Conor Murphy MP MLA | |
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Minister for Regional Development | |
In office 8 May 2007 – 16 May 2011 |
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Preceded by | Peter Robinson |
Succeeded by | Danny Kennedy |
Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh |
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office 5 May 2005 |
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Preceded by | Seamus Mallon |
Majority | 8,195 (16.2%) |
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Newry and Armagh |
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office 25 June 1998 |
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Preceded by | Constituency Created |
Personal details | |
Born | 10 July 1963 Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK |
Nationality | Irish |
Political party | Sinn Féin |
Alma mater | University of Ulster, Queen's University of Belfast |
Website | Conor Murphy MP MLA |
Conor Terence Murphy[1] (born 10 July 1963, Newry, County Armagh) is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician.
According to An Phoblacht, Murphy first became involved with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the 1981 hunger strikes.[2] In 1982 he was sentenced to five years in prison for IRA membership and possession of explosives.[3]
Between 1989 and 1997, he was a Sinn Féin councillor on Newry and Mourne District Council for The Fews area,[4] in South Armagh and South Down, and served as his party's group leader at that level.[2]
In 1998, Murphy was elected as one of his party's two Northern Ireland Assembly members for Newry and Armagh. He was re-elected, with two party colleagues, to the Assembly in 2003.[5]
He lives in Camlough, County Armagh with his family. He attended St. Colman's College, Newry, and the Queen's University of Belfast (QUB), and the University of Ulster.
In 2001, he contested the Newry and Armagh Westminster seat, coming second to incumbent Seamus Mallon of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). When Mallon decided not to contest the seat again, Murphy became the clear favourite to win and was elected MP on 5 May 2005.[6][7]
He refuses to take his seat in the British House of Commons in line with the abstentionist policy of Sinn Féin. In the Northern Ireland Assembly, he served as the Minister for Regional Development in the Northern Ireland Executive from 8 May 2007 until 16 May 2011.
While on a tour of UK party conferences in autumn 2005, he became the first Irish republican to address the Conservative Party conference and caused controversy by refusing to express regret over the Brighton hotel bombing, which killed five people and injured 31 others, in an assassination attempt on the life of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[8]
According to The Times Guide to the House of Commons, he is married with one daughter and one son.
Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
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Preceded by New creation |
MLA for Newry and Armagh 1998 - |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by Séamus Mallon |
Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh 2005- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Office suspended |
Minister for Regional Development 2007 - present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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