Elliott's replacement on Council unveiled

Rodney Edwards • Published 29 Jul 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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It's the end of an era as Tom Elliott bids farewell to Fermanagh District Council.

The Ulster Unionist MLA is to step down next month and will be replaced by party colleague, Raymond Farrell,

Mr. Farrell was selected to represent the Erne North area of the county during a meeting of UUP members in Irvinestown last week.

The former DUP Press Officer will officially start in September while Mr. Elliott focuses on his MLA responsibilities in Stormont.

In his first interview, Mr. Farrell said he was "humbled and honoured" to be the one chosen to replace Tom Elliott.

"There were three candidates in total. The other two were very good and very credible candidates who would have contributed very well to Council. It's a great sense of achievement but also a sense of trepidation as I hope I can meet their expectations in the future. I go into politics not to seek to be a celebrity or crave power. I go in to be a servant of the people. I suppose it was John Wesley, the founder of Methodism who said 'Help people as much as you can and as often as you can', and that would be my thoughts. I will serve the people of Erne North and go forward with that in mind."

He added: "I want to pay tribute to Tom, who has been a positive and excellent Councillor. I am very conscious of the boots I have to try and fill. Let's face it, can you fill them? I will try my utmost to deliver to the people. I want to be accessible and as open to them as possible," he said.

Mr. Farrell says he wants to be a servant to "both communities" and believes his working class background will help him achieve that.

"That is what unionism is about. It's not about one over the other. We should have confidence to move on from the past and the fear and anxieties that other political parties might use. By nature I am a listener and I will listen to people's views and thoughts. I think primarily, building a relationship is about listening and responding. When I put my hand to something I want to do it with vigour. I want to be that lobbyist and be that person to fight that corner. Not to be aggressive but to be assertive."

As a health professional for over 30 years, Mr. Farrell says he has a "passion" for health and campaigned "vigorously" for years for the new acute hospital.

"That is still file open as far as I am concerned. It is not a closed case. I will be a happy man when that new hospital opens its doors and provides a good quality range of services for the people of the West," he said.

Looking to the future, Mr. Farrell has firmly pledged to fight for a new school for the pupils of Devenish College, echoing the thoughts of his party colleague, Alex Baird.

"As a parent of two daughters at the school I am very anxious that there's a resolution to this. I am bitterly disappointed at the way the Department, particularly Catriona Ruane, has dealt with that. This has been going on for a long number of years without an outcome. People I talk to are aggrieved when they see their schools in Kesh and Ballinamallard run down. Our children are sitting in Devenish College getting excellent tuition by well motivated teachers and yet the quality of the accommodation for the 21st Century is abysmal. I think it's a question of equality. When I look around Enniskillen at the maintained sector, I see excellent state of the art facilities and well done to them but on the basis of equality, I feel, those things need to be given to us. These are issues I feel passionate and angry about and I will seek to lobby the decision makers as best as I can. We must fight the case for the West, we must fight our corner," he said.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Tom Elliott said he will miss Fermanagh District Council "greatly", having started his political career there 10 years ago.

"It's an extremely enlightening and extremely productive Council. For many years in Northern Ireland, local Council, local Government was the only form of real politics in the province. It's still the backbone of it. I miss will serving on, what to me, is the best Council in Northern Ireland. Both Councillors and staff can take credit for that and I would like to pay tribute to them," he said.

Mr. Elliott wished his successor well: "It really is great to have Raymond as our new Councillor. He deals with people and has done all his life and I have every confidence that he will deliver for the people of Erne North and Fermanagh. I wish him all the best for the future," he said.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 29 Jul 10

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