Former nursing boss Pat Cullen set to stand for Sinn Fein in Fermanagh and South Tyrone

She has been in post in the UK-wide role since 2021, and has held other top nursing roles too including director of nursing at the Public Health Agency and advisor to the Department of Health.

She joined the Royal College of Nursing in 2016, and was NI head from 2019.

Though she has not been formally selected by Sinn Fein yet, the fact that the announcement came from the party’s press office indicates she is almost sure to be the candidate.

The current MP, Michelle Gildernew, had ruled herself out days earlier because she plans on standing in Ireland’s Midlands/North-West constituency in the pending European elections.

She beat UUP candidate Tom Elliott by just 57 votes in 2019.

The constituency is notoriously marginal – in 2001 there had been a near-identical contest, where the UUP lost to Sinn Fein by 53 votes.

The picture for unionists in Fermanagh and South Tyrone was clarified on Wednesdday night when the DUP announced it would not be running a candidate in the constituency “in the interests of returning a pro-Union Member of Parliament”.

The UUP insists it is standing Diane Armstrong, a current councillor, whom it announced back in January.

The TUV says this amounts to a “veto” of a plan to stand a single unionist candidate, and it is still mulling its options about fielding one.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson had said a few days ago that he had “reached out to the UUP and TUV leaders to encourage them to follow our example and withdraw in favour of an agreed candidate”.

In the statement issued by Sinn Fein on Wednesday, Ms Cullen said: “I will be seeking the nomination to stand for Sinn Fein in Fermanagh & South Tyrone in the upcoming Westminster election.

“I have been in contact with my employers at the Royal College of Nursing to inform them that I have allowed my name to go forward to a selection convention being held in the constituency this week.

“It has been the honour of my life to have served in the RCN and to provide leadership every day to hundreds of thousands of hardworking nurses and healthcare staff who always prioritise the delivery of high-quality care to patients.

“After much consideration, I have decided that now is the right time for me to step forward into the political arena to champion the issues and opportunities for the community I love, and that is what I am fully determined to do.

“This election is an opportunity to vote for a new and better future.

“It is also an opportunity to support better funding for our public services and to reject years of cruel Tory cuts which have targeted frontline services, particularly health.

“By voting for Sinn Fein, people can endorse ... a commitment to work for all.”