Máirtín Ó Muilleoir
| Máirtín Ó Muilleoir | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast South | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 22 October 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Alex Maskey |
| 58th Lord Mayor of Belfast | |
| In office 2 June 2013 – 2 June 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Gavin Robinson |
| Succeeded by | Nichola Mallon |
| Councillor on Belfast City Council | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2011 | |
| Constituency | Balmoral |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 January 1959 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Spouse(s) | Helen O'Hare |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Businessman |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir (born 1 January 1959, as Martin Miller) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, author and businessman, who served as the 58th Lord Mayor of Belfast for the 2013/2014 year.[1]
A graduate of Queen's University Belfast,[2] Ó Muilleoir entered politics in 1985, when he stood as a Sinn Féin candidate for the Upper Falls area, finishing as runner-up to Alliance Party councillor Pip Glendinning.[3] When Glendinning resigned her seat two years later, Ó Muilleoir won the resulting by-election in October 1987.[2] During his time on the council, he started a number of legal actions against what he saw as discrimination by the Unionist dominated council,[2] detailing these experiences in a subsequent book, The Dome of Delight.[1] He was re-elected at the 1989 and 1993 local elections, retiring at the 1997 local elections to concentrate on his business career.
In 1997, he became part-owner of the Andersonstown News, which subsequently developed the New York based Irish Echo.[2] A fluent Irish speaker,[1] he also has interests in other Irish and American businesses.[2] He also served as a temporary director of Northern Ireland Water.[4]
He re-entered politics in 2011, when he was elected as a Belfast city Councillor for the Balmoral area of South Belfast, gaining the seat previously held by Jim Kirkpatrick of the Democratic Unionist Party, and was elected Mayor in June 2013.[5] In 2014, he was co-opted as an MLA into the Northern Ireland Assembly.[6] He is standing in Belfast South at the 2015 United Kingdom general election.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Mairtin O Muilleoir is Belfast's new Lord Mayor". The News Letter. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Mairtin O Muilleoir - a republican for change". The Belfast Telegraph. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ↑ Belfast city council election results 1985-1989, ARK, accessed 21 June 2013
- ↑ "Mairtin O'Muilleoir to represent SF in south Belfast". BBC. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ↑ Balmoral election results, 1993-2011, ARK, accessed 21 June 2013
- ↑ http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sinn-feins-mairtin-o-muilleoir-sets-sights-on-sdlps-belfast-seat-30686234.html