THE POSTERS from the Council elections were barely down last week when posters for the upcoming European Parliament elections began appearing on telegraph poles across Fermanagh, which take place next Thursday.
If it wasn’t for the posters, though, many could be forgiven for not knowing there was another election at the end of the month.
In fact, with the Brexit fiasco trundling along aimlessly, PM Theresa May only confirmed last Tuesday the elections would even be happening.
As many had already presumed, given the lack of progress on Brexit, the UK will be joining the rest of the EU member states on May 23nd in electing a fresh EU parliament for the next five years. With three MEP seats up for grabs in the North, all the main local parties will be hoping to get their vote out.
Those who are pro-remain will be especially keen to mobilise the electorate for an election that is being seen as an unofficial poll on the public’s view on Brexit.
Sinn Fein’s Martina Anderson and the DUP’s Diane Dodds will be seeking to retain their seats in the EU Parliament. The North’s third sitting MEP, the UUP’s Jim Nicholson, will not be re-running.
Instead, Danny Kennedy will be seeking to retain the seat for the UUP. Meanwhile, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood is hoping to take a seat back for the SDLP and follow in John Hume’s European footsteps.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long is standing too, no doubt hoping to enjoy similar success their sister party, the Liberal Democrats, enjoyed in the local elections England where they benefited from a Brexit backlash.
Also vying for a place on the weekly plane to Brussels are the Green Party’s Clare Bailey, the TUV’s Jim Allister, UKIP’s Robert Hill and independent candidates Neil McCann and Jane Morrice.
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