John Robert Beggs (born 20 February 1936), commonly known as Roy Beggs, is a Northern Irish unionist politician and former teacher. Formerly a member of the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

(DUP), he defected to the rival

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) in 1981. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for East Antrim from

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, and was a Larne Borough Councillor from

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, representing the district of Larne Area B and its successor,

Larne Lough Larne Lough, historically Lough Larne (), is a sea loch or inlet in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies between the Islandmagee peninsula and the mainland. At its mouth is the town of Larne. It is designated as an area of special scientifi ...

Background

Beggs was educated at Ballyclare High School, followed by Stranmillis College, to study teacher training. After his training Beggs became a teacher at

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

High School and had risen to be deputy principal before leaving the profession upon his election to the Westminster Parliament.

Political career

He first entered politics in 1973 as a councillor for

Larne Borough Council Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid a ...

. for the

. He was suspended from the party in 1981 after taking part in a council visit to

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council () is the local authority of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on its abolition on 1 January 1994 a ...

local authority in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

.RTÉ News Interactive :. Northern Constituency Profiles
He moved to the

and was re-elected in 1981 as a 'loyalist'. He joined the UUP in 1982 and has retained his council seat to date, serving several terms as Mayor of Larne from 1978 until 1983. Almanac of British Politics, 6th Edition,
pg 17
/ref> In 1982 he was elected to 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 ...

representing North Antrim. In 1983 he was selected for the new East Antrim in the 1983 general election. With most expecting the DUP to win the seat,Robert Waller, Almanac of British Politics, 3rd ed he became the new MP in the surprise result. He held the position until the 2005 general election when he was defeated by Sammy Wilson of the DUP. He was UUP Education Spokesman from 1986 up to and including his last few years in Parliament when he also served as Deputy Leader and Chief Whip of the Ulster Unionist Parliamentary Party. Beggs was known as one of the more hard-line members of the UUP, being vociferous in his

Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ...

and his suspicions about the

Belfast Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

- initially involving himself in ''Union First'' (a group within the Ulster Unionist Party opposed to the Agreement), although in his final two years in Parliament, he appeared publicly supportive of the Agreement and of leader

David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a Northern Irish politician who was the inaugural First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002 and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 20 ...

. A renowned opponent of "progressive" teaching methods and a supporter of maintaining Northern Ireland's

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

s, he attacked proposals to abolish academic selection in post-primary education in Northern Ireland. Beggs was also a strong supporter of the

Orange Order 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, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

during their stand-off over

Drumcree Church Drumcree Parish Church, officially The Church of the Ascension, is the Church of Ireland parish church of Drumcree in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It sits on a hill in the townland of Drumcree, outside Portadown. It is a site and structure o ...

and in 1995 took part in a blockade of the port of

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

as part of a show of solidarity. Beggs was charged with Public Order offences for his involvement and was fined £1,350. In March 2001, he apologised in the House of Commons for failing to register a local business interest.

Personal life

He lives in Larne and operates a farm and owns a landfill site. He is also the Chairman of the North Eastern Education and Library Board, as well as continuing his council work. He has four children. His son, Roy Beggs Jr was a member of the

from 1998 until losing his seat in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beggs, Roy 1936 births Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Antrim constituencies (since 1922) Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986 Ulster Unionist Party MPs Members of Larne Borough Council Democratic Unionist Party councillors UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 People from Ballyclare People educated at Ballyclare High School Mayors of places in Northern Ireland Alumni of Stranmillis University College