John Dallat (24 March 1947 – 5 May 2020) was an Irish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

in the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) who represented

East Londonderry East Londonderry or East Derry can refer to: * The eastern part of County Londonderry * The eastern part of the city of Derry * East Londonderry (Assembly constituency) * East Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency) East Londonderry is a par ...

in 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 ...

from 1998 to 2016, and then from 2017 until his death in 2020.

Education

He attended Coleraine College of Further Education, the North West College of Further and Higher Education, 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 ...

and

University College, Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

before becoming a

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource management, ...

instructor.

Career

Dallat joined the Social Democratic and Labour Party and was elected to

Coleraine Borough Council Coleraine Borough Council was a local council mainly in County Londonderry and partly in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymoney Borough Council, Limavady Borough Council and Moyle District Council in May 2015 under local g ...

in 1977. From 2001–02, he was the first

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern ...

. In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in East Londonderry. Dallat was elected to the

for East Londonderry in 1998 and held his seat in 2003. At the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

and

2005 UK general election The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader aft ...

s, he unsuccessfully contested the Westminster seat of

. He had been vocal in his opposition of the Coleraine loyalist who was convicted of the

Greysteel massacre The Greysteel massacreCrawford, Colin. ''Inside the UDA''. Pluto Press, 2003. p. 193 was a mass shooting that took place on the evening of 30 October 1993 in Greysteel, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Members of the Ulster Defence Associ ...

Torrens Knight use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

, being released from prison. Knight who was freed 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 ...

. On 14 September 2010, he shared a debate with the NF publicity officer, Tom Linden, on

BBC Radio Foyle BBC Radio Foyle ( ga, BBC Raidió Feabhail) is a BBC Northern Ireland local radio station, serving County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It is named after the River Foyle which flows through Derry, the city where the station is based. The ...

about the support for the NF in

. Dallat expressed his disgust and was then criticised by Linden for being a member of a sectarian party, which allowed Dallat to air his views, which resulted in the NF Coleraine organiser, Mark Brown, "thanking" Dallat for helping the NF double its support in Coleraine through enquiries and membership. A member of the

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

, Dallat commented that

Conor Murphy Conor Terence Murphy ( Irish: Conchúr Ó Murchú; born 10 July 1963) is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician who is the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland for Newry and Armagh. He served as the Member of Parliament ...

had scheduled the 2016 opening of the Dungiven by-pass to coincide with the centenary of the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with t ...

, to which Sinn Féin councillor Paddy Butcher said: "Attacking Sinn Féin minister Conor Murphy, Mr. Dallat cautioned the residents of Dungiven to 'hope the Dungiven bypass is less of an aspiration and more something they (Sinn Féin) are actually capable of delivering'". After a short retirement, Dallat retained the SDLP seat in East Londonderry in the 2017 Assembly elections.

Death

Dallat died on 5 May 2020 at the age of 73.

References

External links

John Dallat profile
niassembly.gov.uk; accessed 4 March 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dallat, John 1947 births 2020 deaths Alumni of the University of Galway Alumni of Ulster University Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 People from County Antrim Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Social Democratic and Labour Party councillors Members of Coleraine Borough Council Mayors of Coleraine