Máiría Cahill joins SDLP as local councillor
MÁIRÍA Cahill will remain a member of the Labour Party while serving as a councillor for the SDLP in the North.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said that Ms Cahill would be an “excellent asset” to the party on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council.
Ms Cahill has been co-opted on to the local authority to represent the Killultagh District Electoral Area.
She was plunged into the spotlight in 2010 after she waived her right to anonymity to speak out in a newspaper interview, making allegations she had been raped by a suspected IRA member when she was a teenager in 1997.
Confront
She further claimed that the IRA conducted its own inquiry into her account, subjecting her to interrogation and forcing her to confront her alleged attacker.
The man she accused of rape was later acquitted of criminal charges in court. Charges were dropped against those allegedly involved in the IRA’s internal inquiry.
Following the announcement, Mr Eastwood said he expects Ms Cahill to make a significant contribution to the party.
He added: “Máiría Cahill has an extremely strong record of speaking out against injustice, maltreatment and inequality; we are confident that her attributes are best placed to complement the values and vision of the SDLP, and we are delighted she has decided to make the SDLP her political home.
“Politics is too often sadly missing brave voices to call out right from wrong.
“The SDLP has always taken uncomfortable steps to deliver a fair and just society, and I am confident Máiría will play a prolific part in continuing to practise the politics others merely preach, by speaking truth to power.”