Friday, November 22, 2024

General election: Wrestlers in UK’s most marginal constituency refuse to submit to past Northern Ireland divisions

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Fermanagh and South Tyrone is the UK’s most westerly constituency and its most marginal.

Sinn Fein won the seat by just four votes in 2010 and by a mere 57 in 2019.

Witness to one of the worst terrorist atrocities – Enniskillen’s Poppy Day bombing in 1987 – it has been scarred by the past.

But at Erne Wrestling Club in Irvinestown, they refuse to submit to those divisions.

Coach Alex Edgar said: “Activities like this bring everybody together and religion doesn’t mean anything.

“It’s all about having fun and at the end of the day, it gets them out of the house and keeps them fit and active.”

Head coach Bruce Irwin added: “Supporting community activities like this, whether it’s sport or arts or whatever, just getting people to engage with each other.

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“Just have fun, enjoy what you’re doing and you can build the friendships that way.”

We found the same common thread at a knitting club around the corner.

The issue of whether Northern Ireland should remain in the UK or become part of a united Ireland is not their main concern.

Image:
A knitting club at Arc Healthy Living Centre

Terry Magee, chairperson of the Arc Healthy Living Centre, said: “What’s important to people on the ground is that they’re safe, they can access health, they can educate their children and they’re not cold.

“It makes no difference to us whether politicians are green or orange, as long as they can deliver and deliver what they promised to the people.”

Situated on the border with the Republic of Ireland, the constituency knows all about division.

But if Sinn Fein builds on its success at local government and Stormont level to win the most Northern Ireland seats at Westminster, there will be much more talk about Irish unity.

Labour and the Tories have both said they do not envisage a referendum on the issue anytime soon.

With the constitutional question on hold, Darragh Love, 19, a British champion wrestler from the Erne Club, offered some advice to politicians.

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“Every day is a new day, keep going forward, doesn’t matter what happened in the past, every day is a new day, do something different,” he added.

Fellow wrestler Tomas Gormley, 19, added: “When you come in here, there’s no, ‘oh where are you coming from?’ or ‘What religion?’ or anything like that. It’s just you come in here, you wrestle, that’s it.

“If you’re ever coming down looking for a place to wrestle… it’s the place to be.”

The other candidates in Fermanagh and South Tyrone are:

Diana Armstrong, UUP

Paul Blake, SDLP

Gerry Cullen, Cross-Community Labour Alternative

Pat Cullen, Sinn Fein

Carl Duffy, Aontu

Eddie Roofe, Alliance

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