Dolores Kelly

{{short description|Former Irish nationalist politician (born 1959)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Dolores Kelly

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Dolores Kelly MLA.JPG

| alt =

| caption =

| office = Deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party

| leader = Alasdair McDonnell

| term_start = 2011

| term_end = 2015

| predecessor = Patsy McGlone

| successor = Fearghal McKinney

| constituency_AM1 = Upper Bann

| assembly1 = Northern Ireland

| majority1 =

| term_start1 = 2 March 2017

| term_end1 = 27 March 2022

| predecessor1 = Catherine Seeley

| successor1 = Eóin Tennyson

| term_start2 = 26 November 2003

| term_end2 = 30 March 2016

| predecessor2 = Bríd Rodgers

| successor2 = Catherine Seeley

| office3 = Member of
Craigavon Borough Council

| constituency3 = Loughside

| term_start3 = 19 May 1993

| term_end3 = 5 May 2011

| predecessor3 = Catherine McStravick

| successor3 = Joe Nelson

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|09|3|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Aghalee, Northern Ireland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Irish

| party = SDLP

| spouse = Eamon Kelly

| children = 4

| residence = Lurgan, County Armagh

| alma_mater = University of Ulster

| profession = Occupational therapist

| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20061229204644/http://www.sdlp.ie/party/doloreskellycv.shtm SDLP profile]

}}

Mary Dolores Kelly (born 3 September 1959) is an Irish nationalist former politician who served as deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2011 to 2015. She was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA)BBC television programme Northern Ireland Assembly: 31 January 2009 for Upper Bann from 2003 to 2016, and again from 2017 until 2022. She was succeeded by Eóin Tennyson in 2022.

Background

Dolores Kelly attended St Michael's Grammar School, Lurgan and then the University of Ulster, Jordanstown. She worked as an occupational therapist in the Craigavon Area Hospital and in social services in Banbridge. She married Eamon Kelly in 1982 and has four children.{{cite news |title=Dolores Kelly: 'I was eight months pregnant when police came to my door to say an SDLP councillor's home was to be targeted that night. After that, I had to learn how to search for car bombs' |first=Claire |last=McNeilly |date=19 February 2018 |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/dolores-kelly-i-was-eight-months-pregnant-when-police-came-to-my-door-to-say-an-sdlp-councillors-home-was-to-be-targeted-that-night-after-that-i-had-to-learn-how-to-search-for-car-bombs-36612565.html |access-date=18 April 2022 |issn=0307-1235}}

Political career

In May 1993, she was first elected to Craigavon Borough Council for the Loughside District. She sat on all committees and was chair of Technical Services and Environmental Services. In 1996, she was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in Upper Bann.{{cite web |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/96ub.htm |title=1996 Forum Elections: Candidates in Upper Bann |website=Ark |accessdate=5 March 2017}}

In May 1997, she was re-elected to Craigavon Borough. She was elected deputy mayor in 1998 and, from 1999 to 2000, was the first SDLP mayor of Craigavon.{{Cite web |title=SDLP woman elected mayor |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/sdlp-woman-elected-mayor-1.194138 |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=The Irish Times}} Kelly was also deputy leader of the SDLP from 2011 to 2015.{{Cite news |last=Amanda Ferguson |title=Upper Bann: SDLP’s Dolores Kelly back in the game |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/upper-bann-sdlp-s-dolores-kelly-back-in-the-game-1.2971105 |access-date=2022-04-18 |work=The Irish Times}}

In 2004, Kelly was the target of death threats from dissident Republicans and her home was attacked.{{Cite news |title=SDLP woman's home attacked in Co Armagh |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/sdlp-woman-s-home-attacked-in-co-armagh-1.973552 |access-date=2022-04-18 |work=The Irish Times}} In 2009, Kelly was threatened by a masked gunman while canvassing in the Kilwilkie estate in Lurgan.

In 2003, Kelly was elected to Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann. She was a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.{{cite web |url=http://www.nipolicingboard.org.uk/index/theboard.htm |title=The Board |accessdate=22 August 2015 |archive-date=8 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508192623/http://www.nipolicingboard.org.uk/index/theboard.htm |url-status=dead}} She lost her seat in the 2016 Assembly election{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/northern-ireland-constituencies/N06000017 |title=BBC NI Election 2016 |website=BBC News |accessdate=7 May 2016}} but regained it and rejoined the Policing Board in 2017, at the expense of Sinn Féin.

She lost her seat in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.{{Cite news |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/northern-ireland-assembly-election-2022/at-a-glance-winners-and-losers-of-historic-northern-ireland-assembly-election-41626276.html |title=Winners and losers of historic Northern Ireland Assembly election 2022 |work=Belfast Telegraph}}

Political positions

Kelly has called for the establishment of an all-island registry for those convicted of animal cruelty.{{Cite news |title=SDLP calls for all-island animal cruelty register |author=Carmel Robinson |date=24 May 2021|website=Farming Life|url=https://www.farminglife.com/news/crime/sdlp-calls-for-all-island-animal-cruelty-register-3248438 |access-date=2022-04-18}}