Eric Smyth is a Northern Irish
Unionist 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 ...
and
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister.
Smyth was first elected to
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...
for the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in
1981
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, representing '
Area F' which was equivalent to the modern wards of Falls, Clonard, Blackstaff and Shaftesbury.
However, Area F was abolished in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
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* January 1
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, and Smyth moved to the Court district electoral area which covered the Greater Shankill area. He was elected and held his seat at each subsequent election.
In the 1990s, Smyth's two sons were jailed on drugs charges. Following this, he spent considerable time campaigning against drugs, and in 2003 joined European Cities Against Drugs. In 1995-96, he served as
Lord Mayor of Belfast
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 Councillors#UnitedKingdom, councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcomin ...
, and during his term of office, he formally welcomed
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
on a visit to
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
.
At the elections to 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 ...
in 1996, Smyth stood in
West Belfast, but was unsuccessful in the heavily republican constituency. The list he headed won only 4.2% of the votes cast. However, he was indirectly elected, as being placed seventh on the DUP's regional list ultimately enabled him to take one of the party's two "top-up" seats.
In September 1996, Smyth announced "I have started my
boycott. I will not shop in any
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
shop". He also claimed that "the President
ill Clintonstands for
republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
and is a supporter of it". He reversed his boycott call a week later, describing his statement as "a bit hasty".
At the
1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election
The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 25 June 1998. This was the first election to the new devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Six members from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary consti ...
, Smyth stood in
Belfast East, but was not elected. In the
2001 general election, he stood for the Westminster seat of
West Belfast, but was again unsuccessful, taking 6.4% of the vote.
In 2000, Smyth quit the DUP after he failed to win the party's nomination for the Lord Mayoralty. He was persuaded to return,
[Joe Oliver,]
Firebrand Smyth to retire - yet again
, '' Belfast Telegraph'', 19 December 2004 but in 2003, he again announced that he was standing down as a councillor, in order to concentrate on his religious work. The following year, he decided to continue,
He then stood for the Lord Mayoralty again, but was beaten by the
Alliance Party's
Tom Ekin
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the Un ...
on the casting vote of
Martin Morgan
Martin Morgan is an Irish former politician for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Married to Dympna, a double graduate from the Queen's University of Belfast and a qualified Master's Level Social Worker, Morgan has been a politica ...
, the previous year's Lord Mayor. Smyth stood for election as the Deputy Lord Mayor but was defeated by Joe O'Donnell of
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
, this time on the casting vote of Ekin. Following this defeat, reports claim that he told Ekin "your hands are covered in blood, you shameless traitor". Despite his strong opposition to Sinn Féin, Smyth disregarded the DUP's policy stating that its members should have no contact with the group.
Smyth again announced that he was standing down as a councillor in December 2004, on this occasion in an interview in which he made some criticisms of
Ian Paisley's leadership of the DUP, and in particular the placement of some former members 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 m ...
in prominent party roles.
He did not stand for re-election in
2005, and he instead focussed on his role as founder and Reverend of the Jesus Saves Mission Church, closely aligned with the
Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.
He left the DUP, and gave an interview in which he claimed that the unionist community on the
Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill.
The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...
did not want
loyalist paramilitaries
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
to give up their weapons.
In 2007, Smyth spoke out against the DUP's implementation of the
St Andrews Agreement
The St Andrews Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Chill Rímhinn; Ulster Scots: ''St Andra's 'Greement'', ''St Andrew's Greeance'' or ''St Andrae's Greeance'') is an agreement between the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland's politica ...
. Following Paisley's agreement to stand down as Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church, he stated that Paisley "has gone back on everything he ever preached and there was no way he could continue as leader although I do think he should have stood down years ago."
[Alana Fearon]
"U-turn forced Paisley to quit"
, ''North Belfast News'', 14 September 2007.
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Eric
Members of Belfast City Council
Democratic Unionist Party councillors
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Lord Mayors of Belfast
Members of the Northern Ireland Forum
Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster ministers