Alex Maskey
Encyclopedia
Alex Maskey is an Irish
politician who was the first member of Sinn Féin
to serve as Belfast
's Lord Mayor
. He is Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor and is currently an MLA
for South Belfast as well as being a councillor for the Laganbank area of Belfast.
and at the Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education
and then worked in Belfast docks as a labourer and barman. He was a successful amateur boxer, having only lost 4 out of 75 fights.
When the Troubles
broke out in 1969 he became involved with the Provisional Irish Republican Army
, and was interned twice in the 1970s.
, Maskey won a by-election for a seat on Belfast City Council
from the Upper Falls area and became the first member of Sinn Féin
to be elected to Belfast City Council and only the second to be elected in Northern Ireland. Maskey emerged as a key ally of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams
' approach to the strategy. In 1987 he survived being shot at close range by loyalist paramilitaries.
In 1996 Maskey was elected to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum for the Belfast West constituency
but did not attend the Forum in accordance with Sinn Féin's policy of abstentionism. Two years later he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly
, which on this occasion Sinn Féin did not boycott.
Maskey's growing political profile led him to contest the Belfast South constituency
in the 2001 general election
as part of Sinn Féin's strategy of building up their vote in one of their weaker constituencies. In the local elections held on the same day he switched to the Laganbank area of South Belfast and won a seat there.
In 2002 Maskey became the first ever republican to serve as Lord Mayor
of Belfast
. His first duty in office was to open the annual Presbyterian General Assembly despite being a non-Presbyterian. Maskey then generated controversy when as part of his duties as Lord Mayor in July 2002 he laid a wreath in memorial of Irish soldiers who died in the First World War
. However he declined to attend the main memorial ceremony, stating that it was "the military commemoration of the Battle of the Somme". In his office he removed the British Union Jack and hung the Irish tricolour in its place.
In the 2003 Assembly election
Maskey stood in South Belfast again and won Sinn Féin's first seat there with a boost in the vote share. He also contested the seat in the 2005 general election
with the vote share down on the Assembly elections, losing to the Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate, Alasdair McDonnell
.
On Christmas Day, 2005, Maskey suffered a heart attack while with his family. Several weeks later he appeared on BBC Radio Ulster
to talk about his health.
In 2006 he participated in the negotiations resulting in the ETA
truce announced on 22 March.
On 23 April 2007 he was announced as one of three Sinn Féin members who would sit on the re-vamped Northern Ireland Policing Board
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
politician who was the first member of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
to serve as Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
's Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
. He is Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor and is currently an MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)
Member of the Legislative Assembly is a representative elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly in Northern Ireland.- About :...
for South Belfast as well as being a councillor for the Laganbank area of Belfast.
Early life
Maskey was educated at St. Malachy's CollegeSt. Malachy's College
St. Malachy's College is the oldest Roman Catholic grammar school in the province of Ulster, and one of the oldest in Ireland.The college was founded in 1833 by Bishop William Crolly, about 50 years after the repeal of the penal laws, which had outlawed, among other things, the celebration of the...
and at the Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education
Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education
Belfast Metropolitan College is a further and higher education institution in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The college offers both vocational education and academic qualifications...
and then worked in Belfast docks as a labourer and barman. He was a successful amateur boxer, having only lost 4 out of 75 fights.
When the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
broke out in 1969 he became involved with the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
, and was interned twice in the 1970s.
Politics
Maskey stood unsuccessfully in West Belfast in the 1982 Assembly Election. In 1983, as part of the armalite and ballot box strategyArmalite and ballot box strategy
The Armalite and ballot box strategy was a strategy pursued by the Irish republican movement in the 1980s and early 1990s in which elections in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were contested by Sinn Féin, while the IRA continued to pursue an armed struggle against the British Army, the...
, Maskey won a by-election for a seat on Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
from the Upper Falls area and became the first member of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
to be elected to Belfast City Council and only the second to be elected in Northern Ireland. Maskey emerged as a key ally of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
' approach to the strategy. In 1987 he survived being shot at close range by loyalist paramilitaries.
In 1996 Maskey was elected to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum for the Belfast West constituency
Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:The seat was restored in 1922 when as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
but did not attend the Forum in accordance with Sinn Féin's policy of abstentionism. Two years later he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
, which on this occasion Sinn Féin did not boycott.
Maskey's growing political profile led him to contest the Belfast South constituency
Belfast South (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast South is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
in the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
as part of Sinn Féin's strategy of building up their vote in one of their weaker constituencies. In the local elections held on the same day he switched to the Laganbank area of South Belfast and won a seat there.
In 2002 Maskey became the first ever republican to serve as Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
of Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. His first duty in office was to open the annual Presbyterian General Assembly despite being a non-Presbyterian. Maskey then generated controversy when as part of his duties as Lord Mayor in July 2002 he laid a wreath in memorial of Irish soldiers who died in the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. However he declined to attend the main memorial ceremony, stating that it was "the military commemoration of the Battle of the Somme". In his office he removed the British Union Jack and hung the Irish tricolour in its place.
In the 2003 Assembly election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...
Maskey stood in South Belfast again and won Sinn Féin's first seat there with a boost in the vote share. He also contested the seat in the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
with the vote share down on the Assembly elections, losing to the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
candidate, Alasdair McDonnell
Alasdair McDonnell
Dr Alasdair McDonnell is an Irish politician, Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and both a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for South Belfast. On 5 November, 2011, he was elected as the new leader of the SDLP.-Early...
.
On Christmas Day, 2005, Maskey suffered a heart attack while with his family. Several weeks later he appeared on BBC Radio Ulster
BBC Radio Ulster
BBC Radio Ulster is one of two Northern Irish BBC radio stations, the other being BBC Radio Foyle located in the city of Derry. BBC Radio Ulster is located at Broadcasting House in the Ormeau Avenue area of Belfast city centre...
to talk about his health.
In 2006 he participated in the negotiations resulting in the ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
truce announced on 22 March.
On 23 April 2007 he was announced as one of three Sinn Féin members who would sit on the re-vamped Northern Ireland Policing Board
Northern Ireland Policing Board
The Northern Ireland Policing Board is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Northern Ireland...