Interesting interview with SDLP Newry and Armagh candidate, Justin McNulty with political correspondent John Manley in today’s Irish News.
When Manley asked him about how his sporting profile would help his chances he said;
The GAA profile is a starting point only…Obviously it’s good to have a little recognition around the constituency but I’m going to do the work on the ground and on the floor in Westminster to help people have the quality of life they aspire to.
When Manley asked him whether if he lost the seat to Sinn Fein’s Micky Brady he would stand for the Assembly next year he wouldn’t bite simply telling Manley;
“I’m not looking beyond the May 7,”
Among his priorities if elected will be stemming emigration, campaigning to see Newry’s Daisy Hill hospital retained and enhanced, and standing up for farmers and rural communities.
Manley reports that McNulty knows that it will be a major challenge that will require “the best organisation, the best campaign team and the best canvassers”. Nonetheless he remains optimistic.
“Nobody said Armagh could win in 2002 — they kept reminding us it was Kerry we were playing and that we were the underdog,” he said.
You can read the full interview in today’s Irish News but could McNulty just pull this one off for the SDLP?
David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
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