Pádraig Delargy has said it has been ‘the honour of my life’ to serve the people of Derry as Foyle MLA for the past four-and-a-half years.

He made the comments as he confirmed he will not be seeking re-election at the next Assembly election in 2027.

“I made a commitment to the people of Derry to represent them to the best of my ability.

“I am eternally grateful to my family for all their support. Early next year we are moving from Derry. For me, an MLA is about being in your community, at the heart of that community and all that happens there.

“That is not something I can do effectively living 100 miles away therefore I have made the very difficult decision not to seek re-election in 2027.

"While I will continue as an MLA for the coming months, I have made this decision as early as possible so that we can plan for continued growth and a successful election in 2027,” he said.

Mr. Delargy was co-opted to the Stormont Assembly as a replacement for the former Sinn Féin MLA Karen Mullan at the age of 25 in 2021.

At the last Assembly election in May 2022 Mr. Delargy topped the poll in Foyle exceeding the quota by a margin of 1,660 with a total first preference vote of 9471.

“I am forever indebted to our party leadership, nationally and locally, to my Assembly colleagues, Derry Comhairle Ceantair and to our activists for their unrelenting support.

"Thank you for this amazing opportunity. To have played a part in delivering Sinn Féin’s largest ever electoral success and ensuring Michelle O’Neill is the first Republican to hold the position of First Minister is something we did together. We were born into a system designed to ensure that would never happen. We broke that mould,” he said.

He said he was grateful to Sinn Féin for allowing him the ‘space and time to make this decision and supporting me in it’.

“Being a Republican is about lifetime activism. Over the coming years I will continue to be involved with Sinn Féin helping to build our party nationally and working towards a new Ireland,” he said.