Sinn Féin officially launches 2027 Assembly Election campaign in Mid Ulster
Sinn Féin officially launched its 2027 Assembly Election campaign with an event in Cookstown on Thursday evening.
A huge crowd gathered as Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald and Leas-Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill laid out the party’s ambitions for next May.
At the launch in Cookstown, Sinn Féin announced four candidates to contest next year’s Assembly elections in Mid Ulster: Michelle O’Neill MLA, Linda Dillon MLA, Emma Sheerin MLA, and Councillor Ian Milne.
Addressing hundreds of activists in Cookstown, Michelle O’Neill said: “Sinn Féin is looking forward to the future with confidence and ambition.
“In May of next year, voters will go to the polls here in the North, with the Assembly and Council elections happening on the same day.
“Sinn Féin is standing 40 candidates in the Assembly election.
"We are confident, we are ambitious, we are moving forward, and we are looking to the future.
“These elections will be the most important elections in generations. They are an opportunity to support the strong leadership of Sinn Féin. To show that change in the North is unstoppable.
“They are an opportunity to make a stand for your future.
“For your children’s future.
“For your grandchildren’s future.
“To stand up against those who want to drag us back to the past.
“And to send a message that will be heard far and wide.
“That there will be No Going Back.
“Not Now. Not Ever.”
Mary Lou McDonald said: “Tonight we launch our election campaign.
“Determined to succeed, to rise to the challenges of this moment, with our eyes on the future, we set ourselves for the road ahead.
“And together we will walk this next length of the journey to a new, united Ireland.
“In this election we can say - loudly and courageously - we are not going back.
“Not now. Not ever.
“This election can be a defining step towards Irish Unity.
“In 2022, we went to people with a message of hope and progress.
“And the people responded. They gave Sinn Féin a historic mandate to lead.
“They made Michelle O’Neill First Minister. And she has led with courage and dignity.
“Let’s return Michelle O’Neill as First Minister in May. And let’s not stop there.
“Let’s win this election. Let’s seize this moment.
“Let’s move forward from a time where we imagine, where we dream a new and United Ireland, to the day when we live in that place.”