SINN Fein’s Chris Hazzard has formally launched his Westminster election campaign.
The sitting South Down MP — who holds a healthy 2,446 majority over the SDLP — formally launched his bid to retain his seat at an event in Newcastle last week where the special guest was former Sinn President and Louth TD Gerry Adams.
Over 250 people attended the launch event with Mr Hazzard pledging to “continue to reject Brexit in all its shapes and forms.”
During his address, he vowed to continue “fighting the austerity measures that have wreaked havoc on public services and education in the North and to begin work on a tangible strategy for a new, united Ireland that works for each and every one of us”.
Mr Hazzard described the number of people who attended his campaign launch as “overwhelming” and said that it was and above and beyond what the party had expected.
He added: “The turnout goes to show that there is a burning desire to push back against the chaos coming out of Westminster from the people here who are unhappy with the way their lives and livelihoods have been thrown on the bargaining table by the Tories and DUP.”
Mr Adams said he was delighted to be in Newcastle to launch Mr Hazzard’s election campaign.
He added: “Chris has been an outstanding MP; he has been a fierce defender of the rights of citizens and a strong voice where it matters most, at the tables in Dublin, Brussels and Downing Street, voicing the people of Ireland’s shared opposition to Brexit and the failed Tory/DUP experiment of ruthless austerity.”