SF puts forward 182 candidates for local polls

Sinn Féin is fielding its largest ticket of council candidates to date in the local government elections on May 5th, party president…

Sinn Féin is fielding its largest ticket of council candidates to date in the local government elections on May 5th, party president Gerry Adams said yesterday.

Speaking in Belfast, he said the party aimed eventually to have an elected representative on every council in Ireland, North and South.

"We are standing 182 candidates across 24 councils. Almost one third of our candidates are women and 78 are standing for the first time," he said.

He vowed the party would use its mandate "to advance the peace process, build for Irish unity and bring forward real social and economic change".

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The local government manifesto includes measures to ensure fairness in the allocation of council positions and promises to fight for the highest-quality public services.

The party says it will promote reconciliation at council level and in local communities.

Sinn Féin wants Irish-language officers to be appointed to local councils and is calling for "a significant increase" in the number of new house building allocations for rural areas.

It argues for "a properly resourced and effective waste-management strategy - based on waste reduction, reuse and recycling", as well as the rejection of any form of incineration.

Sinn Féin will also oppose what it calls "the proposed imposition of the unfair double tax on water" as well as cuts in the education budget.

Thirteen Green Party candidates are to stand in the forthcoming local elections.

They were joined for the launch of their manifesto in Holywood, Co Down, yesterday by Robin Harper, a Green member of the Scottish parliament, and Trevor Sargent TD, leader of the Green Party.

Mr Harper called on voters to back the green agenda, claiming a small number of elected Greens can have a disproportionate and positive impact on the political system and other parties.

Mr Sargent, referring to recent discoveries of illegal landfill dumps along the Border, claimed Northern Ireland will become a magnet for waste criminals.