Máirtín Ó Muilleoir

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Belfast South
Assumed office
22 October 2014
Preceded by Alex Maskey
Minister for Finance
In office
12 May 2016 – present
Preceded by Mervyn Storey
58th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office
2 June 2013 – 2 June 2014
Preceded by Gavin Robinson
Succeeded by Nichola Mallon
Councillor on Belfast City Council
In office
2011–2014
Constituency Balmoral
Personal details
Born Martin Millar
1959
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality Irish
Political party Sinn Féin
Spouse(s) Helen O'Hare
Children 4
Alma mater Queen's University Belfast
Profession Publisher
Religion Roman Catholic

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir (born Martin Millar; 1959[1]) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, author, publisher and businessman, who served as the 58th Lord Mayor of Belfast (2013-14).[2] One sibling is writer, blogger and Huffington Post columnist Adrian Millar.[3] and another is journalist and editor Gerry Millar/Gearóid Ó Muilleoir of The Belfast Telegraph.

A graduate of St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School and Queen's University Belfast,[4] Ó Muilleoir entered politics in 1985, when he stood as a Sinn Féin candidate for the Upper Falls area and narrowly missed out on being elected.[5]

When Pip Glendinning of the Alliance Party resigned her seat two years later due to the birth of the Glendinning's baby daughter, Ó Muilleoir won the resulting by-election in October 1987. During his time on the council, he started a number of legal actions over what he claimed was discrimination by the Unionist-dominated council,[4] detailing these experiences in his book, The Dome of Delight.[2] He was re-elected at the 1989 and 1993 local elections, retiring at the 1997 local elections to concentrate on his business interests.[2]

In 1997, he became part-owner of the Andersonstown News, which subsequently purchased the New York-based Irish Echo.[4] A fluent Irish speaker,[2] he has interests in other Irish and American businesses.[4] He served as a temporary director of Northern Ireland Water.[6]

He re-entered politics in 2011, when he was elected as a Belfast City Councillor for Balmoral, South Belfast, gaining the seat previously held by Jim Kirkpatrick of the Democratic Unionist Party, and was elected Lord Mayor in 2013, serving a one-year term.[7]

In 2014, he was co-opted as an MLA into the Northern Ireland Assembly.[8] He stood in Belfast South in the 2015 United Kingdom general election, losing to the Social Democratic and Labour Party incumbent, Alasdair McDonnell.[9]On 12 May 2016, O'Muilleoir was appointed Minister of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive.

References

  1. ↑ Profile, niassembly.gov.uk; accessed 10 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Máirtín Ó Muilleoir is Belfast's new Lord Mayor". The News Letter. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  3. ↑ Adrian Millar/Máirtín Ó Muilleoir relation, thewildgeese.irish; accessed 5 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Máirtín Ó Muilleoir - a republican for change". The Belfast Telegraph. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Belfast city council election results 1985-1989, ARK, accessed 21 June 2013
  6. ↑ "Mairtin O'Muilleoir to represent SF in south Belfast". BBC.co.uk. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Balmoral election results, 1993-2011, ARK.ac.uk; accessed 21 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Profile, belfasttelegraph.co.uk; accessed 17 May 2015.
  9. ↑ Belfast South result, BBC News, accessed 6 July 2016
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