SDLP to change selection process after mayor row

The SDLP is set to change how it appoints "civil leadership" positions after two councillors resigned over a mayoral selection process.

The Derry City and Strabane District Council representatives quit the party after Lilian Seenoi-Barr was selected as its next mayor.

In an internal email, seen by BBC News NI, the SDLP said it will propose an amendment at its next annual general meeting (AGM) to "regularise the process".

Ms Seenoi-Barr is set to make history as the first black mayor in Northern Ireland.

But the process surrounding her selection was criticised by some party members at the time as "undemocratic".

It resulted in councillors Jason Barr, the current deputy mayor, and Shauna Cusack, who both put themselves forward for the role, resigning from the party.

They will both continue as independents.

Ms Seenoi-Barr defended her selection for the role by saying it was "an open process".

"I was selected after a very robust interview that all three candidates went through," she said.

In an email sent to all party members on Thursday from SDLP headquarters, a party spokesperson said: "We are so proud that councillor Seenoi-Barr will be the next mayor of Derry and Strabane."

The email goes on to say the party recognises there had been "some confusion, annoyance and, unfortunately, misinformation about the process".

The party said it apologised for the "failures in communicating the process to members, the upset this has caused and that it has reflected poorly on a positive selection".

The email said that the SDLP's constitution contains "no specific guidance" on mayoral appointments and these decisions are often made within council groups.

"Following feedback from members, the management committee will propose an amendment to the party constitution to regularise the process for the appointment of representatives to positions of civil leadership across the party at the next AGM," it added.

The party said "we deeply regret that this selection has been associated with negativity, apologise sincerely for shortcomings in communication and hope that all members will support the incoming mayor going forward".

The SDLP has been contacted by BBC News NI for comment.

Meanwhile, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Ms Seenoi-Barr has in recent days “faced an enormous deluge of abuse from around the world” including "some very serious death threats".

Several Stormont politicians had already condemned online racist abuse she had received following the mayoral announcement.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Eastwood, who is also the Foyle MP, added: “This kind of stuff is allowed to happen actually because politicians do not mind their language.

“I think all of us have to be very careful about that, whether it’s on this island or whether it is in the government in London”.

He said it was important to stand united against racism.

“We will not be led into the gutter by far right activists whether they are coming from America, Dublin or Derry online,” he said.

Ms Seenoi-Barr, who will succeed Sinn Féin's Patricia Logue as mayor, has said she is focused on the positives and hoped her role as mayor will show others "nothing is impossible".

She has been a councillor since 2021, when she was co-opted by the SDLP to the Derry and Strabane District Council's Foyleside ward before she retained her seat in last year's local elections.