Fermanagh and South Tyrone - Ulster Unionist Party

31/08/2026

The Ulster Unionist Party has selected Dr Kathryn Owen as its candidate for Belfast South and Mid Down in next year's Assembly election. A former DUP councillor, Dr Owen is a former RAF medic and healthcare professional who now works as a Senior Health Official in public health. Party Leader Jon Burrows said he was "particularly proud" that she had come home to the Ulster Unionist Party.

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA said:

“I am delighted to welcome Dr Kathryn Owen as our Ulster Unionist Party candidate for Belfast South and Mid Down.

“Kathryn brings a remarkable record of public service. She is a former RAF medic, a healthcare professional with a PhD in cardiovascular medicine, and is currently a Senior Health Official working in public health. As a councillor she was widely respected for her commitment to her community and her ability to get things done, and during the pandemic she was a determined advocate for our local hospitals and the staff working under immense pressure.

“I am particularly proud that Kathryn has come home to the Ulster Unionist Party. Her decision reflects the momentum now building behind us, and our ability to attract talented, credible people who share our vision: a confident, forward-looking unionism that strengthens the Union by making Northern Ireland the most successful place it can be.

“She has served her country, served our health service and served her community. I have no doubt she will be an outstanding MLA and a powerful voice for the people of Belfast South and Mid Down."

Ulster Unionist Party candidate Dr Kathryn Owen said:

“I am delighted to have been selected as the Ulster Unionist Party candidate for Belfast South and Mid Down.

“This is an area I know well, with roots right across the constituency, and it is a place I am proud to call home. I want to bring my experience in health, public service and local government to the Assembly. I believe good politics starts with listening, focusing on the issues that matter to people and delivering practical results.

“I am proud to be standing for a party that represents a confident and constructive unionism, and that wants to strengthen Northern Ireland through good government and strong public services. Over the months ahead, I look forward to getting out across the constituency, listening to local people and representing their voices.”

20/08/2026

Join us for a great evening of food, good company and plenty of craic at the South Tyrone Annual BBQ!

📍 Dungannon Rugby Club
📅 Friday 4th September
⏰ 8pm (doors open at 7:30pm)
🎟️ Tickets: £20

Everyone welcome, get in touch to secure your ticket, and come along for what promises to be a brilliant night! 🇬🇧

08/08/2026

27/07/2026

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

The latest LucidTalk poll, published in this morning’s Belfast Telegraph, places the Ulster Unionist Party as the leading party within Unionism for the first time since 2021.

While every poll is only a snapshot in time, it reflects the positive response we have been receiving from people right across Northern Ireland who want politics done differently.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us. We will continue to offer a positive vision for Northern Ireland - focused on fixing public services, growing our economy, strengthening accountability and unlocking our country’s enormous potential.

It is time for a new kind of politics - one built on competence, integrity and delivery.

If you believe Northern Ireland can do better, and you want to help build a stronger, more prosperous future for everyone, join the Ulster Unionist Party today.

Join us. Be part of the change.

www.uup.org/join

07/07/2026

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗛 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗬𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

It was with profound sadness that we learned of the passing of Alastair Patterson, former office manager for the Ulster Unionist Party in South Tyrone.

Alastair dedicated much of his life to public service, in the past 20 years he was committed to local party politics, and serving constituents in the South Tyrone area. Following his retirement last year, even then his commitment to the Ulster Unionist Party and to the people of South Tyrone still never diminished. Alastair continued to keep in touch with the office staff and representatives, regularly checking in and remained actively involved in the work of the local association organising events and membership.

Alastair was a pillar of the Castlecaulfield community, as well as across South Tyrone and much further afield. Deeply committed to his faith, his local church, the Loyal Orders, and Dungannon Rugby Club, he devoted countless hours to serving others. In every position he held, Alastair carried out his responsibilities with integrity, diligence and a steadfast determination to put the community first.

For many years Alastair played a leading role within the Fermanagh and South Tyrone Unionist Association, helping to organise election campaigns, fundraising efforts and supporting Unionist candidates across the constituency. With his experience, wisdom and wonderful humour he showed unwavering commitment through the ups and downs of the electoral process.

Alastair's passing leaves a tremendous void in the party and community. He will be remembered not only for his dedication to public life but also for his kindness, friendship and steadfast service to his community which earned him the respect of colleagues and political opponents alike.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Florence, children, Simon and Claire and the entire family circle at this difficult time.
There was truly no one quite like Alastair.

Ulster Unionist Party

01/07/2026

𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗔𝗣, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝘂𝗶𝗿

Ulster Unionist agriculture spokesperson and Chair of the Stormont AERA Committee, Robbie Butler MLA, has cautiously welcomed the revised Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) published for consultation, while making clear that responsibility for delivering it now rests squarely with Minister Muir.

Robbie Butler said:

"A year ago, I called for the original NAP consultation to be withdrawn. Those proposals were rushed, poorly evidenced and undeliverable, with independent analysis commissioned by the Ulster Farmers' Union putting their cost at over £1.56 billion a year. I argued then that farmers had to be partners, not passengers, and that real change could only come through co-design. That is exactly what this independently chaired stakeholder process has delivered, and I pay tribute to the UFU and every organisation that did the hard work.

"We should not forget the backdrop to this. These proposals landed at the very moment the Ulster Farmers' Union passed an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Minister Muir's department, and as the Labour Government's family farm tax was piling further pressure on farm families. Trust between farmers, the department and government had reached rock bottom. That is why this revised programme matters. It is the step forward that everyone, on all sides, badly needs.

"Many of the most damaging measures have been removed or rewritten. We have moved from blunt, universal rules to a targeted, phased and workable approach. As the Union itself says, it is not perfect, but it is a world away from where we started.

"This is not the finish line, however, and farmers must not be left to carry it alone. The report is clear that agriculture is only one source of the problem. Northern Ireland Water, wastewater, septic tanks and industry must face the same urgency that has been demanded of farming.

"Just as importantly, much of this package cannot be delivered without the Minister playing his part. The headline target to cut the phosphorus surplus depends on building manure processing and export infrastructure that does not yet exist at scale. The expansion of low-emission slurry equipment depends on proper funding through the Sustainable Farming Investment Scheme. The whole programme is also conditional on real progress on ammonia policy and on unblocking a planning system that is holding back farm investment. Farmers cannot be held to targets they have no means of meeting. This is his programme to deliver, and the responsibility for getting it right sits with him.

"The Department must publish the economic impact assessment in full, so that farmers can see exactly what these revised measures will mean for their businesses. Where measures are to be reviewed after two years, farmers need certainty and support behind them, not the threat of tougher regulation hanging over the industry like a cliff-edge.

"The Ulster Unionist Party will engage with stakeholders and industry to scrutinise these proposals in detail, safeguarding both the agri-food sector and our environment."

01/07/2026

On this day 110 years ago, the Battle of the Somme began.

Over 141 days, more than a million men were killed or wounded among them tens of thousands lost on the first morning alone. On that first morning, the men of the 36th Ulster Division went over the top at Thiepval.

We remember the courage and the sacrifice.

Lest we forget 🌹

26/06/2026

𝗔𝗿𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁

Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader and Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Diana Armstrong has praised the hard work of Northern Ireland’s farmers, who spent one of the toughest weeks of the year racing to get the silage in during one of the hottest spells the country has seen.

Diana Armstrong MLA said:

“This past week was probably the hardest of the whole farming year, and right across the country you simply couldn’t miss it. It didn’t matter where you were, you could hear the harvesters, the tractors and the balers, the roar of engines going all day long and well into the long nights.

“It was a week full of anxiety, with everyone working against the clock to get the grass in before the weather turns. Long hours, crushing heat, and very little rest. But our farmers wouldn’t have it any other way, because they love what they do. It is the work they were raised to, and it is in their blood.

“There will be no trade union out on protest for our farmers. No complaints over the minimum wage, no demands for better working conditions. They simply get on with the job, quietly and without fanfare.

“But they do need our support. This will be a year of squeezed incomes and added pressure for farm families, in an industry already weighed down with red tape and bureaucracy at every turn.

“We would all do well to remember that it is weeks like this that put food on our tables and stack the shelves we so often take for granted. The abundance we enjoy does not happen by accident. It is earned, in the heat and the long days, by the men and women who work our land.

“Northern Ireland’s farmers deserve a better deal, and I will keep making that case at Stormont.”

24/06/2026

𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 - 𝗔𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗴𝗮𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀

See the Ministers response to our question around adoption issues at Aghagay Meadows.

See Below ⬇️

Fermanagh and South Tyrone - Ulster Unionist Party

22/06/2026

✍Statement by Jon Burrows MLA, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party on Donaldson guilty verdict.