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Slieve Gullion Councillor Pete Byrne has been selected by his SDLP party colleagues to run in the Assembly Election in Newry and Armagh in 2027.
Cllr Byrne and his husband live in Crossmaglen where he runs his fourth generation family business Byrne Monumentals.
Cllr Byrne was up against current Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty in the selection process. He was co-opted in January 2016 to replace Geraldine Donnelly for the Slieve Gullion DEA and was elected in his own right at the 2019 council elections and has been a councillor ever since. He served as Council Chair in 2024/25. In 2022 he was also a Westminster Election candidate for the party in Newry and Armagh, a seat subsequently gained by Sinn Féin's Dáire Hughes.
Justin McNulty a member of the celebrated Armagh All Ireland Football Championship winning team in 2002 has been a SDLP MLA since 2016.
Commenting after the selection process, Cllr Byrne said: "I'm delighted to get the nomination from members. I put forward a positive vision for the future for the SDLP. Two different proposals in the selection convention, It was forward looking, It was about the talent of the SDLP of the future and our ability to rebuild right across the constituency. I'm raring to get to work and absolutely honoured to get the backing from members.
"I want to congratulate Justin McNulty on all his work over the last decade and I hope to call on Justin for support, as all new candidates over the years have done.
