Shock as two Alliance councillors quit

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David Rossiter

Special Report by Iain Gray

TWO Alliance councillors have quit the council – one of them attacking the party as he left.

David Rossiter and Christine Creighton have both handed in their resignations, with Mr Rossiter accusing Alliance of ducking constitutional discussions over the future of Northern Ireland to appease soft Unionist voters.

He said he could ‘no longer support a party that has not embraced the possibility of a new Ireland’, while adding that a new job he’s taken up makes it ‘logistically challenging’ to live in Ards and North Down.

The shock departures have also seen some musical chairs among party politicians, with councillor Gillian McCollum shifting over to Holywood and Clandeboye to fill Mr Rossiter’s vacant seat.

A newcomer, John Hennessy, has been co-opted by Alliance to replace Ms McCollum in Bangor East and Donaghadee.

Mr Hennessy is the former head of St Anne’s Primary School in Donaghadee, which closed down around a year ago despite a long-running campaign to save it.

At the time of going to press, no one had been announced to fill Ms Creighton’s Bangor West seat – and Alliance officials weren’t answering questions about why she left, while she couldn’t be reached for comment.

But her details have been deleted from the council’s online register of its councillors, and her profile on Alliance’s own website has been scrubbed.

Both of the departing politicians stood for election for the first time in 2023, during which Mr Rossiter was majorly pushed by the party while Ms Creighton topped the poll in her district.

Announcing her shift to Holywood and Clandeboye, Ms McCollum said: “Alliance provides strong representation across North Down.

“I’m excited to continue to work to deliver for everyone locally and represent the people of Holywood and Clandeboye, a place I proudly call my home.”

And her replacement in the Bangor East and Donaghadee seat, John Hennessy, stated: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining councillor Hannah Irwin in delivering the vital work Alliance has been delivering in the area.

“I’m passionate about what we can do to help local people and am looking forward to getting out into the community to hear directly from local people.”

The resignations and district-swapping are yet more changes for Alliance, as by the time of last year’s elections most of their long-running local councillors had either left to become MLAs or announced they were standing down.

The party came out well in that poll, gaining two seats to cement its place as the second most popular in Ards and North Down – but a hoped-for surge to nab the top slot from the DUP failed to materialise after the party’s vote management went awry in more than one district.

But just four months after the election, one of the few remaining familiar faces, former mayor Karen Douglas, handed in her resignation.

Mr Rossiter and Ms Creighton are the first of last year’s new Alliance intake to quit.