Seamus Donovan McClelland (14 January 1949, Toome, County Antrim,

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 ...

– 23 February 2018) was an Irish

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP) politician who was 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 South Antrim from 1998 to 2003. He was appointed Deputy Speaker in February 2000. He was Chairman of the Standards and Privileges Committee and a member of the Public Accounts Committee. 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. Admissi ...

, he went on to

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics. In 1973 Donovan joined the staff of

and began his career as a Researcher/Lecturer. He joined the Department of Agriculture in 1975 and, in 1978, took up a post as lecturer in Economics at the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

. Donovan entered politics in 1989 when he was elected to Antrim Borough Council. He was elected as Deputy Mayor of the Borough in 1999. He was an SDLP delegate to the Brooke/Mayhew talks in 1992 and a delegate 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 ...

, established by the Irish Government at

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the se ...

in 1994. Donovan was elected to the new Northern Ireland Forum in 1996 and was a member of the SDLP delegation to the Multi-party Talks chaired by Senator George Mitchell. He stood as a parliamentary candidate for the South Antrim constituency in the Westminster elections on three occasions.

Personal life

McClelland was married to Noreen, a local councillor and

2005 UK General Election The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader afte ...

candidate for the SDLP. The couple raised three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClelland, Donovan 1949 births 2018 deaths Academics of Queen's University Belfast Academics of Ulster University Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of Antrim Borough Council Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 People educated at Ballymena Academy Politicians from County Antrim Protestant Irish nationalists Social Democratic and Labour Party councillors Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs