THE most closely fought constituency in Northern Ireland, Fermanagh and South Tyrone has been headline news after Sinn Féin’s surprise announcement that Pat Cullen, recently stepping down as the leader of the Royal College of Nursing, would contest the seat.
Known for the stunning lakeland areas of Lough Erne, the border constituency is geographically the largest in Northern Ireland and covers the areas of Enniskillen, Lisnaskea and Irvinestown.
Boundary changes on the eastern side will add around 1,700 voters, thought to lean towards nationalists, and will be crucial in a constituency that was decided by just 57 votes in 2019.
Blackwatertown will be absorbed from Newry and Armagh as well as the rest of areas like Moygashel, Mullaghmore and Ballygawley.
Ms Cullen is taking on the baton from Sinn Féin’s outgoing MP Michelle Gildernew, who lost her gamble at winning a seat in the European elections.
Ms Gildernew had held the seat since 2001 by the most slender of margins, excepting between 2015-17 when the Ulster Unionist Tom Elliott edged out in front by just over 500 votes, followed by Sinn Féin’s 57 vote victory in 2019.
Famously, the seat was won by the republican hunger striker Bobby Sands in 1981 - who unseated the Ulster Unionist leader at the time, Harry West.
That legacy remains as Mr West’s daughter Diana Armstrong is now standing for the Ulster Unionists and has wasted little time in challenging Ms Cullen to condemn the actions of the Provisional IRA, including the death of nurses in the 1987 Enniskillen bomb.
Ms Cullen did not explicitly condemn the actions of the IRA, but said she was only interested in moving forward and noted that in her nursing career she was only too aware of the trauma endured by victims of the conflict.
While Ms Armstrong is running as the sole unionist candidate, the SDLP does not give Sinn Féin a solo run in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, increasing their vote by two percentage points in 2019 to 6.8%, while Alliance also managed to increase their vote share by almost 2,000 votes - from 1.7% to 5.2%.
Pharmacist and councillor for Enniskillen, Eddie Roofe, will be standing for Alliance and recently commented that it “shouldn’t be controversial to condemn of the worst bombings in our history,” and also questioned if legacy should really be the focus of the election during a cost-of-living crisis.
Former councillor Paul Blake is standing for the SDLP, with his party calling him a champion for local health services and schools while freelance journalist Carl Duffy is standing for Aontú.
