Alliance party leader Naomi Long was in Enniskillen on Thursday to host an “Engaging with Enniskillen” event as she looks to increase the exposure of her party in the west of the country.

Naomi, along with We Deserve Better campaigner Dylan Quinn and John Sheridan from Border Communities Against Brexit sat on the panel to discuss and engage with those in attendance about the major issues of the day.

Speaking in the lead up to the event, Naomi said she is looking forward to coming to Fermanagh as she looks to put more of an emphasis on an area that would not be regarded as an Alliance stronghold.

“I suppose the roots of this kind of go back to when I took over the leadership and I had said that I was keen to see the party expand in the west and for us to put more emphasis on that because electorally we have been very much concentrated in terms of our strong performances in the east of Northern Ireland and I wanted to see that barrier broken down,” explained Naomi.

“I think what we are standing for, the issues we are raising and the things we campaign on affect the whole of Northern Ireland and so I want us to have the opportunity to get that message out but it also kind of tied in with some work we did during the last elections when we were out and about in Fermanagh and chatting to people who were saying they would love to see us here more.

“Dylan Quinn had been in touch and had a conversation about the need for politicians particularly with Stormont not operating but with all of the change happening at the minute with Brexit and the uncertainty that it was important that politicians were out there talking about what we were doing and the impact we are trying to have in trying to get the restoration of the institutions.”

Naomi says it is important that people know what their politicians are doing as the country finds itself in uncertain times due to Brexit and the lack of devolved government.

The Alliance have been trying to influence the parties in Westminster as best they can over Brexit to make sure that those in London know that Northern Ireland is not a simple issue that can be bandied about whenever suits.

“We have been trying to influence and saying this is not an abstract concept that you are debating in the chamber. This is peoples’ livelihoods.

“This is peoples’ experience and there are huge sensitivities around the Border and unless you have lived in Northern Ireland you really can’t understand the impact and re-traumatisation of communities around Brexit.

“It really has been significant and what we want to see happen is for Government and Parliament as a whole to stop treating Northern Ireland as a political football, as a pawn in their negotiations and start showing respect for the communities that have to live with the difficulties around the Border for their entire lives and have had some really traumatic experiences around that and start to look at pragmatic and practical ways forward.”

Naomi believes there is no such thing as a good Brexit but says if the Government is determined to pursue that course of action a Withdrawal Agreement must be in place with a backstop to secure the situation where we have no return to hard Borders and don’t end up with situations that make life more difficult for those who live their lives on a cross Border basis.

The Alliance leader hopes that the event can give the people of Fermanagh an insight into what the Alliance has to offer, but also get people involved and talking about politics.

“I hope people will take the opportunity to come along and have that discussion because I think it will be good all round just to get the chance to engage in politics at a time when there is so little happening,” she said.

Engaging with Enniskillen takes place in Fermanagh House, Enniskillen tonight (Thursday) at 7.30pm.