and public trust in themselves,” he added.
“They’ve been caught out lying to people, misleading people and any reasonable person looking at it would say that these people cannot be honest with us.
“I think there needs to be a wider change in how healthcare is managed here, whether that means new Trusts, that needs to be looked at and every option needs to be considered.
“Like most of the public, I don’t trust the Trust at this time and I’m doubtful that they’ll be able to make changes to persuade myself and the public otherwise given how they’ve handled this whole situation.”
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