Row erupts over location of SDLP constituency offices in East Derry

A row has erupted between former SDLP colleagues Gerry Mullan and John Dallat over the location of SDLP constituency offices in East Derry.

Gerry Mullan was elected as the SDLP MLA for East Derry last year and left the party after it was revealed that John Dallat will be the party’s sole candidate in the area for the 2017 election.

Mr Mullan, now standing as an Independent candidate, said a sign put up in the window of the former SDLP office in Kilrea was “quite bizarre on a number of levels.”

The sign reads ‘Vote John Dallat to be sure that this office reopens to serve all the people.’

“It is quite remarkable that a politician of John Dallat’s experience has stooped to a new level in what is quite obviously a desperate attempt to influence voters on the 2nd of March,” Mr Mullan said.

“Mr Dallat didn’t object in any way to my closing the office, when I raised the matter with him, as he fully understood the new guidelines set out by the Northern Ireland Assembly which only made provision for funding for one office per MLA.”

“This was a significant departure from previous years where people like John Dallat had funding for two offices, which he readily availed of for eighteen years, and employed his wife in one of them for all that time. Also, at no time did he offer to help finance an office for the area.”

He went on to say that if re-elected in March, he would offer an ‘outreach service’ with regular clinics that ensure people from across the constituency are represented.

“Whilst the good people of Kilrea deserve equal access to their public representatives as much as anyone else, I would remind him that so does the people living in Limavady, Coleraine, Portstewart, Dungiven, Claudy, Feeny, Park, Craigbane and Slaughtmanus, to name but a few,” he said.

“This election has to be about more than just bricks and mortar, and much more about bread and butter issues that are important to people such as health, education and job creation. This can only be done with fair and impartial leadership and I am confident that Mr Dallat’s insular and parochial approach will cut no ice with the people in this constituency.”

In response John Dallat said that Mr Mullan’s comments were 'totally over the top' and 'really is scraping the barrel'.

“I’m not sure he can claim that I didn’t object to the office being closed. I most certainly did,” he said.

“That is one the things I was absolutely heartbroken about, that I was able to give a service to the people from that base for 17 years and then had to close it.”

He claimed that Gerry Mullan had failed to keep promises to keep the SDLP office in Kilrea.

“Gerry Mullan made a promise at a constituency council meeting that he would keep the office open in Kilrea. That’s in the minutes and the records of the SDLP,” he said.

“I canvassed hundreds of homes with Gerry Mullan and told them all the office was remaining in Kilrea because that’s what he promised.”

Mr Dallat said that the closure of the Kilrea was a factor in his decision to contest the upcoming election.

“That’s one of the reasons for standing again, apart from wanting to be part of a successful team, is to give the people back the representation I gave them for 17 years,” he said.

“The people of Kilrea, of course, badly miss the office, because it was used by the whole community. Maybe Gerry Mullan should tell us how many days he’s had a constituency office open in Limavady.”

“If I am successful the Kilrea office will be open the moment I get the electricity and the phone back into it. I’m only allowed to have one office, but I have well advanced plans to ensure that the whole constituency is represented, which it hasn’t been for the last nine months.”