Francie Molloy

Francie Molloy (Irish: Proinsias Ó Maolmhuaidh; born 16 December 1950)[2] is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster since 2013. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster from 1998 to 2013.[3]

Francie Molloy
Official portrait, 2014
Member of Parliament
for Mid Ulster
Assumed office
8 March 2013
Preceded byMartin McGuinness
Majority9,537 (21.4%)
Principal Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
In office
28 June 2011 – 15 April 2013
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMitchel McLaughlin
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Mid Ulster
In office
25 June 1998 – 8 April 2013[1]
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byIan Milne
Personal details
Born (1950-12-16) 16 December 1950
County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partySinn Féin
WebsiteOfficial website

He first stood for Sinn Féin in Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the 1982 Assembly Elections, finishing sixth in the five-seat constituency.[4] He was then elected to Dungannon council in 1985[5] representing the Torrent electoral area, centred on Coalisland. He retired from the council in 1989 but was re-elected in 1993.

Molloy stood unsuccessfully for Sinn Féin in the 1994 European Parliament election.[6]

Molloy was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996 representing Mid Ulster and then for the same constituency to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, 2003 and 2007. In 2005, Molloy was temporarily suspended from Sinn Féin after publicly disagreeing with the party policy on eliminating many district councils, including the Dungannon Council of which he was a member.[7]

In December 2012, he was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for the UK parliamentary constituency of Mid Ulster, which had been held by his party colleague Martin McGuinness since the 1997 general election.[8] The Mid Ulster by-election took place on 7 March 2013.

In the run-up to the by-election, media attention focussed on past allegations about Molloy and how they related to the DUP/UUP-supported independent candidate Nigel Lutton. In 2007, DUP MP David Simpson had claimed during a debate in the Westminster parliament that Molloy had been a member of the IRA and was suspected by police of being involved in the fatal shooting of Lutton's father, Frederick Lutton, on 1 May 1979. The IRA had taken responsibility for it on the basis he was an RUC reservist. The investigation came to nothing, and Simpson claimed this was because Molloy was subsequently coerced into becoming a police informant, providing information that helped break up the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade.[9] Molloy denied the allegations and challenged anyone to repeat them outside Parliament so he could take legal action (the original speech being subject to parliamentary privilege and thus not actionable). UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said he had been unaware of the speech and that it had played no part in Lutton's selection.[10] Lutton denied the claims were behind his decision to stand.[11]

References
  1. "The Northern Ireland Assembly". Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
  2. "MLA Details: Mr Francie Molloy". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  3. Gareth Gordon (1 January 1970). "Sinn Féin's Francie Molloy wins Mid Ulster by-election". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  4. "1982 Assembly election count details" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  5. 1985 Dungannon council results Archived 29 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine, ARK, accessed 3 January 2013.
  6. 1994 European election result Archived 18 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, ARK, accessed 3 January 2013.
  7. Suspension for contradicting SF policy Archived 28 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News; accessed 16 May 2016.
  8. Molloy to contest Mid Ulster when McGuiness steps down Archived 29 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine BBC News
  9. Megan (22 November 2007). "'Informer' Molloy is linked to IRA killing". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  10. "'I didn't know about Molloy allegations'". Belfast Newsletter. 20 February 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  11. "This is not about me and Molloy, says town undertaker". Portadown Times. 22 February 2013. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
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