Alban Maginness
| Alban Maginness MLA | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Belfast |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 25 June 1998 |
|
| Preceded by | New Creation |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 July 1950 Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland.[1] |
| Political party | Social Democratic and Labour Party |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast, University of Ulster |
| Website | http://www.albanmaginness.com |
Alban Maginness (Irish: Ailbín Mag Aonghusa[citation needed]; born 9 July 1950) is a Roman Catholic politician in Northern Ireland.
Maginness was born in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland.[1] He completed his secondary education at St. Malachy's College, Belfast. He then attended the New University of Ulster and subsequently Queen's University of Belfast where he trained to be a Queen's Counsellor. In 1976, he took an oath of Allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II of England and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar and in 1984 to the Bar of Ireland.
While at university he became involved in the non-violent protests organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.[2] Maginness participated in the famous civil rights march in Derry in 1972 at which British troops killed 14 unarmed civilians.[citation needed] This event, now termed Bloody Sunday, has gone down in Northern Ireland politics as one of the turning points in The Troubles that contributed to the development of the Provisional IRA.
Maginness became increasingly involved in politics and became a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, where he has been associated with the Roman Catholic rather than nationalist wing of the party. On 2 October 2000, in a speech in University College Dublin, Maginness expressed his happiness at the English language replacing the Irish language as the dominant language of Ireland.[3]
He has been an elected member of Belfast City Council since 1985 and in 1997 he became the first Roman Catholic politician to hold the position of Lord Mayor of Belfast. In 1998 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly to represent Belfast North.
He was Chair of the SDLP from 1984 to 1991.
In November 2008 Maginness had his trademark moustache shaved off for BBC's Children in Need.[4]
Maginness was the SDLP candidate for the 2009 European Election.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Profile: Alban Maginness". BBC News. 12 May 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8040147.stm. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "Personal profile". http://www.albanmaginness.com/profile.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ http://www.ucd.ie/ibis/filestore/newslet1.PDF%7CRedefining Northern Nationalism (Lecture in UCD, 2 October 2000
- ^ "Maginness' hairy moment for charity". BBC News. 14 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7720447.stm. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
[edit] External links
- Biography: NI Assembly
- SDLP Councillor Alban Maginness MLA: Official Website
- 2005 SDLP profile
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sean Farren |
Chairman of the Social Democratic and Labour Party 1984-1990 |
Succeeded by Mark Durkan |
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
| Preceded by New creation |
MLA for Belfast North since 1998 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ian Adamson |
Lord Mayor of Belfast 1997-1998 |
Succeeded by David Alderdice |
|
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- 1950 births
- Living people
- Members of Belfast City Council
- Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs
- Members of the Northern Ireland Forum
- Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003
- Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007
- Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011
- Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–
- Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
- Alumni of the University of Ulster
- Barristers from Northern Ireland
- Members of the Bar of Northern Ireland
- Lord Mayors of Belfast
- People from Holywood
