A prominent member of the DUP in Ian Paisley's North Antrim heartland has resigned in protest at the possibility of the party going into government with Sinn Féin.
Davy Tweed, a former Ulster and Ireland rugby star and a DUP councillor on Ballymena Borough Council, confirmed he has sent a letter of resignation to party headquarters in Belfast. He said he posted it on Tuesday and believed officials would have received it yesterday.
When contacted at his Ballymoney home yesterday afternoon he said he did not wish to comment further.
Speculation about his future has been growing in recent months when he attended a meeting of anti-Sinn Féin unionists in a hotel near Ballymena.
Mr Tweed, who is also a member of the Loyal Orders in Dunloy, became one of a group of 10 councillors in Ballymena who said they would not canvass for the party in the election because they were opposed to Sinn Féin in government or else were unhappy at the selection of DUP councillor Deirdre Nelson as the fourth party candidate in North Antrim.
On Friday night in a meeting in Ballymena Protestant Hall, Mr Tweed publicly stated he would be out of the party before the election and on Monday night he indicated to the dissenting councillor group in Ballymena that he would resign from the party.