Ross Hussey
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Ross Hussey is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician in Northern Ireland. He was a
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...
(MLA) for West Tyrone from 2011 to 2017.


Early life and education

Ross Michael Hussey was born in Omagh on 25 February 1959. He is the son of the late Sydney Robert Hussey SRN RMN and the late Rachel Hussey (née Maguire). He is the younger brother of former
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...
Derek Hussey Derek Robert Hussey (born 12 September 1948) is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 1998 to 2007. Hussey was educated at Omagh Model School, Omagh Academy a ...
and emeritus Professor David L Hussey and has 2 other brothers and a sister West Tyrone Profile: Ross Hussey
, '' UTV''
His father was Welsh and his mother from Northern Ireland. His early education was at Omagh County Primary School, Omagh Academy and Omagh Technical College. On leaving the College he immediately began work with Pearl Assurance as a clerk in Omagh and was promoted through various ranks retiring from Omagh in 2003 as District Manager as a result of injuries he received whilst on duty as a part-time police officer with the RUC. During his career with financial services provider Pearl, he completed all 3 parts of the Financial Planning Certificate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He retains his association with the CII as a member. Hussey studied history and then law as a mature student with the Open University. He holds a BA (Hons) degree, a certificate in humanities and a certificate in law from the OU and he is a strong advocate for the university. He holds a Diploma in Community Development from NUI Galway and a certificate in the effective management of volunteers from Queens University of Belfast. He also holds a certificate and diploma in paralegal studies from the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) He is currently a mature student at Ulster University in Jordanstown undertaking study for a BSc Honours degree in Community Development


Political career

Ross joined the Ulster Unionist Party in 1977 and was elected to Omagh District Council in 2005. He served as a member of the council for 7 years and stood down in 2012 following the party's decision to end 'double jobbing' and finished his council career as the Vice Chairman.General Election 2010 : Northern Ireland candidates (UCU)
, '' BBC News'', 21 April 2010
He later attempted to campaign using an image of
Peter Griffin Peter Löwenbräu Griffin, born Justin Peter Griffin, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, alon ...
, after being told that he resembled the cartoon character. Speaking to '' BBC News'', he claimed that he shared "certain character traits" with Griffin. At the 2010 general election, he stood in West Tyrone for Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force, taking third place, with 14.2% of the vote. At the
2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 5 May, following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was establis ...
, he won a seat in West Tyrone. Since 2011, he has been a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. He was previously a reservist in the
Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He was a trustee of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC Foundation. He sustained an injury while on duty with the RUC in 2002 which caused his retirement. Ross Hussey was re-elected for the Ulster Unionist Party for West Tyrone in the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2016. Following the dissolution of the Assembly in 2017, Hussey announced that he was retiring from politics on health grounds.


Controversy


Expenses

Ross Husseys' expenses claims had been the focus of media attention. Claiming £20,000 per year for constituency office rent. In 2014 comedian
Tim McGarry Tim McGarry ( ga, Tadhg Mag Fhearaigh) is an Irish people, Irish comedian and actor from Belfast, North Belfast in Northern Ireland. He was educated at St Malachy's College, Belfast. He is a member of the comedy group Hole in the Wall Gang (com ...
commented on an episode of BBC panel show '' The Blame Game'' that it was "the Taj Mahal of Constituency Offices". However, in his defence, Hussey regularly highlighted the fact that whilst the office rent was high he personally paid his own electricity, heating, telephone, Internet, fax, and other office costs to maintain the office. Hussey confirmed that he would not be able to keep his current office after a review of the expenses system announced in March 2016. Hussey retired completely from public life following the collapse of the Assembly in 2017. He had been disabled by a back injury received whilst serving in the RUC and he had to undergo replacement knee surgery in 2017. He occasionally comments on political matters but concentrates his time on providing welfare support on a voluntary basis in the West Tyrone area.


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, Ross Living people Alumni of the Open University Members of Omagh District Council People from Omagh Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Royal Ulster Constabulary officers 1959 births Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Police officers from County Tyrone