John Thomas Alderdice, Baron Alderdice (born 28 March 1955) is a

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

politician. He was the Speaker and a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...

(MLA) for East Belfast from 1998 to 2004 and 1998 to 2003, respectively. Alderdice was the leader of the

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. As of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it is the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembl ...

from 1987 to 1998, and since 1996 has sat in the

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as a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

Personal life

Alderdice was born to David Alderdice and Annie Margaret Helena Shields. He was educated at

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland. Admiss ...

and the Queen's University Belfast (QUB) where he studied medicine and qualified in 1978. In 1977 he married Joan Hill, with whom he has two sons and one daughter. He worked part-time as a consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy in the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

from 1988 until he retired from psychiatric practice in 2010. He also lectured at Queen's University's Faculty of Medicine between 1991 and 1999. Alderdice claims a distant relationship to John King, a 19th-century Australian explorer and the sole survivor of the

Burke and Wills expedition The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria in Australia in 1860–61. It consisted of 19 men led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, with the objective of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the ...

. He is the older brother of

David Alderdice David King Alderdice OBE MA (Oxon) FRCPI is a former Lord Mayor of Belfast and senior member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Early life and personal Born into a Presbyterian manse, Alderdice was educated at Ballymena Academy. Hi ...

Political career in Northern Ireland

The Alliance Party was formed in 1970 as an alternative to sectarian politics. Alderdice was on the executive committee of the party between 1984 and 1998, chair of the policy committee between 1985 and 1987 and the party vice-chair in 1987, before becoming the party leader ahead of the 1987 general election. He contested Belfast East for the party in 1987 and 1992. He received 32.1% of the vote in 1987, the highest percentage achieved by Alliance in an individual seat in a

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election until

Naomi Long Naomi Rachel Long MLA (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician who served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive from January 2020 to October 2022. She has served as leader of the Alliance Party ...

's historic victory for the party in Belfast East in the 2010 general election. In 1988, in Alliance's keynote post- Anglo Irish Agreement document, "Governing with Consent", Alderdice called for a devolved power-sharing government based on a voluntary coalition elected by a qualified majority vote. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Alliance's vote across Northern Ireland stabilised at between 6% and 8%. Alderdice once again contested Belfast East in the 1992 general election. He led the Alliance delegation to the

Forum for Peace and Reconciliation The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation ( ga, an Fóram um Shíocháin agus Athmhuintearas) was a forum established by the government of Ireland in October 1994 as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. Initiation The Forum was envisaged in ...

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and the Northern Ireland multiparty talks, and was a member of the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...

. Alderdice was willing to talk with

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, after the

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called a ceasefire in 1994, when many in the unionist community regarded such discussions as unacceptable. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East in 1998 and became the assembly's first speaker, serving until 2004.

Mo Mowlam Dr Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mini ...

said that Alderdice's "political and parliamentary experience mean that he is well suited to carry out this role". Alderdice was a member of

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

from 1989 until 1997 representing the

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constituency. He resigned as party leader in 1998 to take the position of Speaker. He was a member of the

Independent Monitoring Commission The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) was an organisation founded on 7 January 2004, by an agreement between the British and Irish governments, signed in Dublin on 25 November 2003. The IMC concluded its operations on 31 March 2011. Remit ...

from 2004 to 2011.

Elevation to peerage

Alderdice was created a life peer on 8 October 1996 as Baron Alderdice, of Knock in the

City of Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, and was one of the youngest ever life peers. He sits in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat. On 10 June 2010, he was elected to the new position of convenor of the Liberal Democrat peers, a role in which he chairs the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party in the House of Lords. He was elected president of

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

in 2005 and served until Liberal International's Cairo congress in 2009. He was succeeded by Dutch politician Hans van Baalen.

Awards and honours

Alderdice has been awarded several honours: the John F Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award in 1998; the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award in 1998; the Silver Medal of Congress of Peru in 1999 and 2004; the Medal of Honour, College of Medicine of Peru in 1999; and the Freedom of the City of Baltimore in 1991. He was an elder in the

Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ga, Eaglais Phreispitéireach in Éirinn; Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in ...

, but resigned in June 2018 due to the church's opposition to same-sex relationships. In 2001, he was made an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has also been awarded an honorary doctorate in law from Robert Gordon University.

Arms

References

External links

Lord Alderdice
profile at the site of Liberal Democrats * *

at the CAIN Web Service
Psychiatrist Helps Heal Centuries-Old Wounds
Psychiatric News 19 March 2004, Volume 39, Number 6, Page 20 American Psychiatric Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Alderdice, John 1955 births Living people Presbyterians from Northern Ireland British psychiatrists Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Leaders of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Academics of Queen's University Belfast Members of Belfast City Council Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Presidents of the Liberal International People educated at Ballymena Academy Speakers of the Northern Ireland Assembly Alliance Party of Northern Ireland peers Alliance Party of Northern Ireland councillors Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life