Kieran McCarthy

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

|name = Kieran McCarthy

|honorific-suffix =

|image = Kieran McCarthy MLA.jpg

| image_size = 150x150px

|alt =

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|constituency_AM = Strangford

|assembly = Northern Ireland

|majority =

|term_start = 25 June 1998

|term_end = 30 March 2016

|predecessor = New Creation

|successor = Kellie Armstrong

| office1 = Member of
Ards Borough Council

| constituency1 = Ards Peninsula

| term_start1 = 15 May 1985

| term_end1 = 22 May 2014

| predecessor1 = District created

| successor1 = Council abolished

| office2 = Northern Ireland Forum Member
for Strangford

| term_start2 = 30 May 1996

| term_end2 = 25 April 1998

| predecessor2 = Forum created

| successor2 = Forum dissolved

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1942|9|9|df=yes}}

|birth_place = Newtownards, Northern Ireland

|death_date =

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|birthname =

|nationality =

|party = Alliance

|otherparty =

|spouse = Kathleen McCarthy

|relations = |children =

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|alma_mater =

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|footnotes =

}}

Kieran McCarthy (born 9 September 1942) is a retired Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) politician. From 1998 to 2016 he was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford. He served as Assembly chief whip for APNI in the Assembly.{{cite news

|url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/latest-news/minister-s-remarks-about-gays-are-still-deeply-offensive-1-1858635

|title=Minister's remarks about gays 'are still deeply offensive'

|date=6 September 2007

|newspaper=The News Letter

|access-date=12 December 2019}}

Background

McCarthy was born in Newtownards and worked as a draper. In 1985 he was first elected to Ards Borough Council. In 1990 he became a Justice of the Peace. He was then elected to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum in 1996 from Strangford and has subsequently won a Northern Ireland Assembly seat there in all three elections to that body. In the 2007 elections his seat was targeted by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP),{{cite web

| url=https://votesdlp.blogspot.com/2007/02/tribune-identifies-key-targets-for-sdlp.html

| title=Tribune Identifies Key Targets for SDLP

| date=5 February 2007

| publisher=Social Democratic and Labour Party

|access-date=12 December 2019}} but he won easily with a significantly increased vote.

He has stated his appreciation for the Good Friday Agreement on a number of occasions but believes a more party-aligned/devolved agreement would work more effectively.

McCarthy has stated his strong dislike for Direct Rule, causing a major democratic deficit, and in particular, was against the supposedly aggressive style of governing from the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain.