Outgoing Sinn Féin MP for West Tyrone Pat Doherty has announced his retirement.

Mr Doherty (71) first won the West Tyrone seat at Westminster in 2001 and has retained it in the three elections since then.

Born in Glasgow to Co Donegal parents, he moved back to live in the county in 1968. He was an influential member of the republican movement at the time of the IRA ceasefire in 1994 and served as a vice president of Sinn Féin.

Speaking after winning his seat in 2015 Mr Doherty said the next phase of Northern Ireland’s development was reconciliation and that that was not something unionists should fear.

“The question of reconciliation shouldn’t be seen as a barrier. It should be seen as a genuine challenge to all of us,” he said.

Sinn Féin MLA for West Tyrone Barry McElduff will be the party’s candidate in the British general election on June 8th.