VETERAN SDLP councillor Declan O'Loan, who has announced he will not seek re-election in May, has expressed support for the party's controversial partnership with Fianna Fáil.
Mr O'Loan said his decision not to stand again was made "at the time of the last council elections in 2014".
"I have served 26 years as a councillor and I think that it is time to hand over to others," he said.
The north Antrim stalwart, who is married to former Police Ombusdman Dame Nuala O'Loan, won election six times - first to Ballymena Borough Council and latterly Mid and East Antrim.
He was suspended by his party in 2010 after advocating a merger between the SDLP and Sinn Féin to form a single nationalist party.
"It has been a privilege to work for the whole community, and to present the SDLP view in council debates," Mr O'Loan said yesterday.
"... I got involved in politics at a time when the Troubles were still at their height.
"I was inspired by the leadership of John Hume, and wanted to make a contribution to reconciliation in this deeply divided society.
"The SDLP was the right vehicle to do this, and its contribution to Irish history has been immense, the Good Friday Agreement being its finest achievement."
He added that "in many ways I will not be sad to leave Mid and East Antrim Borough Council", branding it "very much a unionist dominated council."
"It would have been easy for it to show some regard for the minority nationalist population," Mr O'Loan said, but "decision after decision has created a cold house for nationalists".
He added that he has "no doubt that the intense division that plagues Northern Ireland will only be resolved in the context of a united Ireland".
