Davy Hyland (born 25 February 1955,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

) is an Irish republican former politician who was a

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Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ; ) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members – five from each of 18 constituencies, the boundaries o ...

(MLA) for Newry and Armagh from 2003 to 2007.

Background

He was educated at the

University of Wales Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

and

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He is a Teacher He now lives in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

where he is a former chair of

Newry and Mourne District Council Newry and Mourne District Council () was a local council in Northern Ireland. It merged with Down District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. It inclu ...

and a former Assembly member for Newry and Armagh. In the mid-1980s, Hyland appeared in court accused of killing former

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 ...

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

Albert White but the case collapsed after

supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...

Eamon Collins Eamon Collins (1954 – 27 January 1999) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army member in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He turned his back on the organisation in the late 1980s, and later co-authored a book called ''Killing Rage'' detailing ...

withdrew statements made to police He was deselected by

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

before running for the 2007 Assembly election, having received only three votes out of 63 cast by the party membership present at the selection convention. His deselection came amid internal disquiet about moves to discuss the acceptance of the new policing arrangements in Northern Ireland following the establishment of the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

(PSNI) as a result of the Patten Commission which was established as part of the ongoing

peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...

. Hyland stated that: "There are people out there who see this all being choreographed by the Sinn Féin leadership and that it is only a matter of time before the Sinn Féin ard fheis is called and a decision made to back policing arrangements".nuzhound.com
. On 2 February 2007, he announced formally through the ''

Irish News Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

'' newspaper that he would run in the 2007 Assembly election in Newry and Armagh as an independent republican opposed to Sinn Féin's acceptance of the PSNI. He was backed by other prominent former Sinn Féin figures such as former Assembly members Pat MacNamee and Jim McAllister. Hyland failed to be elected, gaining 2,188 votes (4.4%). In 2022, while campaigning for the Northern Ireland Assembly elections on behalf of independent Newry City Councillor, Gavin Malone, Hyland was observed on a constituent’s Ring video door bell removing other candidates’ election literature and placing it in the constituent’s wheelie bin. As a result, Malone announced on social media platforms that the member of his team in question was removed from his campaign group with immediate effect.

Council Elections

On the 9 May 2011, Davy was elected to the Newry and Mourne District Council as an independent. He was also elected in May 2014 as an Independent Republican in the

2014 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council election The first election to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, part of the 2014 Northern Ireland local elections, Northern Ireland local elections on 22 May 2014, returned 41 members to the Reform of local government in Northern Ireland, newly ...

. In 2016 he was instrumental in setting up Anam 1916/2016, a group tasked with commemorating the Easter Rising of 1916 in the local area.

External links

NI Assembly page

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20140415120109/http://www.newrydemocrat.com/articles/news/38819/hyland-hits-out-at-psnis-political-policing-arrest/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyland, Davy 1955 births Living people Politicians from Belfast People from Newry Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of the University of Manchester Members of Newry and Mourne District Council Sinn Féin MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Independent politicians in Northern Ireland