Elisha McCallion (; born 21 October 1982) is an Irish former

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 ...

politician who served as a

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for the

Industrial and Commercial Panel Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominat ...

from April 2020 until October 2020. She previously served as Mayor of Derry from 2015 to 2016, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle from 2017 to 2019, and as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for Foyle from March to June 2017.

Early life

McLaughlin was born on 21 October 1982 in Galliagh,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

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, and grew up there in a republican family; her aunt is

Martina Anderson Martina Anderson (born 16 April 1962) is an Irish former politician from Northern Ireland who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2020 to 2021, and previously from 2007 to 2012. A member of Sinn Féin, she served ...

. Her father is a painter and decorator, and her mother is a former bar manager. She has a brother and a sister. McLaughlin attended Galliagh Nursery School, Lenamore Primary School (now St. Therese's Primary School), and Thornhill College in Derry. She joined

's youth wing

Ógra Shinn Féin Ógra Shinn Féin (colloquially known as Republican Youth, , and formerly, officially known as Sinn Féin Republican Youth, , from 2012 to March 2018) is the youth wing of the Irish political party Sinn Féin. Ógra Shinn Féin is active and ...

at the age of 15 and stated that the

Drumcree conflict The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is a dispute over yearly Parades in Northern Ireland, parades in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The town is mainly Ulster Protestants, Protestant and hosts numerous Protestant marches each s ...

prompted her interest in politics. She went on to study Irish History and Politics at the further education institution North West Regional College, and complete a bachelor's degree in

Community Development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activist ...

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

. Her first job as at the Galliagh Independent Advice Service from which she went on to work for the Galliagh Development Trust and the Galliagh Women's Group.

Political career

McLaughlin was elected as a Sinn Féin councillor for Shantallow on

Derry City Council Derry City Council (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the Local government in Northern Ireland, local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in ...

in 2005 aged just 23. She was re-elected in 2011 and in 2015 she became the first Mayor of Derry & Strabane. McCallion supported the

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remaining within the

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(EU) in the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

. In March 2017, she was elected as a

(MLA) for Foyle winning the seat previously held by former deputy First Minister

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minist ...

. She resigned as an MLA in June to stand as an MP in the 2017 general election. She became the MP for Foyle following the 2017 general election with a majority of 169 votes. The seat had been represented by former leader of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

(SDLP)

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Pa ...

since 2005, and had been represented by the founder of the SDLP

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...

prior to this from its formation in 1983. McCallion was the first female MP to represent the constituency. She did not sit in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

per Sinn Féin's longstanding policy of

abstentionism Abstentionism is the political practice of standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abs ...

. She was defeated by

Colum Eastwood Colum Eastwood (born 30 April 1983) is an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician who served as Social Democratic and Labour Party, Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2015 to 2024. He has served as the Member o ...

, of the SDLP, in the 2019 general election by a majority of 17,110 (36.3%). In April 2020, McCallion was elected to the 26th Seanad in the Republic of Ireland, topping the poll on the

with 95,000 votes on the first count. In October 2020, it was revealed that three Sinn Féin bank accounts which had erroneously received UK government COVID-19 small business grants had failed to return them promptly. One of the three was for McCallion's former Westminster office, and on 28 October she resigned from the Seanad after accepting she should have acted sooner as she was responsible for the account.

Personal life

McLaughlin married Declan McCallion, a welder, in 2009. She chose to take his surname in 2011. They have three sons together.

References

External links

Sinn Féin page
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:McCallion, Elisha 1982 births Living people 21st-century women politicians from Northern Ireland Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Northern Irish constituencies Mayors of Derry Members of the 26th Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (since 1922) Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Sinn Féin councillors in Northern Ireland Sinn Féin MLAs Sinn Féin MPs (post-1921) Sinn Féin senators UK MPs 2017–2019 Women mayors of places in Northern Ireland People educated at Thornhill College Industrial and Commercial Panel senators