'Where's Pat?' - MLA accuses Sinn Fein MP of being 'alien' to her Fermanagh constituency
Sinn Fein MP Pat Cullen has been accused of being “largely absent” from her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency since winning the seat in last year’s general election – and remaining “estranged from the real issues on the ground”.
Diana Armstrong – the UUP MLA for the area – says the republican MP is “alien to communities” in the area, and many are asking “where’s Pat?”.
She made the comments after an interview Ms Cullen gave to the BBC in which she again declined to condemn the IRA’s murder of 12 people in Enniskillen on Remembrance Sunday 1987. The MP described it as a “very dark day”.
Sinn Fein has not responded to a question from the News Letter on how many days per week its MP spends in the rural constituency.
The former nursing union boss faced criticism during the 2024 election campaign for not saying whether she would relocate to Fermanagh and South Tyrone if elected. Parts of the constituency are a two hour drive from the wealthy south Belfast suburb where she lives.
A DUP MLA said “the million pound houses” of South Belfast “are a long way from the laneways of rural Tyrone or Fermanagh” – while republican rivals Aontu said it is “really important that MPs are close to the people that they are supposed to represent”.
Mrs Armstrong told the News Letter: “Ms Cullen then, as she remains now, is alien to communities right across Fermanagh and South Tyrone. She remains estranged from the real issues on the ground having been largely absent from the constituency since election day, many asking ‘where’s Pat?’.
Referencing comments on a BBC podcast about her failure to condemn the1987 IRA atrocity, Diana Armstrong said Ms Cullen has been an MP “for over twelve months now; she’s had plenty of time to reflect on the tragedy of Enniskillen. And on the 38th anniversary of the bombing, maybe Ms Cullen will finally condemn the terrorists who carried out this brutal attack in the name of Irish republicanism.”
After the general election Pat Cullen said she didn’t need to sit on Westminster’s green benches, and would bring ministers to her table, as she said she had done when she led the Royal College of Nurses during strikes.