Sinn Féin’s sole Banbridge District councillor resigns from party

The Belfast Telegraph reports that Sinn Féin’s only councillor on Banbridge District Council, Dessie Ward, has resigned from the party. There doesn’t seem to have been a statement from Cllr Ward yet, and it’s not clear if the recent news reports had anything to do with his decision, but despite the news being described in the Telegraph report as a “bolt out of the blue” he’s already listed as an Independent on the Council website. Update Although he hasn’t updated his[?] website. Adds From the BBC report

Mr Ward [who was seen as a rising star in the party] joined Sinn Fein aged 20 and had worked as a party press officer. He was elected to Banbridge District Council in 2005 at the age of 24.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.