Marian Donnelly (née Devlin; August 1938 in

Castledawson Castledawson is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is mostly within the townland of Shanemullagh (, IPA: �anˠˈʃanˠˌwʊl̪ˠəx, about four miles from the north-western shore of Lough Neagh, and near the market town of Mag ...

, County Londonderry) is a former president of the Workers' Party and is a member of the District Policing Partnership for the

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

district of

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 ...

Life and career

She first became involved in political activity in 1955 when she campaigned for the

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate Tom Mitchell in the Mid Ulster constituency and in the re-run of that election after Mitchell was barred from being a candidate because he was in jail for republican activities at the time. Donnelly was a founding member and the first Secretary of the South Derry Civil Rights Association, a branch of the

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,

. Her husband, Francie Donnelly, was its first Chairman and is also a prominent member of the Workers' Party. Ms. Donnelly trained as a primary teacher and later also taught at second level. She became active in

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 ...

in the 1960s and when the organisation split in 1970 she remained with Official Sinn Féin which subsequently became the Workers' Party. She has contested several elections on behalf of the party. In March 1992, Donnelly was elected as President of the Workers' Party following the breakaway of a parliamentary grouping from the party, making her the second female leader of an Irish political party and at the time the first woman to lead a party which was represented in Dáil Éireann. She retired from the position in 1994 but has remained an active member of the Workers' Party. She has been a member of the

Glen GAC Watty Graham's Gaelic Athletic Club, Glen ( ga, An Ghleann) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based outside Maghera, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Players are drawn from Maghera and some surrounding townlands. The club competes in G ...

Club in her native Derry and is actively involved in the Brackaghreilly and District Community Association. She and her husband have three adult children.

References

1938 births Politicians from County Londonderry Living people Workers' Party (Ireland) politicians Women from Northern Ireland in politics 20th-century politicians from Northern Ireland People from Castledawson {{NorthernIreland-politician-stub