John McCluskey came back to his homeland of Fermanagh four years ago with intentions to retire.

Last Friday afternoon the 75 year old stood outside Enniskillen Town Hall protesting that as a first time Independent candidate in the upcoming Council elections, he is barred from accessing the electoral register until March 27 putting him at a “disadvantage” from the offset.

“All other political parties and Independents have been allowed copies of the electoral register so why not me? A silly bureaucratic rule means that our electoral campaign is being discriminated against,” said a disgruntled John following his protest. “We are already at a disadvantage to all the other contestants. This is a typical exclusionary rule that benefits those already in power. I intend to contest and change this rule,” he added.

As an Independent candidate for Erne East, John stated that he stands for “real, proper and lasting change.” Among the issues he wants to raise, he noted that the closure of the GP surgery in Rosslea two years ago was “the most serious thing of all.” He said: “I became involved in the campaign to Save Our Surgery. I have given all my energy to this campaign. And to further highlight this injustice on our area, along with Newtownbutler and Lisnaskea, I have agreed to run as a candidate in the coming election.”

Talking about the Western Health and Social Care Trust’s Pathfinder initiative, John said: “They are doing a survey all over Fermanagh and Tyrone and I ask the question, ‘when you have this survey done, what do you intend to do then?’ They’re obviously going to sit around in a committee in a boardroom and look at it.”

He added: “When the surveys on Pathfinder are done I certainly would like to be at the table when they are making their decisions.”

When asked what concerns him about the current Councillors, John said: “Well certainly in our own areas of Fermanagh there is very little communication with them. They are not communicating with the people as they should.”

Elsewhere, SDLP candidates for Fermanagh have been selected with John Coyle hoping to retain his place for Erne North. Although Garbhan McPhillips (Erne East) and Paul Blake (Enniskillen) currently have seats on the Council, it will be their first election as they were previously co-opted following the departure of Richie McPhillips and Patricia Rogers. New face Adam Gannon will be standing in the upcoming elections for SDLP in Erne West.

Former Councillor Gerry McHugh said again this week that he is considering standing as a candidate for Erne East.