William Alexander Hay, Baron Hay of Ballyore (called Willie; born 16 April 1950, in

Milford, County Donegal Milford or Millford, historically called ''Ballynagalloglagh'' (), is a small town and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. The population at the 2016 census was 1,037. The '' Tirconaill Tribune'' is headquartered here. History and name Locat ...

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. ...

) is a

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

(DUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 1998 to 2014. He has been a

Member of the House of Lords This is a list of members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Current sitting members Lords Spiritual 26 bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords: the Archbishops of Canterbury and ...

since 2014. He was the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 8 May 2007 to 13 October 2014. He attended Faughan Valley High School, Drumahoe, County Londonderry. An Irish citizen by birth, he has objected to not being deemed automatically eligible for British nationality.

Political career

Hay was elected to

Londonderry City Council Derry City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Dhoire; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local govern ...

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

in 1981 for the

. He served as Mayor in 1993 and Deputy Mayor in 1992. In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in Foyle., but was elected to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = S ...

in 1998. He is a member of the Northern Ireland Housing Council and the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commission. and in 2001 became a member of the

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 ...

. Hay was elected Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007 following the restoration of devolution. He also is a prominent member of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots people, Ulster Sco ...

and

Apprentice Boys of Derry The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 10,000, founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. There are branches in Ulster and elsewhere in Ireland, Scotland, Engla ...

. On 6 October 2014, Hay announced his retirement from the Northern Ireland Assembly as both MLA and Speaker. The role of the Speaker had been taken on by

Mitchel McLaughlin John Mitchel McLaughlin (born 29 October 1945) is the former General Secretary of Sinn Féin who also served as an MLA and was once the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He was the first Nationalist speaker of the Assembly. McLaughlin ...

in a temporary capacity in September 2014 because of Hay's ill health. However, in a letter read to the Assembly, he announced his retirement from the Assembly effective from 13 October 2014 in order to concentrate on returning to good health. In August 2014, it was announced that he would get a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...

to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

and he opted to sit there as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

, despite being nominated by DUP. Hay was ennobled on 16 December 2014 and took the title Baron Hay of Ballyore, ''of Ballyore in the City of Londonderry''. He subsequently sat as a DUP member.

Nationality

He is an

Irish citizen Irish nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Republic of Ireland. The primary law governing these regulations is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which came into force on 17 July 1956. R ...

with an Irish passport because he refuses to pay a £1,300 UK naturalisation fee (and take the "Life in the UK" test) required for people, such as him, who wish to become a

British citizen British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

. "I see myself as a British citizen living in Northern Ireland all my life. I have a right to British citizenship and a British passport. I am being discriminated against because I can't get my British passport," he told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster in April 2021.

References

External links

Londonderry Democratic Unionist Party

NI Assembly – Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly

DUP party website profile
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, William 1950 births Living people Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Crossbench life peers Democratic Unionist Party life peers Irish Protestants People from County Londonderry Politicians from County Donegal Politicians from County Londonderry Speakers of the Northern Ireland Assembly Mayors of Derry Life peers created by Elizabeth II

Political career

Nationality

See also

References

External links