Northern Ireland

Tributes paid after death of former DUP and Alliance councillor Vasundhara Kamble

DUP councillor Vasundhara Kamble has died suddenly
DUP councillor Vasundhara Kamble has died suddenly DUP councillor Vasundhara Kamble has died suddenly

Tributes have been paid to former DUP and Alliance Party councillor Vasundhara Kamble following her sudden death.

Ms Kamble, who came to Northern Ireland from India in 1995, had been an Alliance councillor for six years before moving to the DUP.

She served on the former Castlereagh Borough Council before it became Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council in 2016, representing the Castlereagh South district electoral area.

Former assembly member Emma Little-Pengelly, a DUP special advisor, said: "She loved serving people in the area, and even last week was out volunteering. Loved by many, much missed and gone too soon."

DUP councillor Alan Givan said he was "shocked and saddened" to learn of her passing.

"I often enjoyed her company and she was fun to be with."

Alliance councillor Stephen Martin said he was "sorry to hear of the sad passing" of Mrs Kamble who he had "first met Vasundhara at a public event in Omagh off the back of which she ran in Fermanagh South Tyrone 2010 election".

"Deepest sympathy to her family," he said.

Sinn Féin councillor Ryan Carlin said she will be "missed by many" in the Carryduff and wider Castlereagh area.

"She worked hard to serve her local community in Carryduff and will be missed by many. Incredibly sad news for many colleagues who had worked with her both as an Alliance and DUP councillor."

Lagan Valley MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who described her as "a much-valued member of the council and of our DUP group".

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time."

The former councillor had been the Alliance Party's only elected representative from a minority ethnic background before resigning in January 2017, accusing the party of "snobbery" and describing it as "a tight clique of elitist individuals".

She stood briefly as an Independent councillor, before joining the DUP nine months after quitting Alliance.