The GAA President, Mr. Peter Quinn, has declined requests to stand in Fermanagh-South Tyrone as an agreed Nationalist candidate in the forthcoming General Election.
It now looks as though both Sinn Fein and SDLP will contest the seat and with two more names entering the contest at the weekend it seems likely a total of six candidates will fight the April 9 poll.
Events in the election race began to twist and turn at the weekend when it emerged that the GAA President was considering standing as a Nationalist candidate.
Last week, Mr. Francie Molloy, who is standing for Sinn Fein, said his party would consider a unity candidate even at such a late stage.
However, the SDLP said Mr. Gallagher would still be standing and the party continued on the same line over the weekend when Mr. Quinn was considering his position.
A Sunday newspaper claimed that Mr. Quinn had been approached by community groups to stand as a unity candidate and he was giving their requests “very serious consideration”, but added he wasn’t interested in splitting the anti-Unionist vote.
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