Jane Morrice

Jane Morrice (born 11 May 1954) is a Northern Irish politician and journalist who helped architect the Good Friday Agreement.[1][2] She is the former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, former Head of the European Commission Office in Northern Ireland and former reporter for BBC Belfast.[3][4] Morrice was Vice President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) from 2013 to 2015 and again from 2019 until 2020 when Brexit forced the United Kingdom out of the European Union.[5] Morrice served two terms as Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Equality Commission and was a prominent member of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition until it ceased to exist in 2006.

Jane Morrice
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for North Down
In office
25 June 1998 – 26 November 2003
Preceded byNew Creation
Succeeded byAlex Easton
Personal details
Born (1954-05-11) 11 May 1954
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political partyNI Women's Coalition (1996 - 2006)
Other political
affiliations		Independent
ResidenceBangor, County Down
Alma materUniversity of Ulster

Morrice was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in June 1998 and was appointed Deputy Speaker in February 2000. She has represented NI interests as an EESC Member in Brussels since 2006 and, after many decades as a Member of the European Movement Northern Ireland, she was nominated Hon. President.

Morrice was involved in the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and was a member of the Standing Orders Committee which set the initial rules governing Assembly procedures post-devolution. She was also a member of the Assembly's Trade and Industry Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.

Early life and education

Born in Belfast, she is the younger sister of Susan Morrice.[6] Morrice was educated at Ashleigh House School and Methodist College Belfast and the University of Ulster.[7] She began her career as a journalist in Brussels in 1980; In 1986, she moved to BBC Belfast as reporter covering news and current affairs during the 'troubles' and was later promoted to Business and Labour Relations correspondent.[8] In 1992, she was appointed Head of the European Commission (EC) Office in Northern Ireland and, as a member of the task force set up by EC President Delors, she was involved in the creation of the first EU PEACE Programme which has invested £2billion in cross-community and cross-border peace initiatives to date. Morrice graduated from the University of Ulster, with a BA Hon in European Studies. She speaks fluent French and basic Spanish and German.[9]

Political career

She entered politics in 1996 when she joined the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (founded by Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar). In 1996 she was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in North Down.[10] She stood unsuccessfully as an independent in North Down at the 1997 general election. She was elected in North Down at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, but lost the seat at the 2003 election.[11]

Morrice also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Integrated Education Fund and as a Board Member of the Laganside Corporation, which was tasked with regenerating Belfast's waterfront.

In 2006, Jane was nominated to represent Northern Ireland on the Brussels-based EESC and, in 2013, she was elected its vice president. In a role similar to that of Deputy Speaker, she chaired sessions of the Assembly made up of 350 members from 28 EU Member States speaking 23 languages. In 2008, she was appointed to the NI Equality Commission as Deputy Chief and, in this role, she also Chaired the Equality and Diversity Steering Group promoting the role of women in Local Councils and was a member of the Audit Committee.

As an EESC Member, Morrice and has authored two reports on the EU role in peace-building in Northern Ireland and the world. She also works to promote exchange of experience between Northern Ireland and conflict zones and has carried out such work in Afghanistan, the Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus.

In recognition of her work, Jane was awarded the Boston Certificate of Recognition for Peace and Equality.

In the 2019 European Parliament election, Morrice stood as an Independent candidate for Northern Ireland. She was eliminated in the first count, getting 0.30% of first preference votes.

References
  1. Casale, Roger (12 May 2019). "Jane Morrice, Independent, Northern Ireland". neweuropeans.net. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  2. Kelly, Ben (28 June 2020). "Ireland's new government fails to bring in Northern voices despite 'shared island' commitment". Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. Rodgers, Fionnbharr (10 June 2019). ""There's a lot still to do." An interview with Jane Morrice". Northern Slant. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  4. "European election: Former Women's Coalition leader Jane Morrice launches campaign". www.newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  5. "The EESC bids farewell to its British members with the promise of maintaining close ties with UK civil society". European Economic and Social Committee. 23 January 2020. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  6. "Why life's never boring for Belfast's oil baron". Belfast Telegraph. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  7. Lynn, Brendan. "Biographies of People Prominent During 'the Troubles'". CAIN Web Service. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  8. "Jane Morrice: Could this novel initiative help Boris woo the DUP... or would it be a bridge too far?". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  9. Association, By David Young, Press (7 May 2019). "Former Women's Coalition members back Jane Morrice European election campaign". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "1996 Candidates - North Down". www.ark.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  11. "Jane Morrice launches European election campaign". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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