Aisling Reilly

{{Short description|Junior Minister at the Northern Ireland Executive Office since 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| office = Junior Minister Assisting the First Minister

| term_start = 3 February 2024

| term_end =

| firstminister = Michelle O'Neill

| predecessor = Gary Middleton (2022)

| successor =

| assembly1 = Northern Ireland

| constituency_AM1 = West Belfast

| predecessor1 = Fra McCann

| party = Sinn Féin

| website = [http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?&aff=17942&per=7556&sel=3&ind=17&prv=0 Aisling Reilly MLA]

| honorific_suffix = MLA

| term_start1 = 19 October 2021

| image = Aisling Reilly 2022 (cropped).jpg

| alongside = Pam Cameron

}}

Aisling Reilly ({{Langx|ga|Aisling Ní Raghallaigh}}{{Cite web |date=December 2012 |title=Nuachtlitir Choláiste Feirste |trans-title=Coláiste Feirste Newsletter |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/38880264/read-more-colaiste-feirste |website=Yumpu |publisher=Coláiste Feirste |page=3 |language=GA}}) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, who has served as a Junior Minister in the Executive of the 7th Northern Ireland Assembly since 2024. She has served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast West since 2021.

Career

Reilly was educated in Coláiste Feirste and speaks fluent Irish.

Reilly was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly in October 2021, replacing veteran MLA Fra McCann, as a Member for Belfast West.{{cite web |title=Handball champ selected by Sinn Féin to replace west Belfast MLA Fra McCann |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2021/10/14/news/handball-champ-selected-by-sinn-fe-in-to-replace-west-belfast-mla-fra-mccann-2478257/ |website=The Irish News |date=14 October 2021 |access-date=8 November 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Sinn Féin nominate Aisling Reilly as new West Belfast MLA|url=https://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/62055|access-date=2021-11-08|website=www.sinnfein.ie}}

She was re-elected to the Assembly at the 2022 election.{{Cite web |date=7 May 2022 |title=Election 2022: More of the same from SF in West Belfast |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/election-2022-more-of-the-same-from-sf-in-west-belfast-3684663 |website=News Letter}}

On 13 May 2022, Reilly became the first member of the Northern Ireland Assembly to give a full speech in the Irish language.{{cite web |title=An chéad óráid go hiomlán i nGaeilge i Stormont|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/nuacht/2022/0513/1297868-an-chead-oraid-go-hiomlan-i-ngaeilge-i-stormont/ |website=The Irish News |date=13 May 2022 |access-date=13 May 2022}}

References