Political football! GAA legend in the frame for West Tyrone Seat

BoyleSports have cut the price of Tyrone legend Peter Canavan standing as an MP in the West Tyrone constituency.

A number of punters have been keen to back the former GAA star to turn his hand to politics as speculation mounts as to who will stand in the by-election triggered by Barry McElduff’s resignation on Monday morning.

McElduff resigned as MP for West Tyrone following controversy over his Tweet which depicted a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre in County Armagh.

Canavan was McElduff’s proposer in the Northern Ireland Assembley Election last March and has denied in the past that he would be interested in standing for public office. However, bet requests after McElduff’s resignation have seen the former All-Ireland winning captain backed into 5/2 from 5/1 to stand in the constituency seat which Sinn Féin have held since 2001.

Lawrence Lyons, Spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “Peter Canavan is a legend in these parts and would no doubt make widespread appeal to voters in what has been a Sinn Féin stronghold for many years.”

He added: “We would still be surprised to see Canavan put his name on the ballot paper but with a flurry of bet requests since Monday and the fact that he was a proposer for the outgoing MP in the last Assembly Election, we feel the need to be cautious.”