Seamus Lynch (born 1945) is a former Irish republican and socialist

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 ...

. Born in North

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

,Pain will linger in Ireland
", ''

Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

'', 21 May 1998 Lynch became a republican activist around the start of

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

, and sided with the Official wing of

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 split of 1970.Ian S. Wood, ''Crimes of Loyalty'' He was imprisoned from October 1971 until the following year. He was a strong supporter of the

Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged ...

's ceasefire in 1972 and Official Sinn Féin's vocal

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. As a result, he became active in the

Republican Clubs The Workers' Party ( ga, Páirtí na nOibrithe) is a Marxist–Leninist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It arose as the original Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, but took ...

movement, and stood for the organisation in Belfast North at the

Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973 The Northern Ireland Assembly was a legislative assembly set up by the Government of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1973 to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland with the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive made up of unionists an ...

. He received only 1.7% of the first preference votes cast and was not elected. He stood again for the

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland. F ...

, but his vote dropped to just 1.3%. He was elected to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, representing Area G, but lost his seat in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Lynch next stood in the

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

seat of Belfast North at the 1979 general election, increasing his vote to 4.5%, the best result for Republican Clubs in

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 ...

, and at the

1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly elections were held on 20 October 1982 in an attempt to re-establish devolution and power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Although the Northern Ireland Assembly officially lasted until 1986 (and was seen as bein ...

, he increased his share to 7.1%.

Workers' Party

In 1982, Republican Clubs was renamed the Workers' Party and Lynch became its Northern Chairman and national Vice-President He then stood in the 1983 general election, receiving 5.7% of the vote,North Belfast, 1983-1992
, Northern Ireland Elections but did less well in the

-wide European Parliament election in 1984, taking only 1.3% and seventh position of eight candidates. He was re-elected to Belfast City Council in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, representing Oldpark, and held his seat in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

. Lynch's best result in a Westminster election came when he took 11.8% of the vote in a three-way contest in the 1986 Belfast North by-election. At the following year's general election, he dropped back to 8.3%. He also stood in the 1989 European election, placing eighth out of ten candidates.

Democratic Left

In 1992, Lynch sided with the split from the Workers' Party which produced Democratic Left, and he became the new group's main figure in Northern Ireland. Standing for the new organisation, at the 1992 UK general election his vote fell to 3.7% and he lost his council seat the following year. His last contest for the party was heading its North Belfast list for the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...

election in 1996, but the list took only 123 votes. Democratic Left dissolved in 1999, its members invited to join the Labour Party but not permitted to organise in Northern Ireland. In 2003, Lynch was elected Chairman of the North Belfast sub-group of the Belfast District Policing Partnership.Belfast police groups select leaders
, Jonathan McCambridge, '' Belfast Telegraph'' ,17 April 2003 He was Public Affairs Officer with Age NI until 2012. He now works as Public Affairs Manager for Age Sector Platform and is the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Pensioners Parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Seamus 1945 births Living people Members of Belfast City Council Democratic Left (Ireland) politicians Workers' Party (Ireland) politicians Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland