Mary Dolores Kelly (born 3 September 1959) is a

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) politician. She was a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...

(MLA) for Upper Bann from 2003 until 2016, and again from 2017 until 2022.

Background

Dolores Kelly attended St Michael's Grammar School, Lurgan and then the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

, Jordanstown. She worked as an

occupational therapist Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's abi ...

in the Craigavon Area Hospital and in social services in

Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iv ...

. She married Eamon Kelly in 1982 and has four children.

Political career

In May 1993 she was first elected to

Craigavon Borough Council Craigavon Borough Council was a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. It merged with Armagh City and District Council and Banbridge District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Nort ...

for the Loughside District. She served on all committees, and was chair of Technical Services and Environmental Services. In 1996 she 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 Upper Bann. In May 1997 she was re-elected to Craigavon Borough. She was elected Deputy Mayor in 1998 and from 1999 to 2000 was the first SDLP Mayor of Craigavon. Kelly was also deputy leader of the SDLP from 2011 to 2015. In 2004, Kelly was the target of death threats from dissident Republicans, and her home was attacked. In 2009, Kelly was threatened by a masked gunman while canvassing in the Kilwilkie estate in Lurgan. In 2003 Kelly was elected to Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann. She was a member of the

Northern Ireland Policing Board The Northern Ireland Policing Board ( ga, Bord Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Polisin Boord'') is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Nor ...

. She lost her seat in the 2016 Assembly election but regained it and rejoined the Policing Board in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, at the expense of Sinn Féin. She lost her seat in the

2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three month ...

Political positions

Kelly has called for the establishment of an all-island registry for those convicted of

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or su ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Dolores 1959 births Living people Members of Craigavon Borough Council Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Alumni of Ulster University Women mayors of places in Northern Ireland Mayors of Craigavon Women councillors in Northern Ireland Occupational therapists