Gerry Mullan (politician)

Gerry Mullan (born 24 September 1954) is a former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician from Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.[1] He was an Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Londonderry from 2016 until 2017, when he was deselected by the SDLP in favour of John Dallat, who returned to politics following a short retirement.[2]

Gerry Mullan
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Londonderry
In office May 2016 – 26 January 2017
Preceded by	John Dallat
Succeeded by	John Dallat
Personal details
Born	(1954-09-24) 24 September 1954 Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic and Labour Party

Political career

Mullan was first elected as a councillor to Limavady Borough Council in 2001 representing the Bellarena ward for the Social Democratic and Labour Party.[3] He served on the council for thirteen years and was appointed as the last Mayor of Limavady in 2014.[3] In 2014, Limavady Borough Council was merged with Ballymoney Borough Council, Coleraine Borough Council and Moyle District Council to become Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council; Mullan won a seat on the new council.[4]

At the 2015 United Kingdom general election, Mullan was selected to represent the SDLP standing for election in East Londonderry. However, he lost to the incumbent Democratic Unionist Party's Gregory Campbell.[5] In 2016, Mullan was selected to stand for the Northern Ireland Assembly in East Londonderry, taking over from John Dallat, who was retiring.[6] Mullan was elected to the Assembly and managed to retain the seat for the SDLP. He resigned his seat on the council as a result in order to take up the role as an MLA.[1] However, Dallat announced he would be returning to politics after seven months of retirement and following an SDLP selection hearing, Dallat was selected to be the SDLP's only candidate in East Londonderry ahead of Mullan at the next Assembly election in a move supported by the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.[7]

After being deselected by the SDLP, Mullan announced he was quitting the party after twenty years of membership and looking to take legal action, citing his deselection, believing his local constituency should have decided, not the central party, and stating that the SDLP was no longer the party he had joined.[8] The media viewed this as part of a personal feud between Mullan and Dallat.[9] Supporters of Mullan put up posters around County Londonderry alleging Dallat was enriching himself by him taking retirement severance and running again after such a short retirement period, though Mullan himself had not endorsed this action.[10] Dallat's daughter, Helena Dallat O'Driscoll, took Mullan to an employment tribunal, alleging he had discriminated against her on marital and gender grounds by refusing to employ her in his constituency office. The case was dismissed, however, after Dallat's daughter failed to pay the £200 court fee.[11] Mullan announced his intention to stand in the 2017 Assembly elections as an independent to try to retain his seat but was not elected.[12][13]

References

1. "Leap from Council to Stormont for Gerry". Ballymoney Times. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
2. "John Dallat: SDLP politician will contest election". Irish News. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
3. "Gerry Mullan is the new Mayor of Limavady". Londonderry Sentinel. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
4. "SDLP select Gerry Mullan to run in Assembly election". Derry Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
5. "East Londonderry parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
6. "In the shadow of two political heavyweights". Coleraine Times. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
7. "SDLP row after outgoing MLA overlooked for '˜retired' John Dallat". News Letter. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
8. "Outgoing SDLP MLA quits party to stand as independent". News Letter. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
9. Seamus McKinney (1 February 2017). "Deselected SDLP MLA Gerry Mullan to stand as independent candidate". The Irish News. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
10. "SDLP candidate deeply hurt by derogatory posters". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
11. "Ex-MLA's relief at collapse of case brought by SDLP colleague's daughter". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
12. "Election 2017: Former SDLP MLA Gerry Mullan to run as independent in election". derryjournal.com. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
13. East Londonderry, bbc.co.uk; accessed 4 March 2017.

Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by John Dallat	MLA for East Londonderry 2016–2017	Succeeded by John Dallat