Breandán Mac Cionnaith is an Irish politician and a prominent residents' group leader. He is a member of

Éirígí Éirígí (), officially Éirígí For A New Republic, is a socialist republican political party in Ireland. The party name, , means "Arise" or "Rise Up" in Irish, and is a reference to the slogan "The great only appear great because we are on ...

, a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

party. He used to be an adviser to

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

members of the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

. He came to prominence in the 1990s as the spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition (also known as the Garvaghy Road Residents' Association). In the early 1980s, Mac Cionnaith was jailed for six years for his involvement in the IRA bombing of Portadown's town centre.

Garvaghy stand-off

From 1997, Mac Cionnaith was the spokesman for the Garvaghy Road residents in the

Drumcree conflict The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is a dispute over yearly parades in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The town is mainly Protestant and hosts numerous Protestant/loyalist marches each summer, but has a significant Catholic mi ...

, which centres on the desire of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...

a traditional route through an area that had become predominantly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. In 1997 he was elected to

Craigavon Borough Council Craigavon Borough Council was a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. It merged with Armagh City and District Council and Banbridge District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Norther ...

for the Portadown area and sat on the council until 2001 Prior to 2002, Mac Cionnaith had received death threats and a live bullet had been sent to him.

Other activity

On 10 April 2007, Mac Cionnaith resigned from

, soon after the party decided to support the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ') is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...

(PSNI) and after an unsuccessful attempt to secure the party's nomination for the

elections. Mac Cionnaith continues to serve as spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition and, in February 2010, he helped formulate a joint submission to the Northern Ireland Assembly's Working Party on Parading Issues. Mac Cionnaith has been critical of the

Orange Institution The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It als ...

and of the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

(since replaced by the PSNI). Mac Cionnaith is also a prominent campaigner for an inquiry into the murder of solicitor

Rosemary Nelson Rosemary Nelson (''née'' Magee; 4 September 1958 – 15 March 1999) was an Irish solicitor who was killed with a bomb planted in her car by an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in 1999. A bomb exploded under Nelson's car at her home in Lurgan ...

. Mac Cionnaith joined the socialist republican political party

, and was elected General Secretary of the organisation in May 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Cionnaith, Brendan 1950s births Members of Craigavon Borough Council Irish republicans Irish socialists Living people Activists from Northern Ireland People from County Armagh People from Portadown Sinn Féin politicians Irish republicans imprisoned on charges of terrorism Provisional Irish Republican Army members