Duncan Morrow announces Alliance candidacy

Community relations expert Duncan Morrow has announced plans to run as a local government candidate for the Alliance Party.

Duncan – who now lectures at the University of Ulster – is aiming to take a seat on the new Belfast super Council representing Botanic, replacing current Councillor Catherine Curran who has decided to step down after one term.

After years trying to encourage change from behind the scenes, Duncan said the move to frontline politics was an obvious next step.

Duncan Morrow said: “Without political leadership, Northern Ireland will continue to wallow in sectarian division, political paralysis and the deadly game of ‘them and us’, and only Alliance puts building a future for everyone as its first priority.

“The desire for a shared future must be at the heart of everything we do in politics. Our economic future and the quality of life of the whole community depend on it. The only alternative is a future carved up between sectarian interests or grid-locked between hostile enemies. Yet, 16 years after the Belfast Agreement, the biggest barrier to progress has been the failure of too many in politics to commit to a genuinely new beginning.

“I feel so strongly about this that now is the time for me to put up or shut up. Alliance is the only party in Northern Ireland that measures success in politics by how it can build a future for people who feel British, Irish and both, that supports the rule of law and opposes violence without ifs or buts and which stands with the victims of violence whatever the background of those who suffer.

“More than 15 years after the Belfast Agreement no other party has set out a vision for the future of Northern Ireland which genuinely and consistently tries to include the whole community. The serious issues that have emerged over recent years have convinced me that it is more important than ever that the Alliance Party’s commitment to inclusion, democracy and the rule of law are the only basis on which to build a secure future.

“After years of working in the community to achieve better community relations, it has become clear that real change requires a decisive change in political priorities. I am passionate about creating a new Northern Ireland for everyone, free from sectarianism and inclusive to all and firmly believe Alliance is the only way to achieve this.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of the election campaign and hope to get the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Councillor Catherine Curran in representing the Botanic area, a place I have lived all my adult life.”

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