Patrick Michael O'Hanlon (8 May 1944 – 7 April 2009) was an Irish barrister and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Born in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

County Louth, but resident in Mullaghbawn, South Armagh since childhood, partly due to an exclusion order, O'Hanlon studied at St Colman's College and at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

where he studied law. Prominent in the

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA; ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights for Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,1969 Northern Ireland general election The 1969 Northern Ireland general election was held on Monday 24 February 1969. It was the last election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland before its abolition by the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. This was the first (and only) el ...

, as an

independent Nationalist Independent Nationalist () is a political title frequently used by Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Great Britain and Ireland not as members of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in the lat ...

MP for South Armagh. In August 1970, he was a founder member of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

(SDLP). O'Hanlon was jailed several times during his activity for NICRA in advocating Civil Rights for Catholics and one-man-one-vote in Armagh Jail. His father, also Paddy, had been an active participant in the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

and lost a limb during the original Dungooley Ambush in 1922 during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

. The journalist Toby Harnden erroneously stated that the leg was buried in St Patrick's Cemetery, Dowdallshill in his book "Bandit Country." In fact were it not for the intervention of a nurse who was a member of

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; but in English termed The Irishwomen's Council), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and dissolving Inghinidhe na hÉireann, and in 191 ...

he could have been summarily executed in 1922 in Dundalk. His mother, Sarah, had in fact signed nomination papers to enable

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

contest the

Northern Ireland House of Commons The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished with the p ...

in the Armagh Constituency. The Northern Ireland Office denied their request for redress done to the farm and business in Mullaghbawn after the passage of the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

as the family were "bitter republicans." He has refused to deny in print that he travelled south with a number of Stormont Opposition MPs,

Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer from Belfast. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a Stormont MP and a member o ...

and Paddy Kennedy to meet the Irish Government of

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, ...

for military aid.O'Hanlon p. 32. This has been denied by fellow SDLP founder member, Paddy Devlin, who later quit the party in his autobiography ''Straight-Left'' though Devlin also travelled to Leinster House with O'Hanlon, Paddy Kennedy and others. However, Lynch refused to meet the delegation and as he has stated they got no guns but concentrated minds as refugees streamed south over the border into the Republic. The

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

was abolished in 1973 and O'Hanlon and the other SDLP members had withdrawn in protest before its prorogation. O'Hanlon was later elected to the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

, representing

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

and was the SDLP's Chief

Whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

. O'Hanlon stood for the

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

constituency of

at the February 1974 general election, taking second place, with 29.3% of the votes cast. He stood 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 Party (UK), Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of N ...

and the 1982 Assembly in Armagh, but on both occasions was narrowly beaten by fellow party member Hugh News. Following this second loss, O'Hanlon left active politics and qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in 1986; he remained connected with the SDLP but allowed his membership to lapse. O'Hanlon died on 7 April 2009 in Dublin's Mater Hospital following a short illness; he was 65 years old. Shortly before his death he became a member of the Crossmaglen branch of

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

, which consisted of former SDLP members that wanted Fianna Fáil to run both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In his self-published autobiography, ''End of Term Report'', he refers to the advice he provided to the SDLP during the forum talks leading to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

negotiations to

Frank Feely Frank Feely is a former Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician and teacher in Northern Ireland. Background Feely worked as a teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who ...

and

Seamus Mallon Seamus Frederick Mallon ( ; 17 August 1936 – 24 January 2020) was an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to ...

in the area of policing reform and policing bodies as he was considered a legal expert in this area as a constitutional barrister. Suggested amendments he provided to the texts submitted by the SDLP negotiators are provided in the autobiography, the majority of which were included in the actual text of the final document agreed in the negotiations and voted through by the people in two all-island referendums. In 2001 he was appointed by then Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen served as a TD for the constituency of Laois–Offaly from 1984 to 2011 and served in several ...

, to chair the Task Force on Policy regarding Emigrants. The report published in 2002, made extensive recommendations about developing relevant cultural and welfare services, and was influential in establishing an ' Irish Abroad Unit' and expanding state interactions with the irish disapora. He was a relative of the Cavan-Monaghan Fianna Fáil TD, Dr

Rory O'Hanlon Rory O'Hanlon (born 7 February 1934) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2002 to 2007, Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1997 to 2002, Minister for the Environment from 19 ...

, who wrote a foreword to his autobiography, and the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (; born 18 September 1953) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan–Monaghan (Dáil constituency), Cavan–Monaghan constituency from 1997 to 2020. Ó Caoláin's victory ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohanlon, Paddy 1944 births 2009 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin People from Drogheda Politicians from County Louth Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974 Independent members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Social Democratic and Labour Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Barristers from Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Armagh constituencies