30th May 2003

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Michelle Gildernew, MP to lead Cork Protest for Elections

Sinn Fein MP, Michelle Gildernew, is to lead a protest in Cork at 1pm on Saturday 31st May calling for the holding of elections for the Northern Assembly. She will be accompanied by approximately one hundred constituents from Fermanagh to protest at the denial of their democratic right to vote for the representatives of their choice.

Michelle Gildernew's family was central to one of the first actions against discrimination by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement(NICRA). They took part in a sit-in in a local authority house in Dungannon in 1968, which catapulted NICRA to worldwide attention. She was elected as MP for Fermanagh - South Tyrone, in the last British General election, taking the seat once held by Bobby Sands.

Councillor Jonathan O'Brien today said:

``It is a sign of the depth of feeling amongst electors in the six counties that so many people have chosen to come to Cork to join our protest for immediate elections.

``It is a poor reflection on the British government's denial of democracy that the Gildernew family are still fighting for the right to vote 35 years after their sit-in in Dungannon. We hope that the Irish government will heed the anger of people on this issue and put pressure on the British government to uphold the Good Friday Agreement and call elections immediately.'' ENDS

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