Fermanagh & South Tyrone voters want to see "action" from politicians

With just days to go until Northern Ireland goes to the polls for the July 4 General Election, we continue our tour of constituencies as part of our 5000 Voices project.

This time, voters in Fermanagh & South Tyrone got the chance to have their say on the issues that matter most to them. Regarded as one of the closest electoral races in the UK, Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew narrowly defeated former UUP leader agreed unionist candidate, Tom Elliott, by just 57 votes in 2019.

In 2015, Mr Elliott became the first unionist to hold the constituency since 2001, before Ms Gildernew won it back for Sinn Fein two years later but she is not standing this year after fighting the EU elections with Sinn Fein fielding former Royal College of Nursing chief Pat Cullen in Fermanagh & South Tyrone.

READ MORE: Full list of General Election 2024 candidates in Fermanagh and South Tyrone

READ MORE: Estimated times for General Election results in each NI constituency

We headed along to Dungannon to find out what voters in the area are concerned about ahead of voting on Thursday and healthcare issues came up alongside calls for more support for people with disabilities.

One member of the public told us her top priorities are "more learning supports for all types of disabilities" as well as "more resources" and "better care packages for the elderly and sick".

She added that she would like to see "more resources counselling services in Northern Ireland, especially for trauma and transgenerational trauma and everything Northern Ireland has been through".

Covid also came up, as did "better healthcare".

A man waiting for a bus told us: "I would like them to respect the people's opinions... there's an awful lot would need to be done in this country but as far as I am concerned they're falling back instead of going forward.

"You wouldn't know who to support. Do they know what they are at? They are looking after the rich."

For a young woman in the town we need "better" healthcare, education and pay. Most people we spoke to in the town were reluctant to share their views on political issues ahead of the general election with a number working in education feeling they couldn't speak out.

One woman told us she said she thinks "there's a lot of talk" from politicians and that she would like to see "a bit of action".

Views on Rishi Sunak were not great with people saying he could have done better instead of "looking after the rich", one man said he would like to see what Keir Starmer does if he gets in.

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