William McMullen sometimes known as Billy McMullen, was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 trade unionist and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

Born into a Protestant family in 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...

, McMullen began working in the shipyard

Shipyard

Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...

s and became an active trade unionist. He met James Connolly

James Connolly

James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...

 in 1910, and was thereafter Connolly's most prominent supporter in Belfast, acting as the first Chairman of the Irish Labour Party in the city. Becoming a full-time official for the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), McMullen was a strong opponent of the partition of Ireland

Partition of Ireland

The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...

.

At the Northern Ireland general election, 1925

Northern Ireland general election, 1925

The Northern Ireland general election, 1925 was held on 3 April 1925. It was the second election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, although they maintained their large majority. This was the last election for the Stormont parliament...

, McMullen stood in Belfast West

Belfast West (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Belfast West was a borough constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1929. It returned four MPs, using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.-Boundaries:...

 for the Northern Ireland Labour Party

Northern Ireland Labour Party

The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...

. Despite coming bottom of the poll, he was elected on transfers from Joe Devlin

Joseph Devlin

Joseph Devlin, also known as Joe Devlin, was an Irish journalist and influential nationalist politician...

, the only Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)

The Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....

 candidate. In Parliament, he challenged the Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

 over unemployment

Unemployment

Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...

, and in 1928, he joined the rest of the party in walking out, earning themselves suspensions from the body. For 1927-28, he was the President of the Irish Trades Union Congress.

Following the restructuring of constituencies, McMullen stood in Belfast Falls

Belfast Falls (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Belfast Falls was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:Belfast Falls was a borough constituency comprising part of western Belfast...

 in 1929

Northern Ireland general election, 1929

-References:*...

. The Nationalist Party stood Richard Byrne, a publican

Publican

In antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects...

 and landlord

Landlord

A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...

. Devlin offered to secure McMullen a seat in the Senate of Northern Ireland

Senate of Northern Ireland

The Senate of Northern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was abolished with the passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.-Powers:...

 should he stand down, but McMullen refused the offer. He produced a newspaper, the Northern Worker, claiming that Byrne was a slum landlord. Byrne secured an injunction to stop distribution two days before the election, and beat McMullen by around 1,400 votes.

In 1934, McMullen was a supporter of the Republican Congress

Republican Congress

The Republican Congress was an Irish republican political organisation founded in 1934, when left-wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by such IRA veterans as Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore. It was a socialist organisation and was dedicated to a...

 movement, a left-wing split from the Irish Republican Army

Irish Republican Army

The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...

, unsuccessfully contesting Belfast Central

Belfast Central (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Belfast Central was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:Belfast Central was a borough constituency comprising part of central Belfast...

 in a by-election. He later moved to Dublin to take up a post as the President of the ITGWU. He served three years as a member of the Seanad Éireann

Seanad Éireann

Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...

. This was interrupted by bankruptcy. In September 1953, he resigned to join the board of Córas Iompair Éireann

Córas Iompair Éireann

Córas Iompair Éireann , or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of the Irish state, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport in the Republic of Ireland and, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, between the...

.