Ken Robinson (2 June 1942 – 4 October 2022) was an

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

(UUP) politician who was a

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 East Antrim from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Robinson was born on 2 June 1942. He was educated at Ballyclare High School,

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 ...

and Stranmillis College. Before entering politics, he was Head of Cavehill Primary School.

Political career

Robinson was a former Newtownabbey Borough Councillor (1985–1993 and 1995–1997). He has served as both Mayor (1991–1992) and Deputy-Mayor, and was Vice Chair of the Economic Development Committee (1995–1998). He was first elected an MLA in

, and re-elected in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. He was a member of the Committee of the Centre and the Education Committee in the 1998–2003 Assembly. Robinson was a member of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Committee on Procedures until his retirement from Stormont in March 2011. This followed on from his announcement in September 2010 that he was not seeking re-selection from the Ulster Unionist East Antrim Constituency Association. On 20 September 2010, he announced his retirement from the Assembly, telling his constituency association in East Antrim that he would not be putting his name forward for next years assembly elections.

Death

Robinson died in Jordanstown on 4 October 2022, at the age of 80.

References

External links

UUP website

Stratagem profile

Ken Robinson website
1942 births 2022 deaths Politicians from County Antrim Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Members of Newtownabbey Borough Council Place of birth missing People educated at Ballyclare High School Alumni of Stranmillis University College Mayors of Newtownabbey {{Northern-Ireland-MLA-stub