George Robinson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 30 May 1941) is a

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

(DUP) politician in

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 ...

, who 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

East Londonderry East Londonderry or East Derry can refer to: * The eastern part of County Londonderry * The eastern part of the city of Derry * East Londonderry (Assembly constituency) * East Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency) East Londonderry is a par ...

from 2003 until 2022. He was previously a civil servant and was also elected to

Limavady Borough Council Limavady Borough Council ( ga, Comhairle Bhuirg Léim an Mhadaidh) was a local government body in Northern Ireland. In May 2015 it merged with Coleraine Borough Council, Ballymoney Borough Council and Moyle District Council under local governme ...

in 1985, where he served for nearly 30 years before stepping down in 2013.

Life and career

Robinson was born in

Limavady Limavady (; ) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying east of Derry and southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 12,032 people at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

to Joe, a soldier in both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and Jane Robinson. George is the eldest of eight siblings; he has five brothers and two sisters. His father died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1964 and his mother at a "fairly young" age, leaving George to look after his siblings. He was educated at

Technical College. During

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

, he served in the

army barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

. Robinson was elected Mayor of Limavady Borough Council in June 2002. Robinson welcomed a visit from the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, saying, "Last Tuesday and Wednesday were special days in Northern Ireland". In 2004, he suffered a serious

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and subsequently underwent a double

heart bypass Coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG, pronounced "cabbage") is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease (CAD), the buildup of plaques in the arteries of the heart. It can relieve chest pai ...

. On 17 March 2022, citing his age as a factor, Robinson announced that he would be retiring as an MLA at the 2022 Assembly election In a statement, he said: "At the last election I contested in 2017 and at the ripe old age of 75 it was said by a Nationalist opponent; 'when will we ever get rid of Robinson?' Well, the time has now arrived for this Robinson to move on, only by virtue of retirement, but like Unionism across the Province, I bow out unbroken and I bow out undefeated."

References

External links

NI Assembly webpage
1941 births Living people Members of Limavady Borough Council Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Mayors of places in Northern Ireland Members of the Order of the British Empire {{Northern-Ireland-MLA-stub