The Alliance Party has announced the candidates it is putting forward to contest the 2019 Local Government elections on 2nd May.
The Party, keen to build on significant growth in the area in recent years, is running 7 candidates in total, one for each of Newry, Mourne and Down’s 7 District Electoral Areas (DEA).
Councillors Patrick Brown and Andrew McMurray are seeking another term in council, with Cllr Brown up for re-election in the Rowallane DEA and Cllr McMurray seeking to secure Alliance’s first seat in the Mournes DEA.
Stepping in for Cllr McMurray in the Slieve Croob DEA is Graduate student Gregory Bain. From just outside Clough, he is a former PPE student with degrees from Manchester and Queen’s University and is a passionate advocate for mental health issues, particularly amongst young people. If elected will be a vocal advocate for tackling the stigma and lack of funding around mental health.
In the Downpatrick DEA, the party is running Tiernan Laird, who despite his young age (18) is already a seasoned campaigner and political veteran, having been Chair of the local youth forum, a vocal advocate for youth issues taking part in conferences in the last year in both Strasbourg and London, Vice Chair of Down High School’s debating society and Vice Chair of the South Down Alliance association. Tiernan is passionate about young people’s participation in politics and is not only the youngest declared candidate in the district, but if successful in May would be the youngest Councillor ever elected in Northern Ireland.
Moving into the Southern end of the district, Queen’s Law and Politics student Lorcan McGreevy is the Party’s standard bearer in the Crotlieve constituency. Lorcan is very passionate about environmental issues, including his strong opposition to Warrenpoint harbor dredging proposals and the controversial new housing development on the Shore Road in Rostrevor.
Lorcan recently spent a Summer campaigning for newly-elected Congress woman Katie Porter in Orange County, California, and hopes to bring some of the campaign skills he developed to the District. At 20, he is yet another young person stepping forward for the Alliance Party, in a District where the average age of the party’s 7 candidates is just 28!
Leading the way in Newry is community activist Helena Young. Having grown up in the Meadow area of Newry and living in Carnagat and the Armagh Road for a number of years, she has raised four sons in the area and is truly passionate about delivering for the city she calls home.
Helena believes the time is right for Newry to elect its first Alliance representative since the 1980s. She has a background in market research and community outreach, skills she is using to reach out to as many voters in Newry as possible.
Finally, Eoin Young rounds off the Party’s electoral team, flying the flag in the Slieve Gullion DEA. Eoin is an NI Water Technician who has grown up all his life in Newry and believes electing Alliance Party representatives is the best chance we have to break free of green and orange politics and grow opportunities for young people settling and raising families in the area.
