Michelle Angela Gildernew (born 28 March 1970) is an Irish former

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 ...

politician from

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 ...

, Northern Ireland. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2017 to 2024, after previously holding the seat from 2001 to 2015. Gildernew is a former Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish language, Irish: ''Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Executive'') is the devolution, devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branc ...

. She was the MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2001 to 2015, and was a Member of 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 ...

(MLA) for the Assembly constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone from June 1998 to July 2012. She was re-elected to the Assembly in 2016 and 2017. In 2017 she reclaimed her Westminster seat from

Tom Elliott Thomas or Tom Elliott may refer to: * Thomas Elliott (footballer) (1890–?), English footballer * Thomas Elliott (Australian cricketer) (1879–1939), Australian cricketer * Thomas Elliott (New Zealand cricketer) (1867–?), New Zealand cricketer ...

of the

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 ...

. In 2019, she was re-elected with the smallest majority of any constituency in the UK, a margin of just 57 votes. Gildernew was appointed as Sinn Féin's health spokesperson, and was a member of the party's '' Ard Chomhairle'' (National Executive). In the 2007–2011 Assembly, she served as Vice Chair of the Committee of Social Development and was a member of the Committee of the centre, as well as other statutory and ad-hoc committees.

Education and background

Born in

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

, Gildernew attended St Catherine's College Armagh and later the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

. After graduating from university, she travelled extensively in Europe, the United States and Australia, where she worked for a year. Gildernew is one of ten siblings from 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 ...

family based at the "Gildernew farm complex" (as described on

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

maps) in

. During the 1960s, the family were leading figures in 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,Caledon, County Tyrone over housing discrimination.

Political career

On returning to Northern Ireland in 1996, Gildernew was the second-placed but unsuccessful candidate for

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 ...

elections for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The following year, she was appointed Sinn Féin representative to London and was part of the first Sinn Féin delegation to visit

Downing Street Downing Street is a gated street in City of Westminster, Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In a cul-de-sac situated off Whiteh ...

. In the 1998 Assembly elections, she was elected MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, retaining the seat in the

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 elections. Gildernew has campaigned on women's and mothers' rights.

Election to Westminster

In the 2001 UK general election, Gildernew was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, defeating the Ulster Unionist candidate James Cooper by 53 votes. She was the first female candidate elected from her party to the House of Commons in over 80 years since

Constance Markievicz Constance Georgine Markievicz ( ; ' Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, and socialist who was the first woman ...

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

. Like all Sinn Féin MPs, she followed a policy of

abstentionism 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 abs ...

and never took her seat in Westminster in the five times she was elected at the polls. In the 2005 election, she was re-elected and increased her majority to 4,582 votes. In the 2010 election, the Democratic Unionists (DUP),

Ulster Conservatives and Unionists The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the ''Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force'' (''UCUNF''), was an electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Conservative ...

and

Traditional Unionist Voice The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its '' sine qua non'' the preservation of Northern Ireland's pl ...

(TUV) all chose not to field candidates and she held her seat by four votes against

Independent Unionist Independent Unionist is a label sometimes used by candidates in British elections to indicate their support for British unionism. It is most popularly associated with candidates in elections for the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Such candi ...

Rodney Connor. In October 2014, Sinn Féin announced that Gildernew would be the party's candidate in the 2015 Westminster election. She lost the seat by 530 votes to

candidate

. According to the '' Times Guide to the House of Commons'', Gildernew was popular across the sectarian divide in one of Northern Ireland's most polarised constituencies. She won her seat back in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, beating Elliott by 875 votes. Elliott closed the gap to a mere 57 votes 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 ...

, making Fermanagh and South Tyrone the most marginal seat in the country. In 2019. Gildernew supported John O'Dowd's unsuccessful bid to become Vice President of Sinn Féin at the party's

ard fheis or ( , ; 'high assembly'; plural ) is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. Usage Among the parties who use the term or are: * * * * Irish Republican Socialist Party * * Green Party * Republica ...

Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development

During her time as Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Gildernew dealt with problems such as an outbreak of bluetongue disease. She also increased cross-border co-operation with 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. ...

on farming issues.

2011 Irish presidential election

In September 2011, the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its e ...

'' reported that Sinn Féin was considering Gildernew as their candidate for that year's Irish presidential election. Sinn Féin would ultimately nominate

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minist ...

for president.

Support for Seán Quinn

In a July 2012 interview for '' The Impartial Reporter'', Gildernew defended embattled businessman Seán Quinn, saying that " has been treated disgracefully by the Irish Government. Had they not tried to strip him of all his assets, including his home, deny him the ability to function in business, and routinely try to humiliate him I believe he would have paid back every penny he owed to the Irish taxpayer". Quinn, the former head of the privately owned Quinn Group (now Mannok), was declared bankrupt in January 2012. (With loans worth around €1.2 billion from the Anglo-Irish Bank, the Quinn group was exposed by its collapse and, on 30 March 2010, the High Court appointed joint provisional administrators to Quinn Insurance.) Sinn Féin distanced themselves from Gildernew's comments with

Mary Lou McDonald Mary Louise McDonald (born 1 May 1969) is an Irish politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition in Ireland since June 2020, as President of Sinn Féin since February 2018, and as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituen ...

stating that Seán Quinn had engaged in illegal business practices.

2024 European Parliament election and retirement from Westminster

In January 2024, Gildernew was announced as one two Sinn Féin candidates for the Midlands–North-West constituency at the

2024 European Parliament election in Ireland The 2024 European Parliament election in Ireland is the Irish component of the 2024 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 7 June 2024, the same day as the Irish local elections and Limerick mayoral election. Electoral system I ...

. In May 2024, she announced she would stand down as an MP at the 2024 general election, in order to focus on her campaign for the European elections. In the election, Gildernew received 45,807 (6.7%) first preferences votes but was not elected. Gildernew was one of five Sinn Féin paid employees to lose their jobs in May 2025 following a "radical" party restructuring.

Personal life

Gildernew is married to Jimmy Taggart; they have two sons, and one daughter.

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gildernew, Michelle 1970 births Living people 20th-century women politicians from Northern Ireland 21st-century women politicians from Northern Ireland Alumni of Ulster University Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Northern Irish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fermanagh and South Tyrone (since 1950) Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999) Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 People from Dungannon Sinn Féin MLAs Sinn Féin MPs (post-1921) UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 Women ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive