The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist,loyalist,British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley,who led the party for the next 37 years. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson,who initially stepped in as an interim after the resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson. It is the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,and won five seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the 2024 election. The party has been described as centre-right to right-wing and socially conservative,being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
Robert Thomas William McCrea,Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician,Christian singer and retired Free Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland. As a politician,he represented South Antrim and Mid Ulster as their Member of Parliament (MP),representing Mid Ulster from 1983 to 1997;then South Antrim between 2000 and 2001,and then again from 2005 to 2015.
Mid Ulster is a parliamentary constituency in the UK House of Commons. The current MP is Cathal Mallaghan,of Sinn Féin,who was first elected at the 2024 election.
Thomas David Simpson is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland,who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann from 2005 to 2019.
Conor Terence Murphy is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician,who has served as Minister for the Economy of Northern Ireland since 2024. He has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Newry and Armagh since 2015,having previously served as the Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh from 2005 to 2015,observing the Sinn Fein policy of abstentionism.
Alex Maskey is an Irish former politician who served as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2020 to 2024 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003. He was Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor,representing the Laganbank electoral area of Belfast. He was also an MLA for Belfast West for two periods,and also for Belfast South. He reportedly retired "from frontline politics" in early 2024.
Coagh is a small village in County Tyrone,Northern Ireland,five miles (8 km) east of Cookstown. Part of the village also extends into County Londonderry. It had a population of 545 people in the 2001 Census. It owes its existence to George Butle Conyngham of Springhill,and was founded in 1728 when King George II of Great Britain granted Conyngham a market charter allowing the village to host four fairs yearly. It is situated within Mid-Ulster District.
Francis Joseph Molloy is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who was the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster from 2013 to 2024. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster from 1998 to 2013.
Carál NíChuilín,formerly known as Caroline Cullen,is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer serving as the Principal Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2024. She has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast North since 2007 and served in the Northern Ireland Executive as Minister of Culture,Arts and Leisure until 2016. On 15 June 2020,she was appointed Minister for Communities on a temporary basis,due to the health of the previous minister,Deirdre Hargey.
Michelle O'Neill is an Irish politician who is the First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024 and Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018. She has also been the MLA for Mid Ulster in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2007. O'Neill was previously deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2022. O'Neill served on the Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council from 2005 to 2011.
Francis Brolly was an Irish musician,teacher and republican politician from Northern Ireland. Brolly was a Sinn Féin Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Londonderry from 2003 to 2010.
John Kelly was an Irish republican politician in Northern Ireland. He joined the Irish Republican Army in the 1950s,and was a founder member and a leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the early 1970s.
The Executive of the 1st Northern Ireland Assembly was,under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998,a power-sharing coalition.
Marian Donnelly is a former president of the Workers' Party and was a member of the former District Policing Partnership for the Magherafelt district of Northern Ireland.
Billy Leonard is an Irish republican retired politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Londonderry from 2010 to 2011. A former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) officeholder,he then joined Sinn Féin,but is now an Independent Republican.
A by-election for the UK House of Commons constituency of Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland was held on 7 March 2013. The election was triggered by the resignation of Martin McGuinness,who had been elected to the seat in 1997 as the Sinn Féin candidate. The election was won by Francie Molloy,also of Sinn Féin.
Eóin Tennyson is a Northern Irish Alliance Party politician who has served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann since the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
The 2024 general election in Northern Ireland was held on 4 July 2024,with all 18 Northern Irish seats in the House of Commons contested. The general election occurred after the recently completed constituency boundaries review.
Cathal Sean Mallaghan is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster since 2024. He succeeded Francie Molloy,who stood down as an MP at the 2024 general election. Mallaghan was a councillor from 2011 to 2024 and served as the chairman of Mid Ulster District Council.
