George Morrison (23 November 1924 – 22 October 2014) was a unionist politician from

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 ...

Early and personal life

Morrison was raised in

Saintfield Saintfield () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census, made up mostly of commuters working in both south a ...

, having been "unofficially adopted" by the Kinghan family.OBITUARY: top Orangeman George Morrison
/ref> He worked variously as a boilermaker at Harland & Wolff and in several positions at Lagan Valley Hospital. He married Emily in 1947 (being widowed in 2012) with the couple having two children, Isobel and Tommy.

Political career

Morrison was a founder member of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party and chaired their

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

branch.W. D. Flackes & Sydney Elliott, ''Northern Ireland A Political Directory 1968–1993'', Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 239 He represented the VUPP in 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 ...

as a member for the South Antrim constituency. He was part of the majority group in the party that opposed leader Bill Craig's idea of a voluntary coalition with 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 ...

and as such switched to the newly formed

United Ulster Unionist Party The United Ulster Unionist Party (UUUP) was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1984. It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party in the late 1970s. Vanguard had traditional ...

in 1975. He was a member of the

United Unionist Action Council The United Ulster Unionist Council (also known as the United Ulster Unionist Coalition) was a body that sought to bring together the Unionists opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland. Formation The UUUC was established in Januar ...

that co-ordinated the failed

Ulster Workers' Council The Ulster Workers' Council was a loyalist workers' organisation set up in Northern Ireland in 1974 as a more formalised successor to the Loyalist Association of Workers (LAW). It was formed by shipyard union leader Harry Murray and initially fail ...

strike of 1977. Morrison was a member of

Lisburn Borough Council Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern ...

from 1973 to 1993, representing 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 ...

from 1983.Flackes & Elliott, ''Northern Ireland A Political Directory 1968–1993'', p. 240 A member 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, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

, he served the organisation in a number of prominent roles, including Lisburn district secretary, County Grand Master for Antrim, deputy Grand Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland and Honorary Deputy Grand Master of the Orange Order. Whilst serving as Mayor of Lisburn in the early 1990s he took a heart attack but survived. However he suffered a second, this time fatal, heart attack in 2014 and died aged 89. He was buried after a service at Railway Street Presbyterian Church in the city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, George 1924 births 2014 deaths Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party politicians Ulster Unionist Party councillors Mayors of places in Northern Ireland Presbyterians from Northern Ireland United Ulster Unionist Party politicians