Worth fighting for

Not only did she play a key role on Sinn Fein's negotiating team during the Hillsborough talks in February, the mother-of-three has just turned 40 and is hoping an election victory in May can mark another momentous period in her political career.

As the sitting MP for Fermanagh/South Tyrone for nine years, Ms Gildernew watched this week as policing and justice powers were finally devolved to Stormont after months of crucial negotiations that led to the Hillsborough Agreement.

These days, she is directing her attention to the doorsteps, by aiming to retain the Westminster seat she dramatically won in 2001.

Proudly declaring it as the "Bobby Sands seat", she stressed how important it was for all republicans and nationalists in Fermanagh/South Tyrone to get behind her and vote on May 6.

"When we were campaigning for this seat in 2001 we covered more ground that we thought we ever could. It struck me through the campaign from talking to people on the doorsteps in this constituency that they were up for it and we had a good chance of taking this seat and we won it with a majority of 53. We retained the seat in 2005 and increased our majority to 4,500. I don't see this necessarily as my seat, I see this as the Bobby Sands seat and the fact that the people voted for him in such a crucially important time in history makes me believe this seat is worth fighting for." Married to Jimmy, Ms Gildernew is from a well-known political family in The Brantry outside Dungannon.

They were centrally involved in the campaign against discrimination in the allocation of council housing in the six counties, a campaign which sparked the origins of the Civil Rights Movement.

She was educated at St. Joseph's Primary in Caledon and St. Catherine's College in Armagh before continuing her studies at the University of Ulster in Coleraine.

In 1997, she was appointed Sinn Fein representative to London and was the youngest politician to ever take part in the first Sinn Fein delegation to Downing Street.

On Friday past, her election campaign success was challenged following the announcement by the Ulster Unionists and the DUP that former Chief Executive of Fermanagh District Council Rodney Connor would stand as an agreed independent unity candidate in Fermanagh/South Tyrone.

She condemned the move describing it as negative, sectarian and unrepresentative of nationalists.

"I have been the MP for all the people in Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Rodney Connor wants to return to the days when nationalists in this area were unrepresented. We need to unite to ensure that this does not happen. The unionist parties have cobbled together a regressive deal based on a negative agenda. It is about base sectarianism, and the old agenda of division and inequality," she said.

Ms Gildernew is often attacked by her opponents about her party's position in refusing to take up their seats at Westminster.

But she wants to reassure the electorate that she doesn't need to be there to get the job done.

"The fact that people were willing to come out and vote for us on the back of our abstentionism proves to us that being apart of a British administration doesn't interest our voters and it doesn't interest us either. My voice is heard on Downing Street, it's heard in Dublin, the issues are heard which are pertinent to my constituency that I'm working on everyday. Our 18 MPs don't have a lot of clout or say in Westminster, they have more say on the island of Ireland and there are very few issues that has came up in my nine years as MP that I can't think of any that my being in Westminster would have made any difference," she said.

Ms Gildernew dismissed claims that she uses her Ministerial achievements to cover up the work she carries out as an MP.

"Very clearly I'm in the agricultural portfolio almost three years and in those three years every decision I have made has been guided by the six years previously as an MP for Fermanagh/ South Tyrone. On my first day in the Department, I said we need to ensure there is a childcare strategy for rural areas because women were telling me there isn't access to affordable childcare. Experience in other constituency issues like rural transport and fuel poverty has made me the minister I am today and the two roles go hand in hand." On the issues that matter most to the people of Fermanagh/South Tyrone, Ms Gildernew said she will work hard to ensure that everyone in the constituency is fully-represented based on equality.

"I accept there are issues such as potholes, jobs and healthcare that all need greater funding. I'm working with a Department which has the hardest budget to get through. This period is difficult and the next one is going to be worse and if the Tories get in then we are going to see cuts on a scale that nobody can even imagine. The part of our problem is that we have a block grant that comes to us from Westminster and we have to divide that up as best we can and spend it as wisely as we can and we never have enough money." She concluded by saying that if she loses this election, the people of Fermanagh South Tyrone will lose a very "hardworking and energetic MP".

"They will lose that pride in holding Bobby Sands seat. They will lose somebody who is young, hardworking and energetic. When I was elected MP, I was only 31 and nine years on, the gusto is still there. People must remember, I live in this constituency, my children are born in this constituency and as the press well know, I'm known to be late for appointments because I'm always busy talking to my constituents, who stop for a chat or who want an issue followed up. I never brush anyone off and I don't switch off. If re-elected, I will work extremely hard to ensure the people of Fermanagh/South Tyrone are best represented for another four years to come." Profile: Michelle Gildernew is 40 and is one of a well-known family of 10 and was raised on a small farm in The Brantry outside Dungannon in Co. Tyrone.

The Gildernews were centrally involved in the campaign against discrimination in the allocation of council housing in the six counties, a campaign which sparked the origins of the Civil Rights Movement.

She was educated at St Joseph's Primary in Caledon and St. Catherine's College in Armagh before continuing her studies at the University of Ulster in Coleraine.

In 1996, she stood for Sinn Fein in the Forum elections for Fermanagh/south Tyrone. In 1997, she was appointed Sinn Fein representative to London and was the youngest politician ever to participate in the first Sinn Fein delegation to Downing Street in December 1997.

She was elected MLA for Fermanagh/south Tyrone in the 1998 Assembly elections and has successfully retained her seat in the 2003 and 2007 Assembly Elections.

Ms Gildernew currently holds the position of Minister for Agriculture and has tackled inequality and disadvantage in several areas of her ministerial portfolio.

She is married to Jimmy and they have three young children, Emmett, Eunan and Aoise.

In her private life, she is a member of Aghaloo GAA club in Tyrone and enjoys traditional music and is a supporter of the Irish language.

When she gets a chance, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and enjoys cooking, reading and a range of outdoor activities.