Denis Haughey (born 3 October 1944) is a former Irish

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Born in

Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late 17th century coal deposits ...

, Haughey studied politics at

Queens University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

,Biography - Denis Haughey, Northern Ireland Assembly
becoming involved in the civil rights movement and the first Chair of the Tyrone Civil Rights AssociationBiographies of Prominent People - 'H'
CAIN Web Service and a founder member of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP), before becoming a teacher. From 1972 until 1977, he was the party's Chairman. Haughey stood against Frank McManus for the Westminster seat of Fermanagh and South Tyrone in

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) *Joelma fire, A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The bl ...

, splitting the nationalist vote and letting in

Harry West Henry William West (27 March 1917 – 5 February 2004) was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979. Career to Stormont West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora Ro ...

of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

. He unsuccessfully contested North Antrim in the 1975 election to the

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland. For ...

In 1980, Haughey left teaching to work as the full-time assistant to SDLP leader

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Irela ...

. During this period, he served as the party's International Secretary, and represented the SDLP on the Executives of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

and the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...

. At the

1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly elections were held on 20 October 1982 in an attempt to re-establish devolution and power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Although the Northern Ireland Assembly officially lasted until 1986 (and was seen as being ...

, Haughey was elected to represent Mid Ulster, but with other SDLP candidates did not take his seat, and instead joined the

New Ireland Forum The New Ireland Forum was a forum in 1983–1984 at which Irish nationalist political parties discussed potential political developments that might alleviate the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Forum was established by Garret FitzGerald, then T ...

. He stood unsuccessfully for the Westminster seat of Mid Ulster at every general election from 1983 until 1997. In 1989, Haughey was elected to

Cookstown District Council Cookstown District Council ( ga, Comhairle Cheantar na Coirre Críochaí; Ulster Scots: ''Districk Cooncil o Cookestoun'') was a district council covering an area largely in County Tyrone and partly in County Londonderry. It merged with Dungann ...

, later becoming the leader of the SDLP group on the council. He led the SDLP team in the Brooke-Mayhew Talks and later the talks which led to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

. In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate 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 Westmin ...

election in Mid-Ulster. At the 1998 Assembly election, he was again elected for Mid Ulster. However, he lost his seat at the 2003 election, and in 2004 was unsuccessful in becoming the party's candidate for the European election.Morgan plans to carry on the work of Hume
, ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'', 8 March 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haughey, Denis 1944 births Living people People from Coalisland Politicians from County Tyrone Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Members of Cookstown District Council Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986 Junior ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembly (since 1999) Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003