Seán Lynch MLA (; born 11 January 1954) is an

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

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 ...

politician and a former MLA for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. He was a former

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(IRA) leader in the

Maze Prison HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...

(known as Long Kesh by Irish republicans). Lynch previously served as Chairman of

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh (), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of alleged Laigin or ...

and as a senior member of the district policing partnership in the county. Lynch previously stood for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the

2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two ...

but was unsuccessful. Lynch was a councillor on

Fermanagh District Council Fermanagh District Council was a local council in Northern Ireland. It was created out of Fermanagh County Council and later merged with Omagh District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation to become Fermanagh and Omagh Di ...

prior to his election 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 ...

Background

Born in 1954 into a Roman Catholic farming family in rural

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, he is the eldest of 12 children and was raised near

Lisnaskea Lisnaskea () is the second-biggest settlement in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated mainly in the townland of Lisoneill, with some areas in the townland of Castle Balfour Demesne, both in the civil parish of Aghalurcher and th ...

, where he currently lives. One of his sisters, Ruth Lynch, is a

Sinn Féin councillor. Another, Mary Lynch, wrote ''The Long Road Home''.

Provisional IRA membership

In April 1986 Lynch was seriously wounded and fellow IRA member

Séamus McElwaine () is an Irish male given name, of Hebrew origin via Latin. It is the Irish equivalent of the name James. The name James is the English New Testament variant for the Hebrew name Jacob. It entered the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages from t ...

was shot dead when the SAS opened fire on them as they prepared to ambush a passing army patrol with a land mine on the Lisnaskea to

Roslea Rosslea or Roslea () is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the Finn River (County Fermanagh and County Monaghan), Finn River and is beset by small ...

road. Lynch was shot by the SAS and seriously wounded, after which he was arrested. After four months in Musgrave Park Hospital Military Wing, he was transferred to

Crumlin Road Jail HM Prison Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1996 it is the only remaining Victorian era former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known ...

. In December 1986, he was sentenced to 25 years for possession of explosives and a rifle and transferred to the Maze Prison. He was released in October 1998 under the terms of 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 ...

, after serving 12 years of his 25-year sentence.

Séamus McElwaine Inquest

In January 1993 an inquest jury returned a verdict that McElwaine had been unlawfully killed. The jury ruled the SAS soldiers had opened fire without giving McElwaine a chance to surrender, and that he was actually shot dead five minutes after being wounded. The Director of Public Prosecutions requested a full report on the inquest from the RUC. There were no prosecutions based on the findings.

Political career following prison release

Since his release from prison Lynch has worked as a senior member for Sinn Féin and was on the officer board of what was then the Sinn Féin Six-County Cúige and subsequently as a Six-County representative on the party’s ruling Ard Chomhairle. He was director of elections for

Michelle Gildernew Michelle Angela Gildernew (born 28 March 1970) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2017 to 2024, after previously holding the ...

when she won the Westminster seat of Fermanagh and South Tyrone for the party in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. Lynch also sat on Fermanagh District Policing Partnership.

Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2017

Lynch stood as a candidate in the 2007 Assembly Election. Lynch polled 4,704 votes, failing to win a seat. He was selected by

in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to stand again as a candidate in the 2011 Assembly Election on 5 May 2011. Lynch was elected on 7 May 2011. He was elected to Fermanagh District Council on 10 May 2011. In line with

's policy of not holding dual mandates Lynch resigned from his council seat to allow a party member to take his place on the council. In September 2011, Tommy Maguire was co-opted onto

Lynch retained his seat in the 2016 Assembly Election with 4,782 first preference votes. He again retained his seat in the 2017 Assembly Election with an increased first preference vote of 6,254. In March 2021 it was announced that Sean Lynch would be stepping down from his role as an MLA with Aine Murphy replacing him in July 2021.

References