Declan O'Loan (born 5 August 1951) is an Irish former politician who served as a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...

(MLA) for North Antrim from 2007 to 2011. O’Loan was previously a member of

Ballymena Borough Council Ballymena Borough Council was the local authority of Ballymena in Northern Ireland. It merged with Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Mid and ...

. He is a member of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP), but the

party whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

was withdrawn on 25 May 2010. O'Loan was elected for the SDLP in the 2007 Assembly Elections. He was suspended by the SDLP after advocating a merger between the SDLP and

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 Gri ...

to form a single

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

party. The SDLP had refused to make an electoral pact with Sinn Féin in the 2010 Westminster election. In the May 2011 election, O'Loan ran as an SDLP candidate for re-election to the Assembly from North Antrim, but was eliminated in the last round of ballot-counting. Declan O'Loan is married to

Nuala O'Loan Nuala Patricia O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan, (born 20 December 1951), known between 2007 and 2009 as Dame Nuala O'Loan, is a noted public figure in Northern Ireland. She was the first Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Police Ombudsman from 199 ...

, a former

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI; ga, Ombudsman Póilíní do Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Owersman fur tha Polis o Norlin Airlann'') is a non-departmental public body intended to provide an independent, im ...

. He is also the

Honorary Consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in Northern Ireland. O'Loan studied at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

Organisational membership

*Secretary of the Association of SDLP Councillors *Chair of Ballymena District Policing Partnership *Chair of Ballymena Community Safety Partnership *Member of the Board of Ballymena Citizens Advice Bureau *Member of the Board of Ballymena Community Forum *Member of the Ballymena Local Strategy Partnership *Member of the

Northern Ireland Community Relations Council Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

References

External links

Official website
1951 births Living people Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Alumni of Imperial College London Members of Ballymena Borough Council Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 People from Ballymena Politicians from County Antrim Spouses of life peers {{Northern-Ireland-MLA-stub