Assembly member Courtney quits SDLP

SDLP Assembly member Annie Courtney has announced she has resigned from the party.

She said today she had decided to leave following her de-selection a few weeks ago as the nationalist party’s candidate for the Foyle constituency at the next Assembly elections at the end of May.

Mrs Courtney said she would sit on Derry City Council as an independent from now on, but had not yet decided whether to contest her seat as an independent for the Assembly elections.

The MLA said she had not taken the decision lightly, but added: “For the last quite considerable time the amount of stress and pressure that I have been under has been unbelievable and it has also affected my family.”