Michael O'Neill (7 October 1909 – 4 October 1976) was an
Irish politician in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
O'Neill was educated at Dromore National School and Bellisle Academy. He was a farmer and a chairman of the
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
. He served as a councillor on
Tyrone County Council and resigned as a member of
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 ...
rural council as a protest about the allocation of housing.
O'Neill was elected
Member of Parliament for the
Mid Ulster constituency in 1951 as an
Independent Nationalist
Independent Nationalist () is a political title frequently used by Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Great Britain and Ireland not as members of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in the lat ...
, serving 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 ...
.
He was later associated with the
Anti-Partition of Ireland League. He retired at the
1955 general election and the Mid Ulster seat was narrowly won by
Tom Mitchell of
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 ...
. At the
1956 Mid Ulster by-election
The by-election held in Mid Ulster on 8 May 1956 was called because both candidates in the 1955 Mid Ulster by-election were disqualified. Tom Mitchell was disqualified from assuming office because he was a convicted felon. Charles Beattie was ...
the League stood O'Neill in an attempt to unseat the
abstentionist
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 abst ...
Mitchell, but this split the nationalist vote and independent Unionist
George Forrest George Forrest may refer to:
*G. Topham Forrest (George Topham Forrest, 1872–1945), principal architect for the London County Council
*George Forrest (author) (1915–1999), American author and musician
*George Forrest (botanist) (1873–1932), S ...
was elected.
[Brendan Lynn, ''Holding the Ground: The Nationalist Party in Northern Ireland, 1945 - 72'' (1997), ]
References
External links
*
Politicians from Northern Ireland
Members of Tyrone County Council
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Mid Ulster
Politicians from County Tyrone
Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
UK MPs 1951–1955
1909 births
1976 deaths
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