SINN Féin has selected victims' campaigner Emma Rogan as its newest MLA.
Ms Rogan, whose father Adrian was one of the Loughinisland victims, has been co-opted to represent South Down following Chris Hazzard's election to Westminster last week.
A long-time campaigner with the Loughinisland Justice Group, she was just eight when her father was shot dead in the June 1994 massacre after UVF gunmen stormed the Heights Bar in the village during a World Cup game killing six.
Ms Rogan said she was looking forward to representing South Down.
"I am very proud of the fact that I’m a Loughinisland woman through and through," she said,
She added: "So I’m excited at the thought of getting out and about with local Councillors, MLAs and of course our new MP to get to grips with the issues in all of our local communities".
"First and foremost I’m looking forward to getting stuck into some of the big campaigns that Sinn Féin are involved in locally - namely the fight to protect services in the Downe Hospital, the fight to protect local Social Security Jobs in Newcastle and Ballynahinch, and the ongoing need to help restore Downpatrick as a thriving county town," she said.
