Tom Kelly, OBE, DL, is an Irish and UK media commentator, businessman and former vice chairman 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 ...

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 ...

. The grandson of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

veteran and Irish Labour activist Tom Kelly, he attended the Abbey Grammar School in

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

followed by the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

. He was political assistant to the former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and MP for

Newry and Armagh Newry and Armagh can refer to: * Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency) *Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency) Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Mickey Brady 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 20 ...

. With the backing of the United States-based

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...

Kelly set up the Social Democratic Group on behalf of the SDLP. Kelly was the communications director in many of the key SDLP electoral campaigns until 2001. In 1994 he moved into public relations fronting a Belfast office for Dublin-based PR company Drury Communications. He subsequently bought that company out and renamed it Stakeholder Communications. In 2001 he was appointed by the British

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 ...

to serve on the first

Northern Ireland Policing Board The Northern Ireland Policing Board ( ga, Bord Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Polisin Boord'') is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Nor ...

. In 2002 he won the prestigious PRCA Award for the best corporate communications campaign. Kelly was heavily involved in the

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

movement of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He served as chairman of Newry Credit Union Ltd and drove the media aspect of an all Ireland campaign for a taxation exemption for credit union members. He was the first chairman of Newry City Centre Management Partnership having jointly led the campaign for city status for Newry and Mourne District Council and Newry Chamber of Commerce in 2002. Kelly was also a former chairman of the

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

club - Cumann Naomh Eoin Bosco GFC from 1991 to 1995. He is a regular media contributor to political and current affairs programmes on the BBC and has a popular weekly column in the leading morning

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: Th ...

paper in Northern Ireland, the ''

Irish News 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 ...

''. Kelly is a visiting professor at the

's School of Communication. In 2005 he was named as one of the top 50 most influential Irishmen in Great Britain by a leading Irish Sunday newspaper. In 2006 he accepted an OBE. In 2011 Kelly was appointed chairman of Square Up Media in London. He serves as an honorary consul for

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. In February 2012 the University of Ulster announced the awarding of an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

to Kelly for his contribution to the community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Tom Social Democratic and Labour Party politicians Alumni of Ulster University Deputy Lieutenants of Down Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire