Robin John Bailie, PC (NI) (born 6 March 1937), is a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and former

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 ...

Biography

Bailie was born in

Toomebridge Toome or Toomebridge () is a small village and townland on the northwest corner of Lough Neagh in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies in the civil parish of Duneane in the former barony of Toome Upper, and is in the Antrim and Newtownabbe ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. He studied at the

Rainey Endowed School Rainey Endowed School, known colloquially as "The Rainey", is a voluntary grammar school in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The school was founded in 1713 and has an enrolment of around 700 pupils. Each year group has a total ...

and

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 was a member of the Belfast Junior Chamber of Commerce, and an officer of the

Ulster Young Unionist Council The Young Unionists, formally known as the Ulster Young Unionist Council (UYUC), is the youth wing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). It has in its present incarnation been in existence since 2004. The Young Unionists host a number of events o ...

.David Gordon, ''The O'Neill Years'' He was associated with the Clifton branch 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 ...

, and from about 1960, collaborated with other young branch members, including Bob Cooper in an association which has been compared to the Conservative Party's

Bow Group The Bow Group is a UK-based think tank promoting conservative opinion. Founded in 1951, it is the oldest group of its kind, counting many senior Conservative Party MPs and peers among its members. It represents a forum for political debate with ...

. They represented the more liberal wing of the party, and in 1962 they launched a journal, ''Review'', although they were only able to publish a single issue.

Career

Bailie qualified as a

and was also active in business, becoming a council member of the Northern Ireland

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

and Industry. In 1962, he claimed that a majority of members of some

Orange Lodge The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Scotland, Wales and th ...

s 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 ...

were

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

s and not Unionists.Bob Purdie, ''Politics in the Streets'' He was a supporter of

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...

's reforms, believing that they had "taken the sting out of the community tension which was sapping the vigour of the province". While he was initially critical of O'Neill's approach to the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

(ICTU), he later claimed that O'Neill had "solved the problem of the ICTU". At the

1969 Northern Ireland general election The 1969 Northern Ireland general election was held on Monday 24 February 1969. It was the last election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland before its abolition by the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. This was the first (and only) el ...

, Bailie was elected as Member of Parliament for

Newtownabbey Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement north of Belfast city centre in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course, but it still forms part of the Belfast metropolitan area ...

. He was a prominent opponent of the People's Democracy movement, which he claimed was a revolutionary movement. On 25 March 1971, new

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the Chief Executive ...

appointed him

Minister of Commerce A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial poli ...

, and he served until the Parliament was prorogued in 1972. Bailie was also appointed to the

Privy Council of Northern Ireland The Privy Council of Northern Ireland is a dormant privy council formerly advising the Governor of Northern Ireland in his role as viceroy of the British Crown, in particular in the exercise of the monarch's prerogative powers. The council wa ...

at the same time, which entitles him to the style ''

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...

''. While serving in this post, he focussed on the possibilities that membership of the

Common Market A single market, sometimes called common market or internal market, is a type of trade bloc in which most trade barriers have been removed (for goods) with some common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of ...

would offer Northern Ireland and investigated the possibility of a cross-border development plan for the North West of Ireland. After prorogation, Faulkner maintained a "shadow" cabinet in which Bailie retained his post, but he resigned from the cabinet and the party in 1973 alongside Robert Porter, claiming that Faulkner was identifying too closely with the

Ulster Vanguard The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (VUPP), informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1978. Led by William Craig, the party emerged from a split in the Ulster Uni ...

movement. Bailie joined the

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland ...

, but retired from active politics.Henry Patterson and Eric Kauffman, ''Unionism and Orangeism in Northern Ireland Since 1945'' Out of politics, Bailie focussed on his career as a solicitor and held several directorships, including the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company (GB), Fine Wine Wholesalers, and Lumnus Mackie.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailie, Robin 1937 births Living people Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politicians Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland Solicitors from Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Politicians from County Antrim People educated at Rainey Endowed School Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Antrim constituencies Lawyers from County Down Lawyers from County Antrim People from Toome