David Ford said: “East Londonderry Alliance has been at the forefront of our campaign to deliver change across Northern Ireland. We have increased the number of Alliance Councillors in East Derry and increased our percentage share of the vote very significantly in the last Assembly elections thanks to the efforts of Barney Fitzpatrick and his team.
“Yvonne Boyle was elected in May to Coleraine Council and her election has demonstrated Alliance’s very strong progress in the Coleraine area.
“Siobhain and Damien Corr, Graham Scobie and Charlie McConaghy performed excellently in the in the recent council elections and I believe that they will all be excellent councillors in the future.
“Alliance saw an almost 50% increase in the number of Councillors we have across Northern Ireland and we almost doubled our vote percentage in the Coleraine council elections compared to our results in 2005.
“We have an ambitious programme of delivery in government and the success of Stephen Farry as Employment and Learning Minister on the issues of resolving the tuition fees dilemma and on teacher training, as well as our vision for prison reform and the implementation of Northern Ireland’s first justice Bill in decades demonstrate this. Naomi Long continues to be a strong and positive voice for East Belfast and Northern Ireland at Westminster and her work on addressing the past has helped deliver talks to deal with this very important issue.
“People believe in Alliance’s plan for a shared future which will transform society to boost our economy and improve community relations. More and more people are backing our vision.”
Coleraine Councillors Yvonne Boyle and Barney Fitzpatrick noted that the Alliance share of the vote in May’s Coleraine Council election increased by around 85%. They outlined their work in the Council, covering Barney’s role in the new Police and Community Safety Partnership and Yvonne working on the Decade of Commemorations based on the principles of inclusion and respect for diversity, and they are both strongly committed to fighting to keep Causeway Hospital’s A&E open. They congratulated former Cllr Paddy McGowan on his re-election as East Londonderry Association Chair.
ENDS