John Finucane (Sinn Féin politician)

John Finucane
John Finucane
	Finucane in 2017
64th Lord Mayor of Belfast[1]
	In office; 21 May 2019 – 18 December 2019
Preceded by	Deirdre Hargey
Succeeded by	Daniel Baker
Constituency	Castle
Member of ; Belfast City Council
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 2019
Preceded by	Mary Campbell
Succeeded by	Conor Maskey
Constituency	Castle
Member of Parliament ; for Belfast North
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 12 December 2019
Preceded by	Nigel Dodds
Majority	1,943 (4.0%)
Personal details
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Sinn Féin
Occupation	Politician

John Finucane (born 1980/81)[2] is an Irish lawyer, footballer, and Sinn Féin politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Belfast North constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since the 2019 general election.[3]

Early life

He is the son of the Irish human rights lawyer Pat Finucane who was murdered in 1989 at his family home by loyalist paramilitaries, a murder that BBC News called "one of the most controversial killings during The Troubles."[4]

Political career

In the 2017 United Kingdom general election Finucane contested the Belfast North parliamentary constituency on behalf of Sinn Féin, Finucane secured Sinn Féin's highest vote share ever gained in the constituency but failed to unseat Nigel Dodds.[5]

In 2019 Finucane ran for Belfast City Council in the Castle DEA. He ran against his former St Malachy's College classmates Mal O'Hara of the Green Party and Carl Whyte of the SDLP.[6] Finucane won 1,650 placing him second in the poll behind Nuala McAllister of the Alliance Party.[7]

He was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast in May 2019.[8] Shortly after being elected Lord Mayor at Belfast City Hall, he was informed by Police Service of Northern Ireland that loyalists had made credible threats to his life and planned to attack his family home. Finucane remarked "I am committed to serving and representing all the people of this city and I will not be deterred from that by threats from anyone." The next day, he welcomed Charles, Prince of Wales to the city whilst he was on an official visit.[9]

In the 2019 United Kingdom general election Finucane again contested Belfast North, winning the seat with 23,078 votes to Dodds' 21,135.[10] He is the first Irish nationalist MP in the history of the constituency.[11]

Personal life

Finucane currently serves as goalkeeper and captain of GAA's Lámh Dhearg GAC. He has four children.[8]

References

"Lord Mayor - Belfast City Council". Belfastcity.gov.uk. 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/john-finucane-on-being-lord-mayor-for-all-reaching-out-to-unionists-his-dads-murder-and-gaa-heroics-38564027.html
Breen, Suzanne (17 November 2019). "General Election: Nigel Dodds v John Finucane will prove litmus test for bitterest foes in North Belfast". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
"Q&A: The murder of Pat Finucane". BBC News. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
Ferguson, Amanda (9 June 2017). "Belfast North: John Finucane fails to unseat DUP's Nigel Dodds". Irish Times. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
"North Belfast school friends battle it out in election - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
Northern Ireland. "Castle (District Electoral Area) - Wikipedia". En.m.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
Bogue, Declan (5 October 2019). "John Finucane on being 'Lord Mayor for all', reaching out to unionists, his dad's murder and GAA heroics". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
"John Finucane defies loyalist threat as he starts work as Belfast mayor". Irish Examiner. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
"Belfast North Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
Devlin, Kate (14 December 2019). "DUP pushed aside as nationalists beat unionists for first time". The Times. Retrieved 14 December 2019.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Nigel Dodds	Member of Parliament for Belfast North 2019–present	Incumbent
Civic offices
Preceded by Deirdre Hargey	Lord Mayor of Belfast 2019–present	Incumbent

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Lord Mayor - Belfast City Council". Belfastcity.gov.uk. 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2019-11-29.

[2] ttps://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/john-finucane-on-being-lord-mayor-for-all-reaching-out-to-unionists-his-dads-murder-and-gaa-heroics-38564027.html

[3] Breen, Suzanne (17 November 2019). "General Election: Nigel Dodds v John Finucane will prove litmus test for bitterest foes in North Belfast". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 18 November 2019.

[4] "Q&A: The murder of Pat Finucane". BBC News. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.

[5] Ferguson, Amanda (9 June 2017). "Belfast North: John Finucane fails to unseat DUP's Nigel Dodds". Irish Times. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

[6] "North Belfast school friends battle it out in election - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-11-29.

[7] Northern Ireland. "Castle (District Electoral Area) - Wikipedia". En.m.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2019-11-29.

[BT-8] Bogue, Declan (5 October 2019). "John Finucane on being 'Lord Mayor for all', reaching out to unionists, his dad's murder and GAA heroics". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 18 November 2019.

[9] "John Finucane defies loyalist threat as he starts work as Belfast mayor". Irish Examiner. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.

[10] "Belfast North Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2019.

[11] Devlin, Kate (14 December 2019). "DUP pushed aside as nationalists beat unionists for first time". The Times. Retrieved 14 December 2019.