William Alexander Hay, Baron Hay of Ballyore (born 16 April 1950), is a

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

(DUP) politician, serving as a life peer in the House of Lords since 2014. Hay served as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2007 to 2014, as well as a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ; ) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members – five from each of 18 constituencies, the boundaries o ...

(MLA) for Foyle from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

to 2014. He attended Faughan Valley High School, Drumahoe, County Londonderry. An Irish citizen by birth, he has objected to previously not being deemed automatically eligible for British nationality. This policy is due to be changed in 2024.

Political career

Hay was elected to Londonderry City Council in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in 1981 for the

. He served as Mayor in 1993 and Deputy Mayor in 1992. In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate in 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 List o ...

election in Foyle., but was 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 ...

in 1998. He is a member of the Northern Ireland Housing Council and the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commission. and in 2001 became a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Hay was elected Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007 following the restoration of devolution. He also is a prominent member of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

and

Apprentice Boys of Derry The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Ireland (now part of Northern Ireland). In 2021 it had over 10,000 members worldwide, with membership open to Protestant men only. T ...

. On 6 October 2014, Hay announced his retirement from the Northern Ireland Assembly as both MLA and Speaker. The role of the Speaker had been taken on by

Mitchel McLaughlin John Mitchel McLaughlin (born 29 October 1945) is an Irish Sinn Féin former politician who served as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2015 to 2016, becoming the first Nationalist speaker of the Assembly. McLaughlin was a Member o ...

in a temporary capacity in September 2014 because of Hay's ill health. However, in a letter read to the Assembly, he announced his retirement from the Assembly effective from 13 October 2014 in order to concentrate on returning to good health. In August 2014, it was announced that he would get a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

and he opted to sit there as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

, despite being nominated by DUP. Hay was ennobled on 16 December 2014 and took the title Baron Hay of Ballyore, ''of Ballyore in the City of Londonderry''. He subsequently sat as a DUP member.

Nationality

Hay was born in Milford in the north of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

in the north-west of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

in 1950. 'Willie Hay campaign for British passport cited as DUP try to improve citizenship path for Donegal unionists' ('' The Derry Journal'', 29 January 2024). https://www.derryjournal.com/news/politics/willie-hay-campaign-for-british-passport-cited-as-dup-try-to-improve-citizenship-path-for-donegal-unionists-4496503 County Donegal, the largest

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in Ulster, is one of the three counties in Ulster that is part of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

; the other six counties in Ulster make up

. At the age of six, Hay moved with his family to

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

. He is an

Irish citizen The primary law governing nationality of Republic of Ireland, Ireland is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which Coming into force, came into force on 17 July 1956. Ireland is a member state of the European Union (EU), and all ...

with an

Irish passport An Irish passport () is the passport issued to Irish nationality law, citizens of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. An Irish passport enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as evidence of Irish nationality and citizenship of the Eu ...

because he refuses to pay a £1,300 UK naturalisation fee (and take the "Life in the UK" test) required for people, such as him, who were born in the Republic of Ireland but who wish to become a

British citizen The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself (England, Wales, Scotland, and Nor ...

. "I see myself as a British citizen living in Northern Ireland all my life. I have a right to British citizenship and a British passport. I am being discriminated against because I can't get my British passport," he told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster in April 2021. In January 2024, a

Private Members Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

brought forward by

Gavin Robinson Gavin James Robinson (born 22 November 1984) is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister who has been serving as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since March 2024. He served as Deputy DUP Leader from June 2023 to May 2024 ...

passed, allowing people born in the Republic of Ireland after 1948 that have been living in Northern Ireland for longer than 5 years to register as British citizens. It is not known when the bill will become law.

References

External links

Londonderry Democratic Unionist Party

NI Assembly – Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly

DUP party website profile
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay of Ballyore, Willie Hay, Baron 1950 births Living people Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Crossbench life peers Democratic Unionist Party life peers Irish Protestants Politicians from County Donegal Politicians from Derry (city) Speakers of the Northern Ireland Assembly Mayors of Derry Life peers created by Elizabeth II People from Milford, County Donegal Democratic Unionist Party parliamentary candidates

Political career

Nationality

See also

References

External links