The Alliance Party has announced Matthew Beaumont as its sole candidate to run in Fermanagh and South Tyrone at next year’s Assembly election.
Beaumont will run in a competitive constituency where his party has never before had an MLA.
He previously ran unsuccessfully for the party in the General Election and local council elections in 2019.
Throwing down the gauntlet to the other candidates in the constituency, Beaumont said it was "horrifying" that three of the five current MLAs in Fermanagh and South Tyrone were co-opted rather than being voted in themselves.
In the constituency only the UUP’s Rosemary Barton and Sinn Fein’s Jemma Dolan remain in their seats following the last Assembly election.
“I think it’s horrifying, I appreciate the reason why we have co-option in place but the fact that 60% of our MLAs weren’t voted in is horrifying," Beaumont told MyFermanagh.
“I think it should be the public that judges these people, it shouldn’t be political parties picking and choosing and I wish it wasn’t a thing.”
“It’s all good voting Sinn Fein or voting DUP, if your representatives are going to stand up and fight for you when you need somebody to fight for you.
“If you don’t think they will then you shouldn’t be voting for those people.
Beaumont added that he feels winning a seat in Fermanagh and South Tyrone for himself and Alliance is "achievable".
“I don’t come from being a sitting councillor, I am literally a member of the public like everyone else.
“I start the process with just as many votes as all the other candidates.
“Yes Alliance hasn’t had an infrastructure as big as some of the other parties, but that doesn’t mean that they still deserve to have those people in those places.”
“It’s going to be tough and it’s going to be really hard work but if I didn’t have a strong belief in it being possible, I wouldn’t be involved.”
