Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

McAliskey withdraws from election

David McKittric
Monday 24 March 1997 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The remand prisoner Roisin McAliskey last night unexpectedly announced that she had changed her mind about contesting the pivotal Mid-Ulster seat in the general election.

Last week, she caused a stir by saying she intended to contest the seat and calling on other nationalist candidates to withdraw their nominations. Sinn Fein already had Martin McGuinness in the field while the SDLP candidate is Denis Haughey. It was always obvious that both parties would be reluctant to withdraw in favour of Ms McAliskey, whose mother Bernadette has been critical of both. But the strength of their opposition appears to have surprised the McAliskey family, while there was no evident surge of popular support for the candidature.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in