A former Ulster Unionist MLA has been selected by the party to replace a retiring councillor in Co Tyrone.
Rosemary Barton lost her seat in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in May's Stormont Assembly election.
The former schoolteacher has been co-opted to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to succeed UUP veteran Bert Wilson after his decision to step down.
Read more: Alliance Party advertised to recruit unpaid foreign interns to work on election campaign
Mr Wilson, an 82-year-old farmer representing the Mid Tyrone area, had been an Ulster Unionist councillor for 22 years.
He previously served as chair of the old Omagh District Council and as vice-chair of the new Fermanagh and Omagh local authority.
Last year Mr Wilson hit out at the UUP for "parachuting in" former Irish Seanad member Ian Marshall as their Stormont election candidate for West Tyrone.
The UUP thanked Mr Wilson "for his long service to the community over many years".
"He was a tireless and diligent community worker representing constituents across a wide spectrum of issues including planning and agriculture," a party spokesman said earlier this month.
The move follows a number of other former MLAs being co-opted to councils in Northern Ireland since the Assembly election in May.
In August, former DUP MLA Mervyn Storey was co-opted by the party to Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
Mr Storey, who lost his North Antrim seat in May's Assembly election, succeeded John Finlay as a councillor for Ballymoney after his death following a cancer diagnosis.
In May, DUP deputy leader Paula Bradley was selected as a councillor for the party after not seeking re-election to Stormont to spend more time caring for her elderly parents.
The former North Belfast MLA was co-opted to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to replace Phillip Brett, who succeeded her as an Assembly member.
The next council election is due to take place in May 2023.
READ NEXT:
Dozens of Stormont questions go unanswered after caretaker ministers removed from office
DUP MP Ian Paisley's bid for 'super-majority' in future referendums dismissed as 'stunt'
- DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson met Jamie Bryson 'days before bid to halt Brexit Protocol checks'
- DUP leader's claim that Brexit Protocol 'delayed heart surgery' dismissed by Belfast Trust
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
