Patrick Joseph "Paddy" Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 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 ...

socialist,

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 ...

and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

activist and writer. He was a founding member of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP), a former Stormont MP, and a member of the 1974 Power Sharing Executive. Described as a "relentless campaigner against sectarianism", Devlin had once been a member of the IRA but later renounced

physical force republicanism Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The developm ...

to work at transcending sectarian differences through peaceful,

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

political means. During the late 1960s he entered local politics in the Belfast City Council and went on to help found the SDLP in 1970 with

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Irela ...

Gerry Fitt Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt (9 April 1926 – 26 August 2005) was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a social democratic and Irish nationalist party. Early year ...

, Austin Currie and others.

Early life

Devlin was born in the

Pound Loney The Falls Road () is the main road through West Belfast, Northern Ireland, running from Divis Street in Belfast City Centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. The name has been synonymous for at least a century and a half with the Catholic comm ...

in the Lower Falls in West

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

on 8 March 1925 and lived in the city for almost all his life. His mother was a leading activist in Joe Devlin's (no relation) Nationalist Party machine in the Falls area and Devlin grew up in a highly political household. However his early activism was confined to

Fianna Éireann Na Fianna Éireann (The Fianna of Ireland), known as the Fianna, is an Irish nationalist youth organisation founded by Constance Markievicz in 1909, with later help from Bulmer Hobson. Fianna members were involved in setting up the Irish Volun ...

and then 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 tha ...

(IRA) and as a result he was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

Crumlin Road Gaol HMP Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1996 it is the only remaining Victorian era former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known as ' ...

from 1942 to 1945 at age 17. After his release he became convinced that physical force nationalism would not succeed in its goals.

Post-war

After the war, and in search of work, he spent some time in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

working as a scaffolder and in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

working in the car industry. In Coventry he became interested in Labour and trade union politics and briefly joined the

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

. Returning to

in 1948 he found the local Labour Party split over partition. Under

Harry Midgley Henry Cassidy Midgley, PC (NI), known as Harry Midgley (1893 – 29 April 1957) was a prominent trade-unionist and politician in Northern Ireland. Born to a working-class Protestant family in Tiger's Bay, north Belfast, he followed his father into ...

’s influence the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) had adopted a pro-partition position. In response, many anti-partition Labour activists left the NILP and joined the

Irish Labour Party The Labour Party ( ga, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, ...

, which was led locally by

Jack Beattie Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

who was an MP in Stormont and Westminster. Paddy Devlin joined the Irish Labour Party in 1949. Devlin was elected as the Irish Labour candidate in a council by-election for the Falls ward in 1956 beating

who fought the election as the Dock Labour Party candidate. Later

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...

claimed the Irish Labour Party was infested with communists and ensured the party were effectively wiped out and Devlin lost his seat in 1958. In the same year, in the aftermath of the Council election defeat, he decided to join the

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. William Walker stoo ...

. In 1967 Devlin was elected Chairman of the NILP. In the Northern Ireland elections held in 1969, Devlin stood as the NILP candidate and beat Republican Labour's Harry Diamond for the Falls seat in Stormont. From 1968 through 1969, Devlin was very involved in the

Northern Ireland civil rights movement The Northern Ireland civil rights movement dates to the early 1960s, when a number of initiatives emerged in Northern Ireland which challenged the inequality and discrimination against ethnic Irish Catholics that was perpetrated by the Ulster Pr ...

. The heavy handed response by the RUC and the

B Specials The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the par ...

to civil rights marches resulted in widespread rioting. The confrontations descended into sectarian violence as Catholic areas, especially in Belfast, came under attack from Loyalist gangs with many families being burnt out of their homes. Devlin’s relationship with the NILP became more strained as he detected a “deafening silence” with “no statements condemning the horrors of the summer, no assertion of the non-sectarian socialist principles we had tried to promote … the NILP in fact tended to disregard the existence of the civil rights movement”. Devlin believed that the NILP working in alliance with the civil rights movement could have changed the situation and reduced the sectarian tensions. Instead, what he deemed to be the party's inadequate response in the summer of 1969 led to his drift away from the NILP. Devlin started discussing with other Labour activists, civil rights leaders and moderate nationalists the possibility of launching a new party. In response to these discussions, the NILP terminated his party membership in August 1970. Devlin then went on, with Fitt,

Austin Currie Joseph Austin Currie (11 October 1939 – 9 November 2021) was an Irish politician who served as a Minister of State for Justice with responsibility for Children's Rights from 1994 to 1997. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West ...

and others to found the

SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Irela ...

in 1970. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) brought together politicians and activists from Labour, civil rights and moderate Irish Nationalist backgrounds to form a party committed to achieving a united Ireland by consent and to working within the Northern Ireland political structures for constructive local cross-community politics. At the time of the SDLP's formation, Devlin believed “the basic party philosophy was to be socialist and democratic and work for the unity of Ireland by consent”. He was later involved, at the request of

William Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...

, the

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

, in ensuring safe passage for

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...

for talks with the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

in 1973. He was a member of the

Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973 The Northern Ireland Assembly was a legislative assembly set up by the Government of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1973 to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland with the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive made up of unionists an ...

and Minister of Health and Social Services in the power-sharing Executive from 1 January 1974 to 28 May 1974. The power-sharing Executive was a cross-community coalition administration. The SDLP joined the Executive along with the pro-power-sharing wing of the Ulster Unionist Party and the Alliance Party. The Executive would be short-lived. It collapsed after five months at the end of May 1974 following the Protestant workers Ulster Workers Council strike. By 1977 Devlin felt that the SDLP “was being stripped of its socialism and being taken over by unadulterated nationalists”. These differences came to a head when Devlin resigned as chairman of the parliamentary group and issued a statement criticising the direction of the SDLP. A few days later the SDLP executive met and voted to expel him from the party. In 1978 he established the United Labour Party, which aimed to be a broad based Labour formation in Northern Ireland. He stood under its label for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in 1979 but polled just 6,122

first preferences In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...

(1.1% of those cast) and thereby lost his deposit. Devlin did not support the hunger strike and the campaign for political status for Republican prisoners. He was re-elected as an Independent Socialist to Belfast City Council in the 1981 local elections but with a much reduced vote of 1,343; down from the 7,087 votes he won four years earlier. In 1987 he, together with remnants of the NILP and others, established

Labour '87 The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) was the name of two distinct political parties in Northern Ireland, the first formed in 1985 by a group around Paddy Devlin, a former Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor and Northern Irelan ...

as another attempt at building a Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI) by uniting the disparate groups supporting labour and socialist policies but it too met with little or no success. In 1985 he lost his place on Belfast City council. Devlin was also involved in the

Peace Train Organisation The Peace Train Organisation was a campaign group set up in 1989 in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in response to the repeated bombing of the Dublin to Belfast railway line (see Enterprise (train)) by the Provisional IRA.

. Devlin suffered from severe

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and throughout the 1990s suffered a series of ailments as his health and sight collapsed.

Political beliefs

John Hume and others supposedly saw Devlin as too forgiving of

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

, but not the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, as Devlin supported a motion tabled at the SDLP's annual conference in 1976 for British withdrawal. The motion, also supported by

Ivan Cooper Ivan Averill Cooper (5 January 1944 – 26 June 2019) was an Irish politician from Northern Ireland. He was a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and a founding member of the SDLP. He is best known for leading the anti-internment march o ...

Seamus Mallon Seamus Frederick Mallon (; 17 August 1936 – 24 January 2020) was an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to 2 ...

, and

Paddy Duffy Paddy Duffy (November 12, 1864 – July 10, 1890) was an American boxer of Irish-American, Irish descent. He was considered the first world welterweight champion of boxing's gloved era. Boxing career highlights Paddy Duffy was born on November ...

, but opposed by Party leader

and

, was defeated by 153 votes to 111. Devlin also spoke out against the assassination of

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...

chief

Ronnie Bunting Ronnie Bunting (10 January 1948 – 15 October 1980) was a Protestant Irish republican and socialist activist in Ireland. He became a member of the Official IRA in the early 1970s and was a founder-member of the Irish National Liberation Army ( ...

in 1980, commonly attributed to an

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...

hit squad, but which Devlin always believed was carried out by an ' SAS type' unit with British Security force involvement.' The Dirty War', (Arrow, London, 1991), p.293. Devlin was a lifelong socialist who ended up being expelled from the SDLP for criticizing its lack of socialist politics. Outside of party politics, Devlin spent his later years as Area Secretary of the

Irish Transport and General Workers' Union The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), was a trade union representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in Ireland. History The union was founded by James Larkin in January 1909 as a general union. Initially drawing its memb ...

. His knowledge of the Industrial Relations Order (Northern Ireland 1976) was extensive. He wrote an acclaimed study (his MSc thesis) of the 1935 Outdoor Relief Riots in Belfast, published as ''Yes We Have No Bananas'' in 1985.

References

External links

BBC Obituary

Sources

* Devlin, Paddy (1993). Straight Left: An Autobiography. Blackstaff Press Ltd. ISBN 0-85640-514-0 / 9780856405143. {{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Paddy 1925 births 1999 deaths Labour Party (Ireland) politicians Members of Belfast City Council Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland 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 Northern Ireland Labour Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Social Democratic and Labour Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members Irish republicans interned without trial Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Executive ministers of the 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly