In Assembly race all politics are local

The lady was not for turning. Her list of complaints was as long as a general election campaign in the Republic and she was relishing the opportunity to torment her political representatives.

Those seeking her vote were Sinn Féin Mid-Ulster MP Martin McGuinness and two local Magherafelt Sinn Féin councillors, Peter Batesman and Seán McPeake.

Twice her sister had tried to contact Cllr Batesman, and he had not responded. No, he had not and . . . she knew, he knew. Yes . . . "excuse me" . . . she had left messages for him; and . . . not one person from Sinn Féin had attended her uncle's funeral and he after spending a lifetime selling An Phoblacht all over the country in all sorts of weather.

Moreover, the nearby bus shelter was in the wrong place. Also, water was gathering outside her gate . . . and there was grass growing near her front gate which, at her age, she could hardly be expected to pluck now could she? "The council should do it!"

Were the three politicians still at her door in Magherafelt's Ballymaguigan estate she would not have finished. Cllr McPeake mollified her with softly-softly explanations and Mr McGuinness assured her the still shell-shocked Cllr Batesman would be back to discuss her problems. It allowed a brief escape opportunity.

A few doors down an elderly woman said she has been in the estate for 37 years and in all that time "there was never a swing put up for the wains". Martin McGuinness sympathised. "That's not right," he said. She wanted a car park. Cllr McPeake explained that when the estate was built space was allowed for one car per house and now most had two. "I know that," she said in an impatient tone.

Out on Lough Neagh's shores eel fisherman Barney Coleman was at the end of his tether. His family has been living there for generations and now the Environment and Heritage Service had stopped him dredging two small piers opposite his house. As a consequence there had been grief and court cases.

"Why don't I set up a meeting with them, as MP for the area," suggested Martin McGuinness. Barney thought it a great idea and crunched knuckles in a particularly firm hand shake, all around.

Earlier the three politicians visited the site of Magerafelt's new £5.2 million (€7.77 million) sports centre which will house several Astroturf pitches for all sports, including Gaelic, and is said to be one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It opens in September and is clearly the apple of both Sinn Féin councillors' eyes.

Standing there in wellingtons and yellow hard hat Martin McGuinness said he was getting a "tremendous reception" on the doorsteps.

He rejected any suggestion that Sinn Féin had adopted a forked-tongue approach on policing. What they sought was full co-operation with the police in all criminal matters. He referred to a recent attack on elderly neighbours of his own, who he encouraged to go to the police.

He regarded the question of whether republican paramilitaries should be reported to the police as "very, very hypothetical". For instance, "in 20 years the Continuity IRA hasn't fired a shot at the British Army. It's unlikely to happen now," he said.

He believed the DUP would take part in a powersharing executive. It was, he said, "the only road". If Sinn Féin and the DUP did that they "would have cracked it", he said, ensuring stability.

He objected to the word "dissident" to describe people in Sinn Féin who disagreed with its stance on policing. They include Brendan McLoughlin, who is standing as an Independent in Mid-Ulster. "People are entitled to oppose; they are friends of ours and I hope they remain friends," he said.

Meanwhile, the DUP's Ian McCrea was "very happy" with the response to his party's campaign in Mid-Ulster. He and Elizabeth Forde are standing for the DUP. He said that more "people realised the DUP are the main voice of unionism".