Peter Emerson (born 1943) is a political activist in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Born in Britain, Emerson's father was from

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, and his mother from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. He served as a submariner in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, where he was promoted to first lieutenant. In 1970, he began teaching in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. He moved to

in 1975, living just off the

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...

, where he worked in a

youth club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, vid ...

.Good to meet you... Peter Emerson
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 20 July 2012 There, he became active in the

Ulster Liberal Party The Ulster Liberal Party was a liberal and non-sectarian political party in Northern Ireland linked to the British Liberal Party. The party was officially neutral on the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. Members expressed different vi ...

and also with

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...

. In 1980, he and Jennifer Fitzgerald were the leading founders of the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

. In 1984, he attracted attention when he broke into a civil defence bunker and obtained papers which appeared to indicate Soviet military targets 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 the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Ed Moloney Edmund "Ed" Moloney (born 1948–9) is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA, in particular. He worked for the ''Hibernia'' magazine and ''Magill ...

, "Ecology unlikely to make inroads", ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 12 January 1985 Emerson stood unsuccessfully as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

in Area E of

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...

at the

1977 Northern Ireland local elections Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in May 1977. The elections saw good performances by the four largest parties: the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), Alliance Party of Northern Ir ...

. In the 1981 elections, Emerson stood as one of three "Ecology" candidates; with 202 votes, he was the most successful, although he did not come close to election. This led him to become one of the most prominent founders of the

Ecology Party The Green Party, also known as the Green Party UK, was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1985 it was called the Ecology Party, and before that PEOPLE. In 1990, it separated into three political parties: * the Green Part ...

in the province, in 1983. The party remained extremely small, with only 18 members in 1985, when it renamed as the "Green Party". Emerson stood for it in Oldpark at the

1985 Northern Ireland local elections Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 15 May 1985, contesting 565 seats in all. Background 1981 elections The previous elections had been fought in the middle of the hunger strike and the H-Block Prison Protest. Tho ...

, then again in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Emerson also stood for the Greens in Belfast North at the 1997 general election, taking 537 votes, and in the equivalent constituency in the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and

2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two l ...

s. His best result was in 2007, when he took 590 votes. For 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 Westmin ...

election in 1996, he not only stood in Belfast North, but also took second place on the party's top-up list. Ultimately, the party placed eleventh across Northern Ireland, leaving it as the best-placed party not to receive two top-up places.Northern Ireland Elections,
The 1996 Forum Elections: Regional List of Candidates
In the 1980s, Emerson was also prominent in the

New Ireland Group The New Ireland Group (now known as New Ireland Vision) was formed in 1982, seeking political and social reconciliation in Ireland, and the formation of an Ireland accommodating both the Gaelic Irish and Unionist traditions. The group predominantly ...

, and was an organiser of its 1986 "People's Convention". This inspired him to devote time to promoting consensus-based methods of voting, and during the 2010s he has been the director of the de Borda Institute, www.deborda.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Peter Living people Green Party in Northern Ireland politicians Royal Navy submariners 1943 births