{news} Fw: USGP-INT Green Party wins first ever National Assembly seat in Northern Ireland!

[Justine McCabe]

> Green Party in Northern Ireland Home Page 
> http://www.greens-in.org/HomePage
>
>
>
> BBC Coverage of Green Assembly Victory
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6435731.stm
>
>
> Greens make assembly breakthrough
>
> The Green Party has won its first ever seat in the Northern Ireland 
> Assembly.
>
> The party's NI chairperson Brian Wilson was elected in the North Down 
> constituency on the 10th count after polling 2,839 first preference votes.
>
> Mr Wilson has been a councillor on North Down Borough Council since 1981, 
> representing Alliance, then as an independent, before joining the Greens.
>
> He said he was thrilled "to have the opportunity of pushing forward Green 
> Party policy in the assembly".
>
> "We are one of the youngest political parties in Northern Ireland but 
> these elections have shown the level of support out there for our 
> policies, and how quickly this support is growing.
>
> "It is tremendously rewarding that the Greens will now be a permanent 
> fixture in the political landscape of Northern Ireland," he said.
>
> Green Party leader Trevor Sargent, a member of the Irish parliament, said 
> Mr Wilson's election was a breakthrough for the party in the whole of 
> Ireland.
>
> "Brian's election, which resulted from extensive cross-community support, 
> means that there is now Green representation at every level of political 
> power on this island," Mr Sargent said.
>
> Mr Wilson, a member of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, joined the 
> Green Party three years ago.
>
> He is also a member of North Down District Policing Partnership and a 
> governor of Rathmore Primary School.