Shock as Fermanagh councillor quits party

THERE was shock and surprise in local political circles this week as Cllr Garbhán McPhillips confirmed he had quit the SDLP and will continue to serve as an Independent.
His departure from the party leaves the SDLP with just two sitting members of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.
A representative in the Council for Erne East under the SDLP banner for almost a decade, Cllr McPhillips was first selected to fill the seat vacatd by his father, former MLA Richie McPhillips, in June 2016.
Having retained the seat in Cllr McPhillip’s first election in May 2019, he was re-elected in 2023.
“I have had quite a bit of time to think about the decision I took and I am happy with the decision, for some time now there has been several things that have been done and several issues and I haven’t been happy about that,” Cllr McPhillips told the ‘Herald.
“I decided that now was probably the right time to leave the party and finish out the council term as an Independent.
“There have been certain things over the years, and even in more recent times, decisions have been made that I really didn’t agree with. I suppose the direction the party is going really doesn’t stack up well with myself and my core values and beliefs and that is important to me.”
He added, “The party atmosphere locally in recent years has become very toxic and not a nice environment to work in. I have thought about this for quite a while now and in hindsight, I probably should of done this sooner.
Speaking about his father’s reaction to the decision, Cllr McPhillips said, “My father is fully supportive of my decision. He always said the decision was up to me, but he fully supports me, he understands my reasoning so he is fully supportive of my decision.
“I am going to continue on for the rest of this term as an independent. There is a lot of people out there that voted for me so I will continue in the council. I owe it to them, the people that gave me their vote and put there trust in me, so I will continue for this term anyway and I really don’t know what the future holds.”
An SDLP spokesperson said, “We acknowledge the decision by Councillor McPhillips and wish him the best for the future.
“The SDLP’s focus is on working with councillors committed to delivering for their local communities.”
The loss of Cllr McPhillips from the party marks a further decline in the SDLP’s fortunes locally. In recent elections, the party has seen its seat share on the Council fall from eight to five to three, and now to two.