This article requires a simple but very pertinent question to be asked.
HOW CAN A NURSE SUPPORT AND IDENTIFY WITH AN ORGANISATION GUILTY OF INDISCRIMINATE MURDER AND TERROR, AS SHE DOES WHEN SHE STANDS FOR SINN FEIN, THE POLITICAL WING OF THE IRA, AND THAT IN AN AREA WHICH SUFFERED WELL OVER 100 VICTIMS OF TERRORIST MURDER?
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster.
Ex-nursing chief set to be Sinn Fein’s Fermanagh-South Tyrone Westminster candidate
Former nursing chief Pat Cullen is set to stand for Sinn Féin in Fermanagh-South Tyrone in the General Election.
The former general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is seeking the nomination for the Westminster election.
Sinn Fein has held the seat since 2017 – it was won by just 57 votes in 2019 and is the most marginal in the whole of the UK.
The current MP, Michelle Gildernew, is not seeking re-election, instead seeking election to the European Parliament in the Republic’s Midlands-North West constituency.
Ms Cullen previously held roles in the Public Health Agency and as an adviser for the Department of Health.
It is understood Ms Cullen contacted the RCN on Wednesday morning to inform them of her decision and has stood down with immediate effect.
She said she owed the organisation’s members a “great deal of gratitude”.
“I have been in contact with my employers at the Royal College of Nursing to inform them that I have allowed my name to go forward to a selection convention being held in the constituency this week,” she said.
“This was the hardest decision to make, and we have achieved so much in three very different and difficult years.
“I hope my legacy here will be to have helped the nursing profession use its voice and campaign for change, for ourselves and patients.
“It has been the honour of my life to have served in the RCN and to provide leadership every day to hundreds of thousands of hardworking nurses and healthcare staff who always prioritise the delivery of high-quality care to patients.
“After much consideration, I have decided that now is the right time for me to step forward in to the political arena to champion the issues and opportunities for the community I love, and that is what I am fully determined to do.
“This election is an opportunity to vote for a new and better future,” she added.
Chair of the RCN Council Paul Vaughan said Ms Cullen had been a “tremendous leader” for the profession.
“She has been fearless in rooting out longstanding cultural issues internally and speaking truth to power in the health service and politics alike,” he said.
Ms Cullen was due to appear as keynote speaker at the organisation’s annual congress in Newport, Wales next week.
She has been replaced on an interim basis by Professor Nicola Ranger, who said Ms Cullen had “progressed the profession in so many ways”.