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Seamus Mallon (born on 17 August , 1936 ) is a Northern Irish politician and former Deputy Leader of the nationalist Social Democratic And Labour Party . He served as the first Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland , from 1999 to 2001 . BACKGROUND Seamus Mallon was born in County Armagh. He was educated at the Abbey Christian Brothers' Grammar School in Newry . As a career he chose teaching, becoming headmaster of St. James's Primary School in Markethill. Mallon was also involved in the Gaelic Athletic Association , playing Gaelic Football for County Armagh . INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS During the sixties he was involved in the civil rights movement, especially in his native Armagh . In 1979, when John Hume went from being deputy leader of the SDLP (under Gerry Fitt ) to leader, Mallon became deputy leader. He was elected to the first power-sharing Assembly in 1975, and to the Northern Ireland Convention. Between May and December 1982 Mallon was appointed by the then Taoiseach of the Republic Of Ireland , Charles J. Haughey to the Republic's upper house, Seanad Éireann . Because of this he was excluded from the then Northern Ireland Assembly, set up as part of then Secretary Of State For Northern Ireland , James Prior 's rolling devolution.1 In 1986 he was elected to Westminster as an MP for Newry & Armagh , a seat he held until 2005. He won the seat in a by-election to replace Jim Nicholson , who had Resigned his seat in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement , along with all the other Northern Ireland unionist MPs. Nicholson was the only MP to fail to be re-elected. DEPUTY FIRST MINISTER Mallon has remained a strong opponent of IRA violence. He has also been in favour of police reform in Northern Ireland . In 1994 he became a member of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. Following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 Mallon became Deputy First Minister in the Assembly, serving alongside Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble . RETIREMENT In 2001 Seamus Mallon retired, along with John Hume , from the leadership of the SDLP. Mark Durkan replaced both; Hume as leader and Mallon as Deputy First Minister, when the Northern Ireland Executive was re-established following a suspension. Mallon did not contest his seat in the Stormont Assembly in the 2003 elections, and stood down at the 2005 Westminster Election . His seat was taken, as expected, by Conor Murphy of Sinn Féin . PERSONAL He is married to the former Gertrude Cush, and they have one child. Footnote 1 Under then British legislation no elected member of a British parliament or regional assembly could serve in a parliament outside the United Kingdom without losing their British seat. That restriction has now been removed. |
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