The SDLP has deselected MLA Justin McNulty with Crossmaglen councillor Pete Byrne, who has been chosen to run in Newry and Armagh in next year’s Assembly election.
Mr Byrne won the vote at a selection convention in Newry Golf Club on Thursday night.
Sources said Mr McNulty was now “examining all his options”. They said he would take time to “consult with family, friends and his advisers” on the way forward.
Mr McNulty has been an MLA for a decade. Last month, he rejected a leadership offer to abandon his Newry and Armagh seat to run in Upper Bann where the party has less than half a quota.
Mr Byrne is regarded as one of the SDLP’s rising stars. He is the party group leader on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and was last year’s council chairperson. He has been a councillor for a decade.
To be honest with you I don’t know much about Justin McNulty other than the continual reminder that he is an All-Ireland GAA champion, he never had a huge media presence but that’s probably being a bit unfair to the guy, I’m sure he was popular locally. Pete Byrne is also someone I have never met or have any knowledge about but I know sources in the party speak very favourably of him. Again he also seems to be popular on the ground. And while it’s never good to focus too much on someone’s sexuality, it is interesting that he has been an openly gay councillor in what would be considered a historically conservative area for 10 years. You can listen to his interview with Miriam O’Callaghan about being gay in Northern Ireland.
In an ideal world both of them should have been able to run but with only one seat winable the SDLP obviously think that Pete will be a stronger media performer and help them to reach a broader audience. The problem for the SDLP is that Justin McNulty might decide to run as an independent and this will split the vote and it could end up that neither of them will win the seat back.
For reference here are the results of that constituency from the 2022 Assembly election (five seats)
@Conor Murphy (SF) 9,847 (16.7%)
@Cathal Boylan (SF) 9,843 (16.7%)
@Liz Kimmins (SF) 7,964 (13.5%)
@William Irwin (DUP) 7,577 (12.9%)
@Justin McNulty (SDLP) 6,217 (10.6%)
Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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