Marian Donnelly (; born 10 August 1938) is a former president of the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

and was a member of the former District Policing Partnership for the

Magherafelt Magherafelt ( ; , ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,071 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county an ...

district of

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 ...

Life and career

Marian Donnelly was born in

Castledawson Castledawson is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is mostly within the townland of Shanemullagh (, IPA: �anˠˈʃanˠˌwʊl̪ˠəx, about four miles from the north-western shore of Lough Neagh, and near the market town of Mag ...

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 ...

to Frank Devlin and Margaret Devlin () on 10 August 1938. She attended St Mary's Convent in Magherafelt. Donnelly first became involved in political activity in 1955 when she campaigned for the

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 ...

candidate Tom Mitchell in the Mid Ulster constituency for that years Westminster election, and in the re-run of that election after Mitchell was barred from being a candidate because he was imprisoned in

Crumlin Road Gaol HM Prison Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1996 it is the only remaining Victorian era former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known ...

for a failed IRA raid in

Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

at the time. Donnelly was a founding member and the first Secretary of the South Derry Civil Rights Association, a branch of the

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA; ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights for Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967, Her husband, Francie Donnelly, was its first Chairman and was also a prominent member of the Workers' Party. As a prominent member of the NICRA, she was present at Bloody Sunday in January 1972 when soldiers opened fire at civil rights demonstrators, with 14 ultimately being killed. She studied at St Mary's College of Education in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and became a teacher, later becoming a part-time teacher.

Political career

She became active in Sinn Féin in the 1960s, and when the organisation split in 1970 she remained with Official Sinn Féin which subsequently became the Workers' Party. She has contested several elections on behalf of the party. In March 1992, Donnelly was elected as President of the Workers' Party following the breakaway of a parliamentary grouping from the party. She retired from the position in 1996, but remains an active member of the Workers' Party. She was a candidate for the Workers' Party in the

1992 Irish general election The 1992 Irish general election to the 27th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 25 November, almost three weeks after the Dissolution of Parliament, dissolution of the 26th Dáil on 5 November by President of Ireland, President Mary Robinson, on the r ...

, contesting the Dublin North-East constituency. She received 239 votes (0.60%), and was eliminated on the third count. That years election demonstrated the level of support Democratic Left had taken in its split from the party nationwide, with

Pat McCartan Patrick John McCartan (born 5 May 1953) is an Irish lawyer who was a Circuit Court judge and a former politician. A native of Wexford, he was educated at University College Dublin. He first practiced as a solicitor working in criminal defenc ...

outperforming Donnelly by over 3,000 votes. She and James McLaughlin were both selected as Workers' Party candidates to run in the East Londonderry constituency for the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum election. Both received 75 votes (0.2%) in total. In 1997, she was the Workers' Party candidate for that years Westminster election, receiving 238 votes (0.47%). She was also chosen as a candidate for the

constituency on

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 ...

in the 1997 local elections. She received 37 votes (0.5%), failing to secure a seat on the council. In December 2018, she delivered the

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...

at the funeral of former leader of the Workers' Party, and veteran

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 ...

member, Seán Garland.

Personal life

She married Francie Donnelly in 1973. He died on 26 May 2023. She has been a member of the

Glen GAC Watty Graham's Gaelic Athletic Club, Glen (), is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club based outside Maghera in the south of County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Players are drawn from Maghera and some surrounding townlands. The club comp ...

Club in her native Derry and is actively involved in the

Bracaghreilly Bracaghreilly is a townland lying within the civil parish of Maghera Maghera ( ; ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,235 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Formerly in ...

and District Community Association. She and her husband have three adult children.

References

1938 births Politicians from County Londonderry Living people Workers' Party (Ireland) politicians Women from Northern Ireland in politics 20th-century politicians from Northern Ireland People from Castledawson {{NorthernIreland-politician-stub