Ex-IRA man to stand against Sinn Féin in election

Suzanne Breen, Northern Editor

An ex-IRA man who served 15 years in Long Kesh is set to stand against Sinn Féin in West Belfast in the North's council elections.

Republican sources said Padraic McCotter, who is related to former IRA chief-of-staff Seamus Twomey, is planning to contest the seat for Éirígí in the 5 May poll.

McCotter was on the dirty protest in Long Kesh where at one stage he was second-in-command of IRA prisoners. His brothers, Sean and Liam, have also been jailed for IRA activities.

He had remained loyal to the Sinn Féin and IRA leadership for many years, including after the ceasefire and Good Friday Agreement. However, sources said he had become very disillusioned in recent times.

Ex-Sinn Féin Assembly member Davy Hyland is to stand as an independent in the council elections in Newry. He is backed by an alliance of groups including Éirígí, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, and Republican Network for Unity.

Hyland said: "Many people in the republican community see the way things are working and believe core republican principles have been abandoned." Bernice Swift, a Fermanagh councillor who resigned from Sinn Féin in a dispute over policing, is seeking re-election as an independent.

January 30, 2011

Comments

#1 mary commented, on January 30, 2011 at 10:27 p.m.:

Any body would be better than Baron Adams and his chuckle brother and the boring no nothing behind them........

#2 Joe Reilly commented, on January 31, 2011 at 11:13 a.m.:

Its like arranging the chairs on the Titanic...

#3 wag commented, on January 31, 2011 at 1 p.m.:

Baron Adams has no idea of anything to do with economics unless you count lining his own pockets,as people have had enough of airy fairy politics which dont put bread on the table,give him a bypass in elections, he does not even know the difference between cold weather payments or as he puts it warm weather payments enough said,

#4 mick commented, on January 31, 2011 at 1:30 p.m.:

I think that it is great that republicans in West Belfast will have the opportunity to vote for a working class republican who has been a committed republican all his life and didnt decide to become a republican when the conflict was ended by senior republicans in 1994.
Padraic has continued to work on a voluntary basis with local residents, community and environmental groups. He was also assaulted by the RUC/PSNI last July whilst taking part in a peaceful protest along with Ardoyne residents opposed to loyal order parades being forced through their area.

Cant wait to see Padraic elected in May to Belfast City Council to represent the republican people of Andersonstown and Lenadoon.

#5 phil commented, on January 31, 2011 at 5:38 p.m.:

Listen to these muppet comments;Mary and Mick,da tick and de plank!Please dont tell me you wits are still alluding to a united Ireland.Mick,you refer to"republicans"four times in your comment.Do you really understand the definition of republican in todays Ireland?..if so,I would really love to hear it!I was born and grew up in Ardoyne and was assulted by the RUC every second day..Big deal!Fortunately for me I was born with a brain and got out at the first oppertunity.Its a big world out there Mick and Mary

#6 Paddy commented, on February 1, 2011 at 3:15 a.m.:

Phil ..My old boy , you said you had a brain. You spelled opportunity wrong dude.Love to know how far you got when you went. slan go fail

#7 phil commented, on February 1, 2011 at 11:29 a.m.:

I'll attribute that to the Christian Bros Paddy who were always slapping me around the head ,but you should never get education confused with intelligence.

#8 antony commented, on February 1, 2011 at 8:33 p.m.:

Thicko sixo yeah you, you thick gom of a stay at home, poor me [poo hoo hoo ] pADDY,,, YEAH YOU NO 6. Have a look aruund you smocko, the dole qs, the damp old schools, the pot holed so called roads, the fools [way smarter than you thicko] in their tens of thousands paying at the tolls everyday for something that they already paid for anyway with their road? tax. Look at the filthy buses and the worthless rail [Thomas the fecking tank and friends]. Yere in the dark half the time when a little breeze blows a leaf on a wire in a commie style power station[the FLINSTONES,were more advanced than ye dumb ass bambams ]. Yere so fecken thick that ye think double yellow lines means that yes ye can park there all day. Ye cant go out for a pint without getting drunk, as for yere smoke free pubs the smell of B O and piss is sicking,.... Thats just a small example of how stupid ye stay at home paddies are. Anyone who would tolerate liveing like that deserve the Gov yere going to get. Iam glad yere all broke , Iam glad that that hole of a country is in debth fo the next 2 to 3000 years. YE were all part of yere own doom. I would rather have my freedom than be well able to spell the Queens English any day of the week. If ye could do math as well as ye spell ye wouldnt be in the mess yere in dubas. You can fool all of the paddies all of the time said the fina failure to the fine gaylorr seconded by yomon from lobor who first hearh it from yar won in thats mine ie shinn fein,. So paddy no 6 and the rest of ye dick heads ,go away and learn to do the math before ye give anybody yere NO 1 now feck off paddy. 26 inches of snow in Chicago and were to expect waves of 26 feet high on lakeshore drive tonight. Ah the CITY looks beautiful today, The puppys paws get frozen fast in this cold,,,ah he dont mind though because he's free AH BEAUTIFUL FREEDOM thank YOU LORD. i wonder if Jeasus could spell ,he never did write a book??He sure knew how to count though ,I mean all those loafs and fishes WOW,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,love you JEASUS THANKS , oops did i spull somting wrong. IHIPE some day to have the OPPORTUNITY TO SPILL THUNGS WRITE god blees beautiful AMERICA

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