Eamonn McCann says Shaun Harkin offers 'clear radical alternative to Orange/Green set-up'

Veteran Derry socialist Eamonn McCann has claimed the People Before Profit candidate in Foyle, Shaun Harkin, will be the only 'clear radical alternative to the old Orange/Green set-up' in the forthcoming Assembly election.
Shaun HarkinShaun Harkin
Shaun Harkin

Mr. McCann was speaking ahead of the People Before Profit Foyle Assembly Election 2022 launch at 7pm this evening in the City Hotel.

"I am urging all my friends in Foyle to weigh in and get Shaun Harkin elected to the Assembly.

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"Shaun was at the heart of my own campaigns for the Assembly and Derry City and Strabane Council over recent years. He has now been selected to fight the Foyle seat for our party, People Before Profit. His will be the only name on the ballot paper on May 5 to offer a clear radical alternative to the old Orange/Green set-up.

"We cannot get the change we need by voting for the same old parties.

"The difference between Shaun and his rivals in Foyle will be the difference between fresh new ideas and the same old, same old," said Mr. McCann.

At the last Assembly election in 2017 Mr. McCann received 4,760 first preference votes (10.7%) and narrowly missed out on retaining the seat he had won in the breakthrough election for the party in 2016 when he had actually received less votes and less of a percentage share.

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People Before Profit will be buoyed by their performance in the local council elections in 2019 when Mr. McCann and Mr. Harkin were both elected to Derry City and Strabane District Council.

Mr. McCann said: "We need Shaun at Stormont, arguing for socialist politics and campaigning across the sectarian divide for the rights of working-class people.

"The five bigger parties - Sinn Féin, the DUP, the SDLP, the Ulster Unionists and Alliance - have controlled the Assembly for the last quarter century. Between them, they have run every Executive since Stormont was brought back to life. They have to take a big share of the blame for the Assembly’s failure to deliver for Derry.

"Shaun will provide a clear voice with a different message, advocating for a socialist Ireland.

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"To break new ground and unearth new opportunities, we will need politics based on common class interests, not on separate community backgrounds. Putting Shaun into the Assembly on May 5 will be a major step towards this objective.

"Derry has always been ahead of the curve in politics. We should stay out front on May 5 by voting number one for Shaun Harkin."

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