John Dunn Laird, Baron Laird, , of Artigarvan (23 April 1944 – 10 July 2018) was a Northern Irish politician,

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

and former chairman of the cross-border

Ulster-Scots Agency The Ulster-Scots Agency (''Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch'') is a cross-border body for Ireland which seeks to "promote the study, conservation and development of Ulster-Scots as a living language, to encourage and develop the full range of its attend ...

. In 2013 Laird allegedly offered to lobby for a firm against parliamentary rules. Consequently, he resigned from 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 ...

Career

Whilst Chairman of the Ulster Young Unionist Council in 1970, Laird became the youngest member of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore o ...

, after winning the seat of Belfast Saint Anne's in a by-election caused by the death of his father, Dr Norman Laird OBE. He was expelled from the Ulster Unionist Parliamentary Party in January 1972 when he voted for 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 ...

censure motion opposing a ban on certain processions planned for

The Twelfth The Twelfth (also called Orangemen's Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began in the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant King William of Orange over ...

. He topped the poll in Belfast West in the

1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

opposed to the proposals of the former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the chief executive ...

. He repeated this feat as an Ulster Unionist candidate in the 1975 Constitutional Convention election. He established John Laird Public Relations in 1976, which, now called JPR, is Northern Ireland's longest established PR company still in existence. He was created a

on 16 July 1999 as Baron Laird, of Artigarvan in the County of Tyrone. Laird studied at the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

Ulster Scots

A proponent of

Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (', ga, Albainis Uladh), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect of Scots language, Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in North ...

as a

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

, Lord Laird wanted road signs in Irish, English and Ullans on all roads in Ireland, as " parity of esteem" as signed up for under the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in Nor ...

. Similarly, he said that the Garda Síochána should be renamed to ''An Garda Síochána/Hannin Polis''. Laird served as head of the

, before resigning in April 2004, in protest at a cut in government funding for the agency. Lord Laird found himself at the centre of a minor scandal in 2005, when it was revealed that while chairman of the Ulster-Scots agency, Laird had spent in excess of £2500 of public money on taxis between Belfast and Dublin.

House of Lords

Laird sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

as an independent. Laird used

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...

to speak out against the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief t ...

(IRA) in the

. In May 2005 he claimed that

Phil Flynn Philip Flynn (born 1940 in Dundalk, Ireland) is an Irish businessman. He was previously a vice-president of Sinn Féin, a trade unionist, an industrial relations consultant, a government advisor and a financier. He was the eldest of five child ...

, an advisor to the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste ...

, was active in the IRA. In December that year he said that there were 200 IRA " sleepers" in high places in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. In November 2007 he again used parliamentary privilege to name senior IRA members who he said were responsible for the murder of south

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

man Paul Quinn in October.

Investigation into "paid advocacy" and suspension

In June 2013, following investigations by undercover reporters from the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

, The Telegraph, and the BBC, in which he was filmed agreeing to arrange for questions to be raised in Parliament in exchange for a monthly retainer of £2,000, Laird relinquished the Ulster Unionist Party whip and referred himself to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards. On 18 December 2013, the ruling by the Lords

Committee for Privileges and Conduct The Committee for Privileges and Conduct was a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom which considered issues relating to the privileges of the House of Lords and its members, as well as having oversight for ...

resulted in a four month suspension House of Lords.

Expenses

Laird claimed parliamentary expenses of £73,000 in 2008/09, making him the most expensive peer in the House of Lords for that parliamentary year.

2007 election: Donegal

In December 2006 Laird announced plans to stand in Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West on what he termed a radical

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'') ...

ticket. He said he intended to use the publicity platform of his candidacy to highlight what he called the double standards of the Irish Government in relation to the Ulster-Scots movement. However, after suffering a mild heart attack he did not stand.UU peer recovering from heart attack
, UTV News, 20 January 2007.

Publications

The following is a list of books, plays, and films for which Lord John Laird has been responsible: * ''Videos Trolleybus Days in Belfast'' (1992) * ''Swansong of Steam in Ulster'' (1993) * ''Waterloo Sunset'' (1994) * ''Rails on the Isle of Wight'' (1994) * ''The Twilight of Steam in Ulster'' (1994) * ''A Struggle to be Heard'' – by a True Ulster Liberal (2010)

Arms

References

External links

Lord Laird Passes Away

Lord Laird website

John Laird, Crossbencher
Stratagem
Ulster's 'Braveheart' on rebel hunt
, Interview with the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to t ...

'', 22 January 2006 (Newshound)
Debrett's Limited

Parliamentary answers 2010/11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Laird, John 1944 births 2018 deaths Crossbench life peers Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974 Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Scots language activists Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Male writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Ulster Unionist Party life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II