Seán Lynch MLA ( ga, Seán Ó Loingsigh; born 11 January 1954) is an

Irish republican 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 develop ...

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

politician and a former MLA for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. He was a former

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

(IRA) leader in the

Maze Prison Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sept ...

(known as Long Kesh by Irish republicans). Lynch previously served as Chairman of

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...

and as a senior member of the district policing partnership in the county. Lynch previously stood for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the

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 ...

but was unsuccessful. Lynch was a councillor on

Fermanagh District Council Fermanagh District Council was a local council in Northern Ireland. It was created out of Fermanagh County Council and later merged with Omagh District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become Fermanagh and Omagh Di ...

prior to his election to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

Background

Born in 1954 into a Roman Catholic farming family in rural

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

, he is the eldest of 12 children and was raised near

Lisnaskea Lisnaskea () is the second-biggest settlement in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated mainly in the townland of Lisoneill, with some areas in the townland of Castle Balfour Demesne, both in the civil parish of Aghalurcher and the ...

, where he currently lives. One of his sisters, Ruth Lynch, is a

Sinn Féin councillor. Another, Mary Lynch, wrote ''The Long Road Home''.

Provisional IRA membership

In April 1986 Lynch was seriously wounded and fellow IRA member

Séamus McElwaine Séamus Turlough McElwaine (also spelt Seamus McElwain; 1 April 1960 – 26 April 1986) was a volunteer in the South Fermanagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles who was shot dead by the British Army. Ea ...

was shot dead when the

SAS SAS or Sas may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers * ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series * Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...

opened fire on them as they prepared to ambush a passing army patrol with a land mine on the Lisnaskea to

Roslea Rosslea or Roslea () is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the Finn River and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest, also known as Sprin ...

road. Lynch was shot by the SAS and seriously wounded, after which he was arrested. After four months in Musgrave Park Hospital Military Wing, he was transferred to

Crumlin Road Jail 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 ' ...

. In December 1986, he was sentenced to 25 years for possession of explosives and a rifle and transferred to the Maze Prison. He was released in October 1998 under the terms of the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

, after serving 12 years of his 25-year sentence.

Séamus McElwaine Inquest

In January 1993 an inquest jury returned a verdict that McElwaine had been unlawfully killed. The jury ruled the SAS soldiers had opened fire without giving McElwaine a chance to surrender, and that he was actually shot dead five minutes after being wounded. The

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

requested a full report on the inquest from the RUC. There were no prosecutions based on the findings.

Political career following prison release

Since his release from prison Lynch has worked as a senior member for Sinn Féin and was on the officer board of what was then the Sinn Féin Six-County Cúige and subsequently as a Six-County representative on the party’s ruling Ard Chomhairle. He was director of elections for

Michelle Gildernew Michelle Gildernew (born 28 March 1970) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, having been re-elected in June 2017 after previously holding t ...

when she won the Westminster seat of Fermanagh and South Tyrone for the party in

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 ...

. Lynch also sat on Fermanagh District Policing Partnership.

Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2017

Lynch stood as a candidate in the 2007 Assembly Election. Lynch polled 4,704 votes, failing to win a seat. He was selected by

in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to stand again as a candidate in the 2011 Assembly Election on 5 May 2011. Lynch was elected on 7 May 2011. He was elected to Fermanagh District Council on 10 May 2011. In line with

's policy of not holding dual mandates Lynch resigned from his council seat to allow a party member to take his place on the council. In September 2011, Tommy Maguire was co-opted onto

Lynch retained his seat in the 2016 Assembly Election with 4,782 first preference votes. He again retained his seat in the 2017 Assembly Election with an increased first preference vote of 6,254. In March 2021 it was announced that Sean Lynch would be stepping down from his role as an MLA with Aine Murphy replacing him in July 2021.

References