Mark Durkan
Mark Henry Durkan (born 26 June 1960, Derry, Northern Ireland [1]) is a nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
In the 2015 general election, Durkan retained his seat with a majority of 6,046 and 48 per cent of the vote. [2]
Background
Durkan's father was an Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) District Inspector in Armagh who died before his son's first birthday. [3] He was educated at St. Patrick's Primary School and at St. Columb's College in Derry.[4]
He studied politics at the Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) and later did a part-time Bachelor of Arts course in Public Policy Management with the University of Ulster at Magee. While at QUB Durkan served as Deputy President of Queen's Students' Union from 1982-1983. He was also elected Deputy President of the Union of Students in Ireland from 1982-1984. [5] .
Politics
He became involved in politics in 1981 when he became a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. In 1984 he went to work for John Hume as his Westminster Assistant. He became a key figure in organising by-election campaigns for the Seamus Mallon and Eddie McGrady in the 1980s [6].
- Durkan's considerable strategic skills were honed by the American-based National Endowment for Democracy, a group which assisted the SDLP in professional electioneering from 1986.[7]
In 1990 Durkan became chairperson of the SDLP, a position he served in until 1995[8]. He was a key member of the party's negotiating team in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement [9].
Following the Agreement Durkan was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, and became a member of the Northern Ireland Executive as Minister for Finance and Personnel[10].
He served in that position until 2001 when he replaced Seamus Mallon as Deputy First Minister[11]. He was also elected Leader of the SDLP in that year. Durkan was re-elected to the Assembly in the election of November 2003. However, the Assembly and the Executive remained suspended until 8 May 2007[12].
In the 2005 general election he retained the Foyle seat at Westminster for the SDLP with a sizeable majority, despite a strong effort by Sinn Féin to take the seat. Durkan won 21,119 votes [13]
Affiliations
- He is a Fellow of the British American Project[14]
- Patron of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy [15]
- All-Party Parliamentary Group for Sudan and South Sudan - Chair [16]
Contacts
23 Bishop Street, Derry City, Co Derry, BT48 6PR
Tel:028 7136 0700 Fax:028 7136 0808
m.durkan@sdlp.ie
References
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assemby 2007 Mark Durkan
- ↑ Foyle Parliamentary constituency BBC News, accessed 21 May 2015
- ↑ BBC News, 1 February 2007, Northern Ireland Mark Durkan Martina Purdy
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assemby Mark Durkan
- ↑ SDLP 2007 Mark Durkan MP
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assemby 2003 Mark Durkan
- ↑ Hume leaves it too late, Maol Muire Tynan, Sunday Business Post, 23 September 2001.
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assemby 2003 Mark Durkan
- ↑ BBC News, 1 February 2007, Northern Ireland Mark Durkan Martina Purdy
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assemby 2003 Mark Durkan
- ↑ BBC News, 1 February 2007, Northern Ireland Mark Durkan Martina Purdy
- ↑ Northern Irish Assemby 2007Homepage
- ↑ BBC News; Election 2005; 6 May, 2005 SDLP's Durkan wins seat in Foyle
- ↑ BBC News; Programmes This Weeks Panel
- ↑ Westminster Foundation for Democracy 2007 Governors and Patrons
- ↑ Sudan APPG, www.parliament.uk, accessed 18 November 2015
