Son aims to take council seat held by his DUP dad

Son aims to take council seat held by his DUP dad

12 March 2014

THE son of a former Crossgar DUP councillor is seeking election to the new Newry, Mourne and Down Council.

Harry Harvey, son of Cecil Harvey, who served on Down Council during the early 1980s, has been selected to stand for the DUP in the Rowallane area alongside sitting councillor Billy Walker.

Mr. Harvey has been chosen to replace councillor William Dick who has decided not seek election to the new super council created as a result of the merger of Newry and Mourne and Down councils.

Councillor Dick will continue in his current role after the local government elections in May before formally stepping down in June next year when the newly merged council is formally launched.

Mr. Harvey was formally unveiled by the DUP last Friday, and the party is set to announce its candidates for the other electoral wards within the next few weeks.

Ahead of that launch, the Recorder understands the party will be fielding a candidate in the Downpatrick area where five seats are up for grabs.

Mr. Harvey, who has lived all his life in Crossgar, is married with two children and has worked for Bells Motor Works for almost two decades.

Describing himself as a “Bible believing Christian,” Mr. Harvey admits he has big shoes to fill in following councillor Dick.

He continued: “After over 30 faithful years’ service, William will be a hard act to follow. He has been a very dedicated councillor for the Rowallane area and I count it a privilege and an honour to be seeking election to the new council on behalf of the DUP.”

Mr. Harvey said he firmly believes that in this day and age “we need to affirm and uphold our faith and biblical Christian values.”

He continued: “My reason for seeking election is that I really enjoy helping people, all of the people. I feel that I can help in a greater capacity at council level and will ensure the party gives the best services it can with what finances and resources are available, serving everyone in the community.”

The council candidate said while he can’t promise he can change the world, he wants to make things better for people across the Rowallane area.

Encouraging to people to support him when they got to the polls in May Mr. Harvey added: “Let’s make a difference for me and in turn I will make a difference for you.”

Councillor Dick described Mr. Harvey as a young man who upholds the same principles and values in life as he does and has no doubt the man chosen to succeed him will be “committed and dedicated to the job.”

He added: “Harry is very much a people’s person. He develops a good rapport with people and has a tremendous way of working with them. He will establish good relations with the electorate and council staff and will take a balanced approach in dealing with sensitive and difficult problems.

“I’m delighted I will be working in parallel with him for a year as the new council will operate in shadow form for 12 months before its formal launch in 2015.”