Fearghal McKinney

Fearghal McKinney (born 6 July 1962 in Derry, Northern Ireland)^[1] is a journalist and politician.

Broadcasting career

McKinney was a reporter and relief presenter^[2] on UTV Live, joining the station in 1994.^[1] Before joining UTV, he was a journalist at The Impartial Reporter in his hometown of Enniskillen and Downtown Radio.^[3]

In addition to his work for UTV Live, McKinney presented the series Sunday Issue and The Issue for UTV from 2003 to 2004.^[3][4] He has also reported on, introduced television debates about, and co-hosted UTV's coverage of local and general elections.^[5][6] McKinney was nominated in 2006 for the RTS Award for Nations and Regions Presenter.^[7]

In January 2009, McKinney announced his departure from UTV, and left the station that month.^[8]

Political career

On 10 March 2010, McKinney announced his intention to seek the nomination of the Social Democratic and Labour Party to contest the Parliamentary constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the 2010 Westminster general election.^[9] Although he secured the SDLP nomination, he was unsuccessful in the election itself, polling 3574 votes which was much less than that of Michelle Gildernew, who retained the seat with a vote of 21,304. The total vote obtained by McKinney was half of what the SDLP had polled in 2005. Since the election on 6 May 2010, McKinney has been employed by the SDLP as a Communications Consultant.

He was selected to replace Conall McDevitt as MLA for South Belfast ^[10] and became an MLA on 16 September 2013.^[11]

Personal life

McKinney is married with three children and lives in east Belfast.

References