John Fitzgerald Fee (7 December 1963 – 10 November 2007) was an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

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 ...

who served as a

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)

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 1998 to 2003.

Career

Born in Newry, County Down, Fee was educated at St Patrick's Primary School in Crossmaglen, South Armagh, and

St Colman's College, Newry St Colman's College is a Roman Catholic English-medium education, English-medium grammar school for boys, situated in Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The college was founded in 1823 as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore, Dromore Dio ...

before attending

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. He worked as the Editor of the ''Creggan Historical Journal'' from 1986 before in 1988 becoming the Parliamentary Research Assistant to

Seamus Mallon Seamus Frederick Mallon ( ; 17 August 1936 – 24 January 2020) was an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to ...

, the

(SDLP) Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh. Fee was elected to

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 ...

for the SDLP in 1989, and in 1998 was chosen as one of Northern Ireland's representatives on the European

Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

. He served on the Rural Development Council for Northern Ireland from 1990 to 1994. Fee was physically assaulted, apparently by

republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in 1994, shortly after he made criticisms of the IRA over a mortar attack carried out in his home village of

Crossmaglen Crossmaglen (, ) is a village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,610 in the 2011 Census and is the largest village in South Armagh. The village centre is the site of a large Police Service of Northern Ir ...

. In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate in 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 List o ...

election in Newry and Armagh. At the

1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 25 June 1998. This was the first election to the new devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Six members from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen House of Commons of the United Kin ...

, he was elected for Newry and Armagh. He sat on the Assembly Commission, which was in charge of the Assembly's organisation and financial management; as such he introduced the Financial Assistance for Political Parties Bill,Official Report, Northern Ireland Assembly, 6 December 1999
. which became the first Bill to pass into law through the Assembly. He lost his Assembly seat at the 2003 election. He did not contest his council seat in 2005.

Death

Fee died on 10 November 2007 as a result of a

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

.Former SDLP assembly member dies
bbc.co.uk; accessed 9 December 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fee, John 1963 births 2007 deaths People from Newry Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs Deaths from brain cancer in Northern Ireland