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Daithí Gerard McKay (born 1982, Ballymena,
McKay was born in Ballymena in 1982 and raised in Rasharkin,
camera crew.
In May 2009 there were a series of attacks on property in Rasharkin, including an attack on McKay's house and a cafe in the village. The North Antrim MLA blamed anti-social elements and said that these people would not deter him from his work.
A bomb threat was phoned through to McKay's Sinn Féin office in 2015. The caller claimed that a bomb had been left outside McKay's home but police later declared this a hoax after searches took place at his property.
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
, 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 ...
) is a newspaper columnist and former Irish politician. He was the Chair of the Finance Committee in the Northern Ireland Assembly and a 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 G ...
MLA for North Antrim for 9 years. He brought forward legislation that led to the introduction of a Carrier Bag Levy in Northern Ireland and the abolishment of rates for Community Amateur Sport Clubs.
In 2016 he began working as a political columnist and commentator. He works in advocacy and is the current Chairperson of the Climate Coalition NI.
He has a weekly column in the Belfast Telegraph.
Background
McKay was born in Ballymena in 1982 and raised in Rasharkin, County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
.
Prior to being elected he was involved in aid work in the Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
where he worked with the International Solidarity Movement
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. ISM is dedicated to the use of nonviolent protests and methods only. The organization ...
accompanying Palestinians to help minimise harassment and attacks from the IDF and Israeli settlers. Whilst there he and his group were present at the scene of the killing of two Palestinians by the Israeli Defence Forces in Tulkarm
Tulkarm, Tulkarem or Tull Keram ( ar, طولكرم, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located in the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian cities o ...
.
Elected office
He was elected to Ballymoney Council in 2005 becoming the first nationalist councillor from Rasharkin ever to be elected and the youngest ever member of Ballymoney Borough Council. In 2007, McKay contested the North Antrim seat in the Northern Ireland legislature. He went on to claim his seat after the first count, coming second behind Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). McKay received 7,065 votes to Paisley's 7,716. Paisley's son,Ian Paisley Jr.
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley Jr (born 12 December 1966) is a British unionist politician. He is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Antrim since the 2010 general election. Prev ...
came in third.
McKay was the youngest Member elected to the 2007 Assembly and he became one of the first Sinn Féin members to sit on the Policing Board along with Martina Anderson
Martina Anderson (born 16 April 1962) is an Irish former politician from Northern Ireland who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2020 to 2021, and previously from 2007 to 2012. A member of Sinn Féin, she served ...
and Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey (born 8 January 1952) is an Irish politician who has been Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2020 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003. He was Sinn Féin's longest s ...
.
In September 2007 McKay sparked off a political scandal in the Assembly when he used parliamentary privilege to name private developer Seymour Sweeney as a member of the DUP. The DUP Environment Minister, Arlene Foster, had said that she was 'minded' to approve an application from Sweeney for a private visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...
, even though her Planning Service officials had recommended that it be refused.
Foster threatened to take McKay to court over the matter but in January 2008 she decided to refuse the private application.
Attacks and threats
In June 2003 McKay was one of a group of Sinn Féin members, includingMartin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( ga, Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman from Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during ...
and Philip McGuigan, attacked by a loyalist mob in Ballymoney. McGuinness said that "some of them tried to break the windows of the car with their fists, and it was quite a dangerous situation. I think if they had gained access into the car, it could have been quite a nasty situation."
In June 2008, he was one of four Sinn Féin councillors in north Antrim who reportedly received death threats.
In July 2008, McKay and Cllr Padraig McShane sustained minor injuries in a dispute with local youths in Ballymena. The dispute arose because of the youths' opposition to the removal of a bonfire to commemorate internment (Operation Demetrius
Operation Demetrius was a British Army operation in Northern Ireland on 9–10 August 1971, during the Troubles. It involved the mass arrest and internment (imprisonment without trial) of people suspected of being involved with the Irish Republi ...
). McKay said they were in the area ''"in opposition to criminal and antisocial elements who are using this bonfire as a cover for other activities"''. The incident was captured by a BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Rasharkin parades
McKay was involved in protests against the Ballymaconnelly parade through the mainly nationalist village of Rasharkin since they began in 2004. In 2010 the parade was restricted and for the first time was only allowed to march the Main Street on the outward parade but not return. In 2012 two men were fined by a court after McKay reported them for posting sectarian messages on Facebook relating to the village. One of the accused was alleged to have posted: "Let's show the scum in Rasharkin (a Co Antrim village where many Catholics live) how it is done." "God save the Queen. For God and Ulster, Kill all taigs." In 2012 representation from McKay and others in the Rasharkin Residents Association helped secure a determination from the Parades Commission that the parade be reduced from 44 to 25 bands. He highlighted UVF and UDA paramilitary displays at the parade and, in 2015, the Parades Commission introduced a flags ban on the parade.Carrier Bag Levy
In 2011 McKay introduced the "Single Use Plastic Bag Bill" which was passed by the Assembly as the "Single Use Carrier Bag Act 2011". He had raised the matter through a Private Members Debate previously and is believed to be responsible for Sinn Féin ensuring that the levy was included in the Executive's Budget in 2010. The Act amended part of theClimate Change Act 2008
The Climate Change Act 2008 (c 27) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes it the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for all six Kyoto greenhouse gases for the year 2050 is at ...
.
The 5 pence levy was introduced in 2013 and his bill also ensured that the proceeds went towards environmental and community projects.
It has resulted in the reduction in usage of carrier bags in Northern Ireland by tens of millions annually.
He remains only one of two Sinn Féin MLAs to have passed a Private Members Bill in the Assembly since 1998.
The SpAd Bill
In 2013 McKay led the opposition to the Special Advisers Bill brought forward by TUV leader Jim Allister. The Bill aimed to dis-bar ex-prisoners from being Special Advisors to Ministers in the Executive. During the closing debate in which Allister's Bill was ultimately passed McKay made a "marathon 2-hour speech" in opposition. This remains the longest speech ever made by an MLA in the Assembly.Campaign to abolish rates for Sport Clubs
In 2013 Daithí McKay started a campaign to abolish rates for sport clubs. In his second piece of legislation he proposed that CASCs (Community Amateur Sport Clubs) should have 100% rate relief on their grounds and facilities. In the Bill consultation he received over 1,000 responses, one of the most successful consultations for an Assembly Bill to date. He secured the support of the majority of MLAs but the DUP blocked the bill controversially using the Petition of Concern. The campaign still proved successful with the Department of Finance subsequently committing to grant 100% rate relief for clubs as long as they did not have licensed bars. A proposal put by McKay to the Assembly was also passed that ensured that the Department had to have regulations in place by the end of September 2016. On 26 October 2016 full relief for CASCs without bars was introduced by the Finance Minister.Campaign for equal marriage
McKay was a strong supporter of LGBT rights in the Assembly. He spoke in debates to extend marriage to same sex couples between 2012 and 2016 and jointly tabled a number of the motions put to the Assembly. In April 2014 speaking to a motion that he tabled along with 5 other members he said that ''"Homophobia is fuelling the political representation in much of the debate here today. This is about gay people being treated as less than everyone else. Gay men and women are deserving of the same rights that I have and of the same rights that you have."'' ''"Two people who love each other and who have their love recognised through marriage pose no threat to anybody."'' He was one of 3 Sinn Féin MLAs to table a motion calling for equal marriage to be introduced in April 2015 and it was defeated by 49 votes to 47. In November 2015 he again was one of 6 MLAs that tabled a motion calling on the Executive "to table legislation to allow for same sex marriage." 53 MLAs supported the motion and 52 opposed. It was the first time that a majority of Assembly members had expressed support for marriage to be extended to same sex couples. He has remained a vocal supporter of LGBTI rights since he left the Assembly.Resignation
On 13 July 2016 McKay called on the Parades Commission to bar Dervock Young Defenders band from partaking in parades in sensitive areas following an incident in Ballycastle. After McKay made a presentation to the commission with members of the Rasharkin Residents Association the band were barred from participating in the Ballymaconnelly parade. It was alleged that after this parade decision was made the loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson leaked details of messages he exchanged with McKay in which McKay allegedly refers Bryson to a third party whilst he chaired the NAMA Enquiry in the Assembly. The First Minister Peter Robinson resigned less than 2 months after Bryson made allegations at the Finance Committee and McKay was accused of helping to 'take out' the First Minister that was in office with his party colleague Martin McGuinness at the time. McKay resigned as an MLA on 18 August 2016.Columnist and writer
McKay began writing for the ''Belfast Telegraph'' in December 2016. He also began working as a commentator on BBC and ITV. In his first article he called on mainly nationalist councils to introduce the flying of the tricolour from government buildings in the north for the first time by adopting a flags policy of equality rather than neutrality. McKay believes that the mandatory coalition system that puts parties in power automatically is flawed. He has called for Assembly reform. A suggestion he has put forward for discussion is that a hybrid model of a weighted majority system retaining some cross-community safeguards would help address political 'gridlock'. After the Assembly collapsed over theRenewable Heat Incentive scandal
The Renewable Heat Incentive scandal (RHI scandal), also referred to as RHIgate and the Cash for Ash scandal, is a political scandal in Northern Ireland that centres on a failed renewable energy (wood pellet burning) incentive scheme that has b ...
in early 2017 McKay said that the Irish Language Act, unimplemented since the St Andrew's Agreement, should be agreed before the institutions are restored.
In July 2017 he described the Eleventh night
In Northern Ireland, the Eleventh Night or 11th Night, also known as "bonfire night", is the night before the Twelfth of July, an Ulster Protestant celebration. On this night, large towering bonfires are lit in Protestant loyalist neighbourhood ...
as similar to the film ''The Purge'', where all laws are suspended for one night a year and people allowed to do whatever they want, with no consequences.
In August 2017 he criticised the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP MLA Jim Wells (politician), Jim Wells after the County Down, South Down man resigned from the National Trust due to their participation in Belfast Pride parade.
In 2022 he said that the Secretary of State had a responsibility to outline publicly how an Irish unity referendum "might be triggered" given rising levels of support for a border poll.
McKay has written on a number of occasions about the need to decriminalise drug usage and believes that substances such as psilocybin could be used to help address the high rates of depression and anxiety.
He currently has a weekly column in the Belfast Telegraph.
Committees
*Health 2015–2016 *Finance 2010–2011 and 2012–2016 (Chairperson from 2012 to 2016) *Education 2011–2012 *Enterprise, Trade & Investment (Deputy Chairperson from 2010 to 2012) *Environment 2007–2010 *Public Accounts Committee 2012–2015 *Rasharkin Community Association *Rasharkin Residents Association *Chair and Founder of the Assembly All-Party Working Group on Climate Change 2008–2011 *Member of All Party group on Cycling 2014–2016References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Daithi Living people 1982 births Sinn Féin MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 People from Ballymena Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Sinn Féin councillors in Northern Ireland Members of Ballymoney Borough Council Sinn Féin parliamentary candidates People from Rasharkin