Joe Byrne (Northern Ireland politician)

Joe Byrne (born 29 November 1953) is a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone between 1998 and 2003, and again from 2011 to 2015.

Joe Byrne
MLA
Joe Byrne in 2012
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for West Tyrone
In office
25 June 1998 – 26 November 2003
Preceded byNew Creation
Succeeded byKieran Deeny
In office
5 May 2011 – 31 December 2015
Preceded byKieran Deeny
Succeeded byDaniel McCrossan
Personal details
Born (1953-11-29) 29 November 1953 [1]
Political partySDLP
Alma materQueen's University Belfast

Political biography

After studying economics at Queen's University Belfast, Byrne became a college lecturer. He also joined the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and in 1993 was elected to Omagh District Council, becoming chairman in 1997.[2]

In 1996, Byrne was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum representing West Tyrone.[2] He was appointed to the Northern Ireland Policing Board and was only 1,161 votes away from taking the Westminster seat of West Tyrone at the 1997 general election.[3]

He held his seat at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election,[2] but was not re-elected in 2003.[3] In 2005, he also lost his seat on the council.[4] In 2009, he was appointed Chairperson of the SDLP and was re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2011.

References
  1. "The Northern Ireland Assembly". www.niassembly.gov.uk.
  2. "Biography – Joe Byrne". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012.
  3. "Big names missing from new Assembly". UTV. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  4. "Omagh Council Election, 1997–2005". Northern Ireland Elections.
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