John Finucane
MP
Finucane in 2022
Member of Parliament
for Belfast North
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byNigel Dodds
Majority1,943 (4.0%)
76th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office
1 June 2019 – 18 December 2019
DeputyPeter McReynolds
Preceded byDeirdre Hargey
Succeeded byDaniel Baker
Member of
Belfast City Council
In office
7 May 2019 – 13 December 2019
Preceded byMary Campbell
Succeeded byConor Maskey
ConstituencyCastle
Personal details
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partySinn Féin
Children4
ResidenceNorth Belfast
EducationSt Malachy's College
OccupationPolitician

John Finucane (born 1980) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and solicitor. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for the Belfast North constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since the 2019 general election.[1][2][3]

Early life

Finucane is the son of the Irish 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] Finucane's father was a Roman Catholic from west Belfast, whilst his mother came from a Protestant family in east Belfast.[5][6] Several of Finucane's close relatives on his father's side were members of the Irish Republican Army.[7]

Political career

Finucane in 2017

At the 2017 United Kingdom general election Finucane contested the Belfast North parliamentary constituency for Sinn Féin; the sitting MP was Nigel Dodds of the Democratic Unionist Party. Finucane secured Sinn Féin's highest vote share ever in the constituency but failed to unseat Dodds.[8] Former Provisional IRA member Sean Kelly, who was convicted of nine counts of murder for his role in the Shankill Road bombing in 1993, canvassed for Finucane in the election.[9]

In 2019, Finucane ran for Belfast City Council in the Castle constituency. Also on the ballot were his former St Malachy's College classmates Mal O'Hara of the Green Party and Carl Whyte of the SDLP.[10] Finucane won 1,650 votes, placing him second in the poll behind Nuala McAllister of the Alliance Party. He was consequently elected as a councillor.[11]

Finucane was elected as Lord Mayor of Belfast in May 2019.[12][13] Shortly after being elected Lord Mayor at Belfast City Hall, he was informed by the 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.[14]

At the 2019 United Kingdom general election Finucane again contested Belfast North, winning the seat with 23,078 votes to Dodds' 21,135.[15] He is the first Irish nationalist MP in the history of the constituency.[16]

When Sky News revealed Westminster Accounts in January 2023, Finucane was shown to be the highest-earning Northern Irish MP exclusive of Westminster pay (which Finucane does not take due to his party's non-attendance at Westminster). Most of his secondary earnings came from his work as a solicitor with Belfast law firm Finucane Toner.[17]

Personal life

Finucane serves as goalkeeper and captain of GAA's Lámh Dhearg GAC. He has four children.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Finucane, John". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  2. ^ 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 15 May 2022.
  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. ^ "Sinn Fein's John Finucane says he has ability to reach out to all citizens of north Belfast" – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  6. ^ "In the Name of the Father". Irish Echo Newspaper.
  7. ^ Kula, Adam (30 October 2020). "IRA victim's daughter: 'Pain of the Finucane family is no different to our own – why do we not get the same consideration?'". News Letter.
  8. ^ Ferguson, Amanda (9 June 2017). "Belfast North: John Finucane fails to unseat DUP's Nigel Dodds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  9. ^ Tinney, Aaron (8 June 2017). "Victims' anger as Sinn Fein defend using Shankill bomber Kelly as canvasser". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  10. ^ "North Belfast school friends battle it out in election". BBC News. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Castle". Belfast City Council. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  12. ^ a b 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.
  13. ^ "Lord Mayor – Belfast City Council". Belfast City Council. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  14. ^ "John Finucane defies loyalist threat as he starts work as Belfast mayor". Irish Examiner. 22 May 2019. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Belfast North Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  16. ^ Devlin, Kate (14 December 2019). "DUP pushed aside as nationalists beat unionists for first time". The Times. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  17. ^ Ainsworth, Paul (9 January 2023). "Sinn Féin's John Finucane among the top 20 highest earning MPs outside of Westminster pay, new research reveals". The Irish News. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byNigel Dodds Member of Parliamentfor Belfast North 2019–present Incumbent Civic offices Preceded byDeirdre Hargey Lord Mayor of Belfast 2019–present Incumbent
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