Patricia Lewsley | |
---|---|
Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People | |
In office 2007–2014 | |
Preceded by | Nigel Williams |
Succeeded by | Koulla Yiasouma |
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley | |
In office 25 June 1998 –19 December 2006 | |
Preceded by | New Creation |
Succeeded by | Marietta Farrell |
Personal details | |
Born | Belfast,County Down,Northern Ireland | 3 March 1957
Political party | Social Democratic and Labour Party |
Website | http://www.niccy.org |
Patricia Lewsley-Mooney CBE (born 3 March 1957) is an Irish former politician who was the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People from 2007 to 2014. She was previously a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 1998 to 2006.
Born in Belfast,Lewsley attended the University of Ulster before working as a cook and an advice worker. She is married with five children and six grandchildren.
She stood unsuccessfully for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) at the 1997 local elections in Belfast.
In 1998,she was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly representing the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Lagan Valley,a seat she held in 2003. During her time as an MLA she chaired All-Party Assembly Groups on Children and Young People,Disability,Diabetes,Anti-Poverty,and Ethnic minorities. On the day the Assembly was suspended in 2002,she had been due to introduce a Private Members Bill to strengthen child protection arrangements in Northern Ireland,by placing Area Child Protection Committees on a statutory footing.
In 2001,she was elected to Lisburn City Council. She was a co-founder of Shopmobility in Belfast and initiated the appointment of the only Disability/Equal Opportunity Officer in local government.
On 19 December 2006,Lewsley resigned from the Assembly in order to take up a post as Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, [1] and took up that post on 8 January 2007. She served two four-year terms as Commissioner and her final term came to an end in January 2015. [2]
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to children's rights in Northern Ireland. [3] [4]
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has seven members in the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council.
Alban Maginness is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2016.
Carmel Hanna MLA is an Irish politician. She is a member of the SDLP and was MLA for South Belfast from 1998 to 2010.
Fearghal McKinney is an Irish politician and former journalist. A member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP),he sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast from 2013 until his defeat at the 2016 Assembly election. He was deputy leader of the SDLP from 2015 to 2016.
The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday,7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties,the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin,along with the Alliance Party,increase their support,with falls in support for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
Margaret Mary Ritchie,Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick,is an Irish politician who was the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2010 to 2011. She was previously a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 2003 to 2012,and was the Minister for Social Development in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2007 to 2010. Ritchie was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Down from 2010 to 2017. She became a life peer in 2019 initially as a non-affiliated member,and then from October 2021 as a Labour member.
Marietta Farrell is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley between January and March 2007.
Sean Nial Farren is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician and academic who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 1998 to 2007.
Paul Butler is a republican politician in Northern Ireland and a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He served as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley from 2007 to 2011.
The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday,5 May,following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.
The 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday,5 May 2016. It was the fifth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 1,281,595 individuals were registered to vote in the election. Turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 703,744 (54.9%),a decline of less than one percentage point from the previous Assembly Election in 2011,but down 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly held in 1998.
The fourth Northern Ireland Assembly was the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland following the 2011 assembly election on 5 May 2011. This iteration of the elected Assembly convened for the first time on 12 May 2011 in Parliament Buildings in Stormont,and ran for a full term.
The 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 5 May 2005 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,139,993 people were eligible to vote,down 51,016 from the 2001 general election. 63.49% of eligible voters turned out,down 5.1 percentage points from the last general election.
Claire Aisling Hanna is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician from Northern Ireland. In December 2019,she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South in the House of Commons. Previously,she had been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 2015 until her election to parliament in 2019.
Emma Little-Pengelly is a Northern Irish barrister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician serving as the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024. She has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley since May 2022,when she was co-opted (appointed) to replace DUP party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson,who declined to take up his seat following the 2022 election.
Jennifer 'Jenny' Palmer is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who served as a Lisburn and Castlereagh Councillor for the Lisburn South DEA from 2019 to 2023.
Pat Catney is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician and former publican,serving as a Lisburn and Castlereagh City Councillor for the Lisburn North DEA since 2023. Catney previously served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 2017 to 2022.
The next United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland is scheduled to be held no later than 28 January 2025,with all 18 Northern Irish seats in the House of Commons to be contested. The general election will occur after the recently completed constituency boundaries review.
]