Why I am standing as an independent in West Tyrone

I have since left the party due to the fact that I felt that democracy wasn’t being exercised in relation to how decisions were being made. I am a woman of principles and I cannot sit back and watch whilst the needs of the people who elected myself are not being met.

I have worked and lived all my life in Tyrone, and I am acutely aware of the challenges faced by the citizens of this region, in terms of connectivity, the erosion of services and rural isolation. Political parties tend to prioritise elections and gaining seats, and sometimes they don’t see the woods for the trees.

Over the last few decades the Omagh and Strabane areas have been neglected, in terms of inward investment and the development of vital infastructure. This means that our communities are being decimated as young people cannot get jobs and are having to leave these shores, sometimes for good. I believe that this cannot continue. The people who have been representing us in Stormont have had many years to prove themselves, and I feel that a number of them have failed miserably.

This had led to voter apathy, turnout is at an all time low. This is why I am standing as an Independent in the Assembly elections. I am offering a real viable alternative. I pledge to work with all other elected reps accross the spectrum to address and highlight the difficulties facing the constituency of West Tyrone. I have the experience and I believe that there is a solution to every problem. We owe it to the generation born since the Good Friday Agreement.

‘If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.’

Councillor Sorcha Mc Anespy, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council