Malachi Curran
Member of the Northern Ireland Forum
In office
30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998
Preceded byForum created
Succeeded byForum dissolved
ConstituencyTop-up list
Member of Down District Council
In office
17 May 1989 – 19 May 1993
Preceded byGeraldine Ritchie
Succeeded byGerard Mahon
ConstituencyDownpatrick
In office
20 May 1981 – 15 May 1985
Preceded byGeorge Flinn
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
ConstituencyDown Area B
Personal details
BornCounty Down, Northern Ireland
Political partyLabour Party of Northern Ireland (1998 - 2016)
Independent Labour (1981 - 1985)
Other political
affiliations		Labour Coalition (1996 - 1998)
SDLP (1989 - 1996)

Malachi Curran is a Northern Irish politician.

Career

He was elected to Down District Council in 1981 as a Labour candidate. He did not stand in 1985, but was elected to the same council in 1989 for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).[1]

He resigned from the SDLP to stand as a Labour coalition candidate for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Although the group did not win any constituency seats, it was awarded two top-up seats, which went to Hugh Casey and Curran.[citation needed]

Shortly after the elections to the Forum, the Coalition dissolved. Curran was recognised as leader of the Labour group in the Forum.[2]

With seven other leaders of Forum groupings that had supported the Good Friday Agreement, he won the Harriman Democracy Prize of the National Democratic Institute in 1998.[3]

Curran then formed the Labour Party of Northern Ireland. Under this label, he failed to take a seat standing in South Down at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, winning only 1% of the first preference votes.[4]

Curran stood as an independent at the 2003 elections to the Assembly, but saw his vote drop to 0.4%.[4] At the 2007 election, he placed bottom in South Down, taking just 123 votes.[5]

After leaving politics, Curran became the owner of a pub, the Ann Boal Inn in Killough, County Down, following the death of Ann Boal, who had been a longtime friend of Curran.[6]

References

  1. ^ Down District Council Elections 1993-2011 Archived 23 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine, ARK.ac.uk; accessed 28 August 2017.
  2. ^ House of Commons Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk, 6 December 1996.
  3. ^ Past Harriman recipients Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine, ndi.org; accessed 28 August 2017.
  4. ^ a b Elections: South Down Archived 21 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, ARK
  5. ^ Northern Ireland election Archived 8 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 9 March 2007
  6. ^ Johnny Caldwell, Pub's Good Friday Agreement link Archived 8 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News (March 19, 2008).
Northern Ireland Forum New forum Regional Member 1996–1998 Forum dissolved Party political offices Preceded byMark Langhammer Leader of the Labour coalition 1996–1998 Coalition dissolved New political party Leader of the Labour Party of Northern Ireland 1998-present Incumbent
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