Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey (born 8 January 1952) is an Irish politician who has been Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2020 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003.[2] He was Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor, representing the Laganbank electoral area of Belfast.[3] He was also an MLA for Belfast West for two periods, and also for Belfast South.
Alex Maskey | |
|---|---|
| 6th Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly | |
| Assumed office 11 January 2020 | |
| Deputy | Christopher Stalford Roy Beggs Jr Patsy McGlone |
| Preceded by | Robin Newton |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast West | |
| In office 3 November 2014 – 28 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Sue Ramsey |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Baker |
| In office 25 June 1998 – 28 April 2003 | |
| Preceded by | New Creation |
| Succeeded by | Fra McCann |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast South | |
| In office 26 November 2003 – 22 October 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Monica McWilliams |
| Succeeded by | Máirtín Ó Muilleoir |
| 59th Lord Mayor of Belfast | |
| In office 1 June 2002 – 1 June 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Rodgers |
| Succeeded by | Martin Morgan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 January 1952 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | None (Speaker) |
| Other political affiliations | Sinn Féin (before 2020) |
| Spouse | Liz McKee (m. 1981) |
| Relations | Paul Maskey (brother)[1] |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | |
Early life
Maskey was educated at St Malachy's College and at the Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education and then worked in Belfast docks as a labourer and barman.[2][4] He was a successful amateur boxer, having only lost 4 out of 75 fights.[4]
After the Troubles began in the late 1960s he became involved with the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and was interned twice in the 1970s.[4]
Political career
Maskey stood unsuccessfully in West Belfast in the 1982 Assembly Election.[5] In June 1983, Maskey won a by-election and became the first member of Sinn Féin to be elected to Belfast City Council since the 1920s.[6][7] He was greeted with boos and jeers when he entered the chamber for his first council meeting, and unionist councillors started stamping their feet and screaming when he attempted to deliver his maiden speech in Irish.[7]
Maskey emerged as a key ally of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams' approach to the strategy.[2] In 1987 he survived being shot at close range by loyalist paramilitaries.[4] He was targeted again by loyalists in 1988, and also a gun attack at his home in 1993 when one of his friends, Alan Lundy,[8] was killed.[9][10] 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.[11]
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.[12]
In the local elections held on the same day he switched to the Laganbank area of South Belfast and won a seat there.[13]
In 2002 Maskey became the first ever republican to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast.[4] His first duty in office was to open the annual Presbyterian General Assembly despite being a non-Presbyterian.[14]
Maskey garnered general praise when as part of his duties as Lord Mayor in July 2002 he laid a wreath in memorial of British 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".[15] In his office he flew the British Union Jack and the Irish tricolour side by side.[16]
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 contested the same-named House of Commons 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.[12]
In March 2006, Maskey participated in the negotiations resulting in the Basque nationalist organisation ETA truce announced on 22 March.[17] 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.[18]
Maskey resigned from Belfast City Council in October 2010, as part of Sinn Féin's policy of abolishing double jobbing.[19]
With the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont, Maskey was elected Speaker on 11 January 2020.[20]
On 23 September 2021, he announced that he would not seek re-election at the 2022 Assembly election. In a letter to Sinn Féin parties, he said it had been an "honour" to represent communities, adding "There is a lot of work left to do before the next assembly election and that is where my focus will be until then."[21] In response, party leader and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said Maskey had been "a ferocious champion of the rights of communities within the Assembly, in Belfast City Council and on the ground". She added that he "was imprisoned without trial, faced down sustained threats and attacks by British state forces and their loyalist surrogates and was almost killed in an attack at his home which left him with permanent injuries."[22]
He has continued to serve as speaker despite not being an MLA following the 2022 election because the DUP have tbh us far refused to participate in the election of a new speaker.
Personal life
Maskey and his wife, Liz McKee[23] have been married since 1981.[24] They have two sons, Niall and Sean, and a granddaughter, Tierna.[25]
On 25 December 2005, Maskey suffered a heart attack while with his family. Several weeks later he appeared on BBC Radio Ulster to talk about his health.[26]
References
- ^ Young, Connla (11 June 2011). "New Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey vows to reach out to loyalists". Belfast Telegraph. from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- ^ a b c "Biographies of Prominent People". Conflict Archive on the Internet. from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ . Belfast City Council. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
- ^ a b c d e "From barman to Belfast's first citizen". BBC News. 5 June 2002. from the original on 23 July 2004. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ Whyte, Nicholas (25 March 2003). "Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1982". ARK. from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ Whyte, Nicholas (6 June 2002). "Maskey elected Lord Mayor of Belfast". The Irish Times. from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ a b White, Robert (2017). Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement. Merrion Press. pp. 201–202. ISBN 9781785370939.
- ^ "A scrapper in more ways than one who talks the talk of inclusiveness". The Irish Times. from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ O'Doherty, Malachi (25 October 2008). "Payout for an attack that never was". The Guardian. from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- ^ McKittrick, David (15 June 2002). "Security services tried to kill me, says Belfast mayor". The Independent. from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- ^ Nicholas Whyte (3 June 1998). "West Belfast". ARK. from the original on 4 April 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
- ^ a b Nicholas Whyte (3 June 1998). "South Belfast". ARK. from the original on 4 April 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
- ^ . Sinn Féin. Archived from the original on 4 November 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ "Presbyterians welcome Lord Mayor Alex Maskey". BBC News. 10 June 2002. from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
- ^ "Maskey marks Somme with wreath". BBC News. 1 July 2002. from the original on 19 June 2004. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ "Tricolour raised in City Hall". BBC. 4 September 2002. from the original on 11 September 2002. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ "Sinn Féin 'involved in ETA move'". BBC News. 24 March 2006. from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
- ^ "Sinn Féin announces policing board members". RTÉ News. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ "Alex Maskey Belfast's first republican mayor quits council seat". Belfast Telegraph. 13 October 2010. from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ McDonald, Henry (11 January 2020). "Northern Ireland assembly reopens three years after collapse". The Guardian. from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ McCormack, Jayne (2 August 2021). "Sinn Féin's Alex Maskey will not stand in next NI Assembly election". BBC News. from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ Moriarty, Gerry (5 August 2021). "Sinn Féin's Alex Maskey to stand down as Assembly member next year". The Irish Times. from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ "Alex Maskey and the UDA assassin". magill.ie. 3 January 2007. from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ McCreary, Alf (4 July 2008). "Maskey's marathon". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ "Who is giving up what for Lent?". Belfast Telegraph. 5 March 2014. ISSN 0307-1235. from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ . TCM Archives. 30 December 2005. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
External links
- Profile on Sinn Féin website