Karen Mullan MLA (born 18 August 1976) is a Sinn Féin politician from

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Foyle constituency in the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

from June 2017 to 2021.

History

Mullan served as a community worker in Derry prior to her co-option by Sinn Féin. She was co-opted after Foyle MLA

Elisha McCallion Elisha McCallion (; born 21 October 1982) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from April 2020 until October 2020. She previously served as Mayor of Derry from 2015 to 2016, a M ...

was elected to the House of Commons following the 2017 general election. Mullan was Sinn Féin's northern education spokesperson in the assembly. She is a graduate of Ulster University with a degree in community development, and is a former manager of Hillcrest Trust, a community centre in the Waterside area of Derry. She played a key role in setting up a charity, Pink Ladies Cancer Support Group, which lobbied for the delivery of the North-West Cancer Centre at

Altnagelvin Hospital Altnagelvin Area Hospital is the main hospital for the North West of Northern Ireland. It is located in Waterside, Derry. It provides services to the city of Derry and County Londonderry, but also some specialist and acute services for parts o ...

in Derry. She left the assembly with Martina Anderson on 13 September 2021 being replaced by Pádraig Delargy and

Ciara Ferguson Ciara Ferguson MLA (born 21 September 1971) is a Sinn Féin politician who is a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Foyle in Northern Ireland. Ferguson became the MLA for Foyle following a selection convention held by Sinn Féin after her ...

Controversy

Mullan is also a director of Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership, which is a community group based in Derry. The organisation was found guilty in 2017 of having unlawfully discriminated against a job applicant based on political opinion. The organisation was ordered to pay £11,000 to the applicant, who was the highest-scoring candidate in the interviews. Giving evidence at the tribunal, Mullan revealed during cross-examination that an interview panellist informed her that they "had been bullied" into giving a better score. The tribunal said Mullan's evidence "lacked credibility".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullan, Karen Living people Sinn Féin MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Politicians from Derry (city) 1976 births