Peter Weir (politician)

Peter Weir MLA (born 21 November 1968) is a Northern Ireland politician with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) serving as Education Minister since 2020, and previously from 2016 to 2017.[1] Weir is the first non-Sinn Féin legislator (following Martin McGuinness, Caitríona Ruane, and John O'Dowd) to head the Department of Education since the department came into existence on 2 December 1999.

Peter Weir

MLA
Minister for Education
Assumed office
11 January 2020
First MinisterArlene Foster
Deputy First MinisterMichelle O'Neill
Preceded byVacant
In office
25 May 2016 – 2 March 2017
First MinisterArlene Foster
Deputy First MinisterMartin McGuinness
Preceded byJohn O'Dowd
Succeeded byVacant
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for North Down
In office
25 June 1998 – 26 January 2017
Preceded byConstituency established
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Strangford
Assumed office
2 March 2017
Preceded byJonathan Bell
Personal details
Born (1968-11-21) 21 November 1968
Bangor, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyDUP (2002–present)
UUP (until 2001)
Alma materQueen's University Belfast
ProfessionBarrister
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life

Weir attended Bangor Grammar School and graduated from the Queen's University of Belfast in Law and Accountancy. He was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1992 and is a former editor of the Ulster Review. Weir has been a member of the Queen's University Senate since 1996 and is also leading member of the University Convocation. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum in 1996 for the constituency of North Down.

Political career

Weir is a former chairman of the Young Unionists (the UUP Youth Wing).

Weir refused to support the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, saying in one television interview that the only positive comment he could summon for the Agreement was that it was "very nicely typed".[2] A leading critic of then-party leader David Trimble's policies, Weir was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 1998 election.[3]

Weir was selected as his party's candidate to fight the 2001 general election in North Down, but a month before the election tensions between him and the party reached the stage where he was deselected and replaced by Sylvia Hermon. Weir was later expelled from the Ulster Unionist Party for refusing to support the re-election of David Trimble as First Minister of Northern Ireland. Following a period as an Independent Unionist, Weir joined the Democratic Unionist Party in 2002.

Since then, he has been re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in North Down at each election for the DUP. In the 2005 Westminster election Weir as a DUP candidate for North Down, but lost to Sylvia, Lady Hermon of the Ulster Unionist Party.

He is a former member of the North Down Borough Council.

Personal life

Weir is a barrister by profession.

He is a member of the Orange Order and the Royal Black Preceptory. He attends Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church.[4]

References
  1. "Weir Peter". Membership of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 12 September 2004. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  2. The Long Good Friday, Channel 4 Television, 1999.
  3. Brendan Lynn; Martin Melaugh (4 July 2010). "Biographies of Prominent People – 'W' (Weir Pter)". Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland. Ulster University.
  4. "Councillor Peter Weir MLA – North Down DUP (Democratic Unionists)". North Down DUP. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
Northern Ireland Forum
New forum Member for North Down
1996–1998		 Forum dissolved
Northern Ireland Assembly
New assembly MLA for North Down
1998–2017		 Succeeded by
Alan Chambers
Preceded by
Jonathan Bell		 MLA for Strangford
2017–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
John O'Dowd		 Minister of Education
2016–2017		 Vacant
Office suspended
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