Derek Robert Hussey (born 12 September 1948) is an

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 ...

(UUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 1998 to 2007. Hussey was educated at

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , 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. North ...

Model School,

Omagh Academy Omagh Academy is a grammar school in Omagh, County Tyrone, located at 21-23 Dublin Road. The school currently has 670 pupils. The school is one of the top performing grammar schools in Northern Ireland and is ranked one of the top 30 Grammar Scho ...

and

Stranmillis College Stranmillis University College is a university college of Queen's University Belfast. The institution is located on the Stranmillis Road in Belfast. It had students in . The school offers the BEd, PGCE and TESOL, as well as other courses. Hi ...

, Belfast. He was previously a teacher at

Castlederg Castlederg (earlier Caslanadergy, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Derg and is near the border with County Donegal, Ireland. It stands in the townlands of Castlesessagh and Churchtown, in the historic barony ...

High School. In 1989 he was elected to

Strabane District Council Strabane District Council ( ga, Comhairle Ceantair an tSratha Báin; Ulster-Scots: ''Stràbane Destrìck Cooncil'') was a local council in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland established by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. It merge ...

. In 2007 he was elected Chairman of the council. In the 1996 election to the

Northern Ireland Peace 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 ...

, Hussey was elected as representative for West Tyrone. In 1998 he was elected as MLA to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

and re-elected in 2003. He was an outgoing candidate in the 2007 Assembly elections, but lost his seat. His brother, Ross Hussey, re-took the seat in 2011. He also has a special interest in regional development,

Ulster-Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people The Ulster Scots ( Ulster-Scots: ''Ulstèr-Scotch''; ga, Albanaigh Ultach), also called Ulster Scots people (''Ulstèr-Scotch fowk'') or (in North America) Scotch-Irish (''Scotch-Airisch'') ...

and 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, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

. Hussey continued his role in local politics and was re-elected as the only UUP Councillor on Strabane District Council on 5 May 2011. He was a member of a

country and western music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old- ...

band and was known to wear cowboy boots in the 1998–2003 Assembly.

Convictions

Derek Hussey has been convicted of driving with excess alcohol on three occasions, most recently in March 2016. This follows previous convictions in 2004, when Mr Hussey was a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

for West Tyrone and 2011, when he was a councillor for the Derg DEA on

. Following the most recent conviction in March 2016, Alderman Hussey was suspended by the Ulster Unionist Party On completion of community service the suspension was lifted and he still sits as an Ulster Unionist member of

Derry City and Strabane District Council Derry City and Strabane District Council ( ga, Comhairle Chathair Dhoire agus Cheantar an tSratha Báin; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie & Stràbane Destrìck Cooncil'') is the local authority for Derry and Strabane district in Northern Ireland. I ...

Security Forces

The Hussey family have a strong connection with the

security forces Security forces are statutory organizations with internal security mandates. In the legal context of several nations, the term has variously denoted police and military units working in concert, or the role of military and paramilitary forces (s ...

with Hussey himself serving as a part-time Special Constable with the

Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the par ...

(USC), his late father Sydney Robert Hussey had served in the Royal Navy during World War II and the USC and

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

(UDR) until his death. His mother served in the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

and the UDR, his brother Harold William was a sergeant in the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

(RUC), his sister was in the UDR and Royal Irish Regiment and his politician brother Ross also served as a part-time member of the RUC.

References

External links

NI Assembly biography

UUP website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, Derek 1948 births Living people Members of Strabane District Council Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 People educated at Omagh Academy People from Padstow Ulster Special Constabulary officers Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Alumni of Stranmillis University College