Alban Maginness

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

|name = Alban Maginness

|honorific-suffix =

|image = Alban Maginness.jpg

|alt =

|caption =

|constituency_AM = Belfast North

|assembly = Northern Ireland

|majority =

|term_start = 25 June 1998

|term_end = 30 March 2016

|predecessor = New Creation

|successor = Nichola Mallon

|office2=Lord Mayor of Belfast

|order2=42nd

|successor2=David Alderdice

|predecessor2=Ian Adamson

|term_start2=1997

|term_end2=1998

|office3 = Member of Belfast City Council

|constituency3 = Oldpark

|term_start3 = 5 May 2005

|term_end3 = 2010

|predecessor3 = Martin Morgan

|successor3 = Nichola Mallon

|constituency4 = Castle

|term_start4 = 15 May 1985

|term_end4 = 5 May 2005

|predecessor4 = District created

|successor4 = Pat Convery

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|07|9|df=yes}}

|birth_place = Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8040147.stm | work=BBC News | title=Profile: Alban Maginness | date=12 May 2009 | accessdate=23 April 2010}}

|death_date =

|death_place =

|restingplace =

|birthname =

|nationality = Irish

|party = SDLP

|otherparty =

|spouse = Carmel Maginness

|relations =

|children = 8

|residence =

|alma_mater = Queen's University Belfast
University of Ulster

|occupation =

|profession = Barrister

|cabinet =

|committees =

|portfolio =

|signature =

|signature_alt =

|website = http://www.albanmaginness.com

|footnotes =

}}

Alban Maginness (born 9 July 1950) is a Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2016.

Early life and education

Maginness was born in Holywood, County Down. He completed his grammar school education at St. Malachy's College, Belfast. He then attended the University of Ulster and Queen's University of Belfast where he undertook legal training. He was called to the Bar in 1984.{{cite news |last1=Purdy |first1=Martina |title=Profile: Alban Maginness |url=https://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8040147.stm |access-date=3 November 2022 |work=BBC News |date=12 May 2009}}

Whilst at university he became involved in the non-violent protests organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.{{cite web|url=http://www.albanmaginness.com/profile.html|title=Personal profile|accessdate=2009-07-27}} Maginness participated in the famous civil rights march in Derry in 1972 at which British troops killed 14 unarmed civilians.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} 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.

Political career

Maginness became increasingly involved in politics and became a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party.[http://www.ucd.ie/ibis/filestore/newslet1.PDF] Redefining Northern Nationalism (Lecture in UCD, 2 October 2000 He stood unsuccessfully for the party in East Belfast in the 1975 Constitutional Convention election and North Belfast in the 1982 Assembly election.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/ceb.htm|title=East Belfast 1973-82|website=www.ark.ac.uk}}

He has been an elected member of Belfast City Council since 1985 and in 1997 he became the first 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 the BBC's Children in Need.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7720447.stm | work=BBC News | title=Maginness' hairy moment for charity | date=14 November 2008 | accessdate=23 April 2010}}

Maginness was the SDLP candidate for the 2009 European Election.

Maginness accused the Secretary of State of interning dissident republican Marian Price without trial, saying "We do not support putting people away in prison because of intelligence or because of some political point of view and we are convinced that she has been detained without trial because of that by the secretary of state."{{cite news|title=BBC News - Marian Price being interned says SDLP's Alban Maginness|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18049635|work=BBC News|date=13 May 2012|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=August 27, 2012}}

Having served as an MLA for North Belfast from 1998, Maginness decided not to stand for election in 2016.{{cite news|title= SDLP's Alban Maginness: I will not contest assembly election in May|work=BBC News|date=5 January 2016|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-35230400|accessdate=12 January 2019}} He was replaced by Nichola Mallon.

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20050125095809/http://www.sdlp.ie/party/albanmaginness.shtm Biography: NI Assembly]
[http://www.albanmaginness.com/ SDLP Councillor Alban Maginness MLA]: Official Website
{{Cite web |url=http://www.sdlp.ie/party/albanmaginness.shtm |title=2005 SDLP profile |access-date=19 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050125095809/http://www.sdlp.ie/party/albanmaginness.shtm |archive-date=25 January 2005 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20121228145405/http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/plenary/details.aspx Northern Ireland Assembly | AIMS Portal | Plenary Item Details]

{{succession box|title=Chairman of the Social Democratic and Labour Party|years=1984–1990|before=Sean Farren|after=Mark Durkan}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Member for North Belfast

| years = 1996–1998

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = MLA for Belfast North

| years = 1998–2016

}}

{{succession box | title=Lord Mayor of Belfast | before=Ian Adamson | after= David Alderdice | years= 1997–1998}}

Category:1950 births

Category:Living people