Former Alliance (and independent) councillor and former Green Party leader Brian Wilson is stepping back into politics and standing as an independent candidate in North Down in a move that will disappoint both the Green Party and Alliance.
The veteran politician will celebrate his 73rd birthday ten days after the Assembly poll. The News Letter reports his explanation:
When I left the Assembly in 2011 I certainly had no wish or intention to return but as I followed the action or more accurately the inaction of the Assembly over the past five years I began to despair as all the goodwill enjoyed following the Executive agreement was being rapidly lost.
The Assembly has become known for its allowances scandal, gridlock, refusal to hold Executive meetings, petty bickering, insults over language and point scoring over incidents of decades ago.
To many particularly the young it has become a sick joke. Instead of agreeing plans for the future the emphasis has been on point scoring and blame for events of the past. No wonder our young people are leaving in droves.
Alan Meban. Tweets as @alaninbelfast. Blogs about cinema and theatre over at Alan in Belfast. A freelancer who writes about, reports from, live-tweets and live-streams civic, academic and political events and conferences. He delivers social media training/coaching; produces podcasts and radio programmes; is a FactCheckNI director; a member of Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland; and a member of the Corrymeela Community.
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.