Michael Copeland (politician)

Michael Copeland
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East
In office 5 May 2010 – 7 September 2015
Preceded by	Sir Reg Empey
Succeeded by	Andy Allen
In office 26 November 2003 – 7 March 2007
Preceded by	Ian Adamson
Succeeded by	Wallace Browne
Personal details
Born	(1954-06-23) 23 June 1954 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Children	Sarah
Residence	Cherryvalley, Belfast
Alma mater	Sandhurst
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Military Officer
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Ulster Defence Regiment
Battles/wars	The Troubles

Michael Copeland (born 23 June 1954) is a former unionist MLA from Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Ulster Unionist Party.

Copeland was born in Belfast and was educated at Lisnasharragh Primary School, Lisnasharragh Secondary School, Castlereagh College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst becoming a lieutenant of the Ulster Defence Regiment, HM Armed Forces.

Political career

Copeland was first elected to Castlereagh Borough Council in 2001 and in May 2002 was elected Deputy Mayor of Castlereagh.

In 2002, he was elected chairman of Castlereagh District Policing Partnership. He later resigned in protest at the treatment of the RUC full-time Reserve. He also served as Director of Castlereagh Local Strategy Partnership.

After defeating incumbent MLA Ian Adamson for the East Belfast UUP nomination for the 2003 Assembly Election he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. He was re-selected to stand for the constituency in the elections in 2007 but lost his seat. Copeland remains an extremely active figure in local governmental politics within Northern Ireland: maintaining a keen interest in domestic, socioeconomic and housing problems. He was re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as MLA for East Belfast in the Assembly Elections in May 2011.

A member of the Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution, Copeland has served as the party's Parades spokesman.

He stepped down from the Assembly due to health reasons was replaced by Andy Allen.^[1][2]

Views

Copeland has spoken in favour of same-sex marriage, saying he "backed the change."^[3]

Personal

His ex-wife Sonia was elected to Belfast City Council in the Northern Ireland local elections, 2014.^[4] She represents the Titanic ward. They have two children and he is a member of the Church of Ireland. They separated in 2015.

References

External links

• Michael Copeland MLA - Official Website as at 4 January 2014
• NI Assembly biography
• Stratagem biography
• Castlereagh Council biography as at 28 August 2008