Ian Milne (born 8 April 1954) is an

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Background

Born in

Bellaghy Bellaghy () is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies north west of Lough Neagh and about 5 miles north east of Magherafelt. In the centre of the village (known locally as The Diamond) three main roads lead to Magherafelt, ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

on 8 April 1954, he attended the same school as also future-

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

members Thomas McElwee, and

Francis Hughes Francis Joseph Sean Hughes (28 February 1956 – 12 May 1981) was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) from Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Hughes was the most wanted man in Northern Ireland until his a ...

. Milne joined the

Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a " workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerg ...

-aligned faction of the

Fianna Éireann Na Fianna Éireann (The Fianna of Ireland), known as the Fianna ("Soldiers of Ireland"), is an Irish nationalist youth organisation founded by Constance Markievicz in 1909, with later help from Bulmer Hobson. Fianna members were involved in se ...

militant youth organisation soon after its formation at the age of 16, but the following year moved to join the

. He was imprisoned in Crumlin Road Jail in 1971, after explosives went off in a car in which he was travelling. After serving 18 months, he escaped in January 1973 and continued his involvement in the Provisional IRA. The following year, he was arrested in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

after stealing a Garda car, and in June 1974 he was sentenced to five years of

penal servitude Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

Portlaoise Prison Portlaoise Prison () is a maximum security prison in Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland. Until 1929 it was called the Maryborough Gaol. It should not be confused with the Midlands Prison, which is a newer, medium security prison directly beside ...

. However, several months later he was part of a successful prison break, and resumed his activities in Northern Ireland.Ella O'Dwyer,
Interview: Ian Milne - freedom fighter, public representative
, ''

An Phoblacht ''An Phoblacht'' (Irish pronunciation: ; ) is a Sinn Féin-affiliated online Irish republicanism, Irish republican news platform which also publishes a quarterly print magazine format. Editorially the paper takes a Left-wing politics, left-wing ...

'', 24 August 2006 During the mid-1970s, 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 ...

described Milne as one of its three "most wanted" men in the South Londonderry area, alongside Francis Hughes and

Dominic McGlinchey Dominic McGlinchey (1954 – 10 February 1994) was an Irish people, Irish Irish republicanism, republican paramilitary leader who moved from the Provisional IRA to become head of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) paramilitary group in th ...

. In 1977, he was arrested and received a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

for the killing of

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

(UDR) soldier, James Speer, in Desertmartin on 9 November 1976. Serving time at Long Kesh, he participated in the blanket protest. He was released in 1992, having served 14. At the

2005 Northern Ireland local elections Elections for Local government in Northern Ireland, local government were held in Northern Ireland on 5 May 2005, contesting 582 seats in all, along with the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 general election across the entire United Kin ...

, Milne was elected to

Magherafelt District Council Magherafelt District Council was a district council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It was merged with Cookstown District Council and Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council on 1 April 2015 under local government reorganisation i ...

for

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 ...

, and he held his seat in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. While on the council, he served two terms as chairman. In 2013, he was co-opted to the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

in Mid Ulster, replacing

Francie Molloy Francis Joseph Molloy (; born 16 December 1950) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who was the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster from 2013 to 2024. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster fr ...

. He kept this seat when he was elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. In September 2017 Milne was served a civil writ by the family of James Speer for his alleged involvement in the murder. In December 2018, he resigned as MLA to seek re-election to Mid Ulster District Council. He was elected to Mid Ulster District Council in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, and re-elected in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Ian 1954 births Members of Magherafelt District Council Members of Mid Ulster District Council Irish republicans Living people Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 People convicted of murder by Northern Ireland People from County Londonderry Politicians convicted of murder Provisional Irish Republican Army members Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict Sinn Féin MLAs Sinn Féin councillors in Northern Ireland