Máirtín Ó Muilleoir (born 31 December 1959) is an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

politician, author, publisher, and businessman, who served as the 70th

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the city's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the U ...

from 2013 to 2014. Ó Muilleoir's siblings include writer, blogger, and ''

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'' columnist Adrian Millar, and journalist and editor Gerry Millar/Gearóid Ó Muilleoir of '' The Belfast Telegraph''.

Early life and education

Ó Muilleoir was educated at St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast, and at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

Career

Business career

In 1997, Ó Muilleoir became part-owner of the '' Andersonstown News'', which subsequently purchased the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based '' Irish Echo''. A fluent Irish speaker, he has interests in other Irish and American businesses. He served as a temporary director of

Northern Ireland Water Northern Ireland Water Limited is the main water company in Northern Ireland. Formerly an executive agency within Northern Ireland Executive, it became a government-owned company on 1 April 2007. The company now sits as an Agency within the ...

Political career

Ó Muilleoir entered politics in 1985, when he stood as a Sinn Féin candidate for the Upper Falls area and narrowly missed out on being elected. When Pip Glendinning of the Alliance Party resigned her seat two years later due to the birth of Glendinning's daughter, Ó Muilleoir won the resulting by-election in October 1987. During his time on the council, he initiated a number of legal actions over what he claimed was discrimination by the unionist-dominated council, detailing these experiences in his book, ''The Dome of Delight''. He was re-elected at the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and 1993 local elections, retiring at the 1997 local elections to concentrate on his business interests. In 1996, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each List o ...

election in North Down. He re-entered politics in 2011, when he was elected as a Belfast City Councillor for Balmoral, South Belfast, gaining the seat previously held by Jim Kirkpatrick of the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

, and was elected

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

in 2013, serving a one-year term. In 2014, he was co-opted as an MLA into the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

. He stood in Belfast South in the

2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Conservative Party (U ...

, losing to the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

incumbent,

Alasdair McDonnell Alasdair McDonnell (born 1 September 1949) is a retired Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who was leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2011 to 2015, having served as deputy leader between 2004 and 2010. He ...

. On 12 May 2016, he was appointed

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish language, Irish: ''Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Executive'') is the devolution, devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branc ...

. He resigned as an MLA in December 2019, and

Deirdre Hargey Deirdre Hargey (born 1980) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2020. She previously served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2018 to 2019, and as a Belfast City Co ...

was co-opted in his place.

References

External links

Profile
companieshouse.gov.uk; accessed 9 December 2016.
Profile
heraldscotland.com; accessed 25 February 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:OMuilleoir, Mairtin 1959 births Living people Irish publishers (people) Lord mayors of Belfast Sinn Féin MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 People educated at St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999) Sinn Féin councillors in Northern Ireland Members of Belfast City Council Sinn Féin parliamentary candidates Ministers of finance and personnel of Northern Ireland