Martina Anderson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Martina Anderson MLA | |
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Director of Unionist Engagement
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2007 |
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| Constituency | Foyle |
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| Born | 1962 Bogside, Derry |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Website | Martina Anderson MLA |
Martina Anderson, MLA (b. Bogside, Derry, 1962) is a nationalist politician in Northern Ireland, occupies the post of Director of Unionist Engagement for Sinn Féin [1] and is a former volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).[2]
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[edit] Life
Anderson was born in Derry into a large republican family. She has six sisters and three brothers, and one brother, Paul, is currently a Sinn Féin councillor. She was arrested aged 18 leaving a furniture store in Derry, and charged with possession of a firearm and causing an explosion. Anderson was released on bail after spending two months in Armagh Women's Prison, and fled across the border to Buncrana in County Donegal.[2]
She was arrested on 24 June 1985 at a flat in Glasgow with four other IRA members including Brighton bomber Patrick Magee. On 11 June 1986 all five were convicted of conspiring to cause explosions in England, although Magee was the only person convicted in relation to the Brighton bombing.[3][4] In 1989 she married fellow IRA prisoner Paul Kavanagh at Full Sutton Prison near York. In 1994 she was transferred from Durham Prison to Maghaberry Prison in Northern Ireland, and she was released on 10 November 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and has since renounced violence.[2][5][6]
[edit] Political career
In 2007 Anderson was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Sinn Féin member for Foyle, along with Raymond McCartney.[7]
In May 2007 Anderson became one of the first Sinn Féin members to join the Northern Ireland Policing Board.[8]
In December 2007 Anderson said she was concerned that large numbers of migrant workers from mainly Catholic countries were being classed as ‘Catholic/nationalist’ in monitoring forms, rather than ‘other’,[9] she said "Given that the entire basis of the legislation around monitoring was put in place to identify imbalances in the workforce between the local Catholic/nationalist and Protestant/ unionist communities it is therefore vital that given the addition of migrant workers in the workforce, that they should clearly be categorised as having a community background of ‘other’."[10] Employment monitoring by the Equality Commission records solely religion, and not political affiliation[11].
She has also been selected by Sinn Féin to fight the Foyle constituency at the next Westminster General Election[12].
[edit] References
- ^ Sinn Féin Profile. Sinn Féin (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-04.
- ^ a b c Beyond the Wire. Ireland's Own (1996). Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ Taylor, Peter (2001). Brits. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 157-159. ISBN 0-7475-5806-X.
- ^ Gareth Parry (10 June 1986). Patrick Magee convicted of IRA terrorist attack. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ Paul Hutcheon (12 March 2006). Fury over IRA bomber's Holyrood visit. The Sunday Herald. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ "The beauty queen bomber goes free", Evening Standard, 10 November 1998.
- ^ Northern Ireland election. BBC (9 March 2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ Policing Board - Martina Anderson MLA. NI Policing Board (2007-05-31). Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
- ^ Sinn Fein and DUP in job figures row - Belfast Today
- ^ Sinn Fein and DUP in job figures row - Belfast Today
- ^ Equality Commission Northern Ireland - Press Releases
- ^ Anderson ready to fight next election - Derry Today
