Michael Joseph O'Halloran (20 August 1933 – 29 November 1999) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born

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politician. He was brought up in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and being out of work, he "drifted to

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" in 1948, aged fifteen, and worked as a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

man until he entered politics. He stood as a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate, and was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Islington North Islington North () is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Jeremy Corbyn. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Co ...

at a by-election in 1969 following the death of sitting MP Gerry Reynolds. He had previously been the secretary of the Islington North

Constituency Labour Party __NOTOC__ A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...

. His selection over

Keith Kyle Keith Kyle (4 August 1925, Sturminster Newton, Dorset – 21 February 2007, London) was a British writer, broadcaster and historian. Early life Kyle was educated at Bromsgrove School and Magdalen College, Oxford University, where his period as ...

was the subject of an investigation in the early-1970s by ''

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, whi ...

'' newspaper. They highlighted his background with a local building company and the local Irish community and questioned the propriety of the tactics of his supporters during his selection as candidate. He was a staunch

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 ...

in his political beliefs, although he made relatively few contributions to parliamentary debates. He frequently drew on his experience as a railwayman when discussing transport policy. In 1976, Keith Veness, a local party member, was expelled for saying that O'Halloran was dominated by Irish Catholic influences, but later reinstated by the party's NEC. He was a strong opponent of the legalisation of abortion. His office was invaded by activists in 1977, and he claims that he was punched to the ground and kicked, and was only revived when the police arrived. During the same year, when the Labour Government's parliamentary majority was under threat, he threatened to resign unless the far-left in his constituency party were brought under control. Following pressure from the left in his local party, O'Halloran was among the Labour MPs who defected to the newly founded

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SDP) in 1981. However, in 1983, the SDP chose John Grant, the MP for Islington Central (which was being abolished in boundary changes), to be their official candidate in Islington North. O'Halloran left the SDP to stand as an

Independent Labour An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

candidate at the 1983 general election. The official Labour Party candidate and future leader,

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

won the seat; whilst O'Halloran came in fourth place with 11% of the vote. Grant finished in third place with 22% of the vote. O'Halloran retired to

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

with his wife, and lived there until his death aged 66.

References

* ''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983'' *

External links

* 20th-century Irish people 1933 births 1999 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Union of Railwaymen-sponsored MPs People from Islington (district) Politicians from County Clare Politicians from County Wexford Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub