|
Robert Simpson (Northern Ireland Politician)
Robert Simpson (3 July 1923 – 8 April 1997) was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland. Early life and education Born in Ballymena and often known as Bob Simpson, Simpson studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast before setting up his own practice. Political career He joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in 1952, and was selected as the party's candidate for Mid Antrim. He won the seat, unopposed, at the 1953 Northern Ireland general election, and held it at each election thereafter, not facing a single opponent until 1969. Roy Bradford,Obituary: Dr Robert Simpson, ''The Independent'', 29 April 1997 A strong support of Terence O'Neill's reforms, Simpson was appointed briefly as Additional Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister, and then as the first Minister for Community Relations in late 1969. He resigned from the freemasons and from the Orange Order in an attempt to appear impartial. In the role, he organised a series of dinner partie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unionist (Ireland)
Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution. As the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, following Catholic Emancipation (1829) unionism mobilised to keep Ireland part of the United Kingdom and to defeat the efforts of Irish nationalists to restore a separate Irish parliament. Since Partition (1921), as Ulster Unionism its goal has been to maintain Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and to resist a transfer of sovereignty to an all-Ireland republic. Within the framework of a 1998 peace settlement, unionists in Northern Ireland have had to accommodate Irish nationalists in a devolved government, while continuing to rely on the link with Britain to secure their cultural and economic interests. Unionism became an overarching partisan affiliation in Ireland in response to Liberal-minority government concessions to Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
