Seamus Mallon

Background

Seamus Mallon was born in the largely Protestant village of Markethill and was educated at the Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School in Newry and St. Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh. As a career he chose teaching like his father, becoming headmaster of St. James's Primary School in Markethill. Mallon was also involved in the Gaelic Athletic Association, playing Gaelic football for County Armagh.

Introduction to politics

During the sixties he was involved in the civil rights movement, especially in his native Armagh. In 1979, when John Hume went from being deputy leader of the SDLP (under Gerry Fitt) to leader, Mallon became deputy leader. He was elected to the first power-sharing Assembly in 1973, and to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975 representing Armagh. Between May and December 1982 Mallon was appointed by the then Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, Charles Haughey to the Republic's upper house, Seanad Éireann.

1982 Assembly and Westminster

In 1982 he was elected to the new Northern Ireland Assembly, set up as part of then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Prior's rolling devolution. However, due to his membership of the Seanad he was, following a challenge by Unionist politicians, disqualified. Under legislation of the time, no elected member of a British parliament or regional assembly could serve in a parliament outside the United Kingdom without losing their British seat. That restriction was removed with regards to the Oireachtas by the Disqualifications Act 2000.

In 1986 he was elected to Westminster as an MP for Newry & Armagh, a seat he held until 2005. He won the seat in a by-election to replace Jim Nicholson, who had resigned his seat in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement, along with all the other Northern Irish unionist MPs. Nicholson was the only MP to fail to be re-elected.

Peace Process and 1998 Assembly

In 1994 Mallon was elected to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. He was a member of the SDLP team at the all-party negotiations (the 'Stormont talks') that opened in Belfast in June 1996. In the course of the talks, he remarked that whatever emerged would be "Sunningdale for slow learners", referring to the 1973 Sunningdale Agreement. He has frequently been misquoted as saying that the Good Friday Agreement, which resulted from the talks in 1998, was "Sunningdale for slow learners". The Good Friday Agreement led to the setting up of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which was elected in June 1998, with a power-sharing Executive. Mallon was elected as member for Newry and Armagh, and in December 1999 he became Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, serving alongside Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble.

Mallon has remained a strong opponent of IRA violence. He has also been in favour of police reform in Northern Ireland.

Retirement

In 2001 Seamus Mallon retired, along with John Hume, from the leadership of the SDLP. Mark Durkan replaced both; Hume as leader and Mallon as Deputy First Minister, when the Northern Ireland Executive was re-established following a suspension.

Mallon did not contest his seat in the Stormont Assembly in the 2003 elections, and stood down at the 2005 Westminster election. His seat was taken, as expected, by Conor Murphy of Sinn Féin.

Personal

His wife Gertrude (née Cush) died in October 2016. Their daughter Orla is married with one child herself. He still lives in Markethill.