Health service and A5 upgrade key issues for West Tyrone voters

The state of the health service and the need for an upgrade of the A5 road were among the key issues for voters in West Tyrone.

With just days left before the General Election on July 4, Belfast Live took to the streets of Strabane to find out voters' views ahead of polling day.

The health service dominated, with several people who stopped to chat naming the NHS their number one issue for the election.

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The long-sought upgrade of the A5 - from Newbuildings, just outside Derry city, to Aughnacloy in Co Tyrone - also featured highly amongst voters in the West Tyrone town.

"The main one for me would be the National Health Service, to improve it, and to improve the whole infrastructure," one gentleman who stopped to share his views said. "I think I'm relating to Northern Ireland, but I think the whole infrastructure is is is poor."

Another man who stopped for a quick chat said: "The key issue for the election that I would like to see would be an upgrade on the A5. That's the main issue, I think. Plus, the health service is in a bad way at the moment, a lot of waiting lists. I would like to think that the waiting lists could be cut down and improved after the election."

There was a degree of disillusionment with the political process amongst several potential voters in Strabane too, with several people expressing dissatisfaction with politics and politicians in general.

Neither the Labour leader Keir Starmer or the Conservative leader Rishi Sunak appeared to be popular figures with the majority of voters willing to share their views with Belfast Live in Strabane.

One man who stopped for a quick chat declared both Prime Ministerial candidates "useless", while other potential voters said they simply didn't know anything about either party leader.

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