Second Northern Ireland TV personality expected to stand as MP

A second Northern Ireland television personality is expected to announce they are standing in the general election. Ex-UTV reporter Fearghal McKinney will declare that he wants to stand for the nationalist SDLP in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone seat. He follows his former UTV colleague Mike Nesbitt into politics with the latter standing for the Ulster Unionist-Conservative alliance in Strangford – the constituency represented until recently by disgraced DUP MP Iris Robinson. McKinney, who comes from Fermanagh, used to work as a newspaper reporter for the Enniskillen-based Impartial Reporter before joining UTV. The journalist was a familiar face at UTV, where he was a political reporter and presenter. He left the television company in 2009 to set up a digital media business. It is understood he has been considering running for the SDLP for the past six months. McKinney will appear at a press conference with the party leader, Margaret Ritchie. Privately, party officials believe his high profile and media skills will help him take the seat, which is currently held by Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew. But in the last general election the SDLP came fourth behind Sinn Féin, the DUP and the Ulster Unionists.