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Seán Lynch (politician)

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Seán Lynch
MLA
Member of theNorthern Ireland Assembly
forFermanagh & South Tyrone
In office
7 May 2011 – July 2021
Preceded byGerry McHugh
Succeeded byAine Murphy
Councillor onFermanagh District Council
In office
10 May 2011 – 11 September 2011
Preceded byPat Cox[1]
Succeeded byTommy Maguire[2]
ConstituencyEnniskillen Electoral Area
Personal details
Born(1954-01-11)11 January 1954(age 70)
Enniskillen,County Fermanagh,Northern Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partySinn Féin
ProfessionPolitician
Known forOfficer CommandingProvisional IRAprisonersinLong Kesh
WebsiteOfficial webpage

Seán Lynch MLA(Irish:Seán Ó Loingsigh;born 11 January 1954) is anIrish republicanSinn Féinpolitician and a formerMLAfor the constituency ofFermanagh and South Tyrone.He was a formerProvisional Irish Republican Army(IRA) leader in theMaze Prison(known as Long Kesh by Irish republicans).[3]

Lynch previously served as Chairman ofSinn FéininFermanaghand as a senior member of the district policing partnership in the county.[4]Lynch previously stood for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the2007 Northern Ireland Assembly electionbut was unsuccessful.[5][6][7][8][9]Lynch was a councillor onFermanagh District Councilprior to his election to theNorthern Ireland Assembly.

Background[edit]

Born in 1954 into a Roman Catholic farming family in ruralCounty Fermanagh,he is the eldest of 12 children and was raised nearLisnaskea,[10]where he currently lives. One of his sisters, Ruth Lynch, is aFermanagh District CouncilSinn Féin councillor. Another, Mary Lynch, wroteThe Long Road Home.[11][12]

Provisional IRA membership[edit]

In April 1986 Lynch was seriously wounded and fellow IRA memberSéamus McElwainewas shot dead when theSASopened fire on them as they prepared to ambush a passing army patrol with a land mine on the Lisnaskea toRoslearoad. Lynch was shot by the SAS and seriously wounded, after which he was arrested. After four months inMusgrave Park Hospital Military Wing,he was transferred toCrumlin Road Jail.[13][14]

In December 1986, he was sentenced to 25 years for possession of explosives and a rifle and transferred to the Maze Prison. He was released in October 1998 under the terms of theGood Friday Agreement,after serving 12 years of his 25-year sentence.[15]

Séamus McElwaine Inquest[edit]

In January 1993 an inquest jury returned a verdict that McElwaine had beenunlawfully killed.The jury ruled the SAS soldiers had opened fire without giving McElwaine a chance to surrender, and that he was actually shot dead five minutes after being wounded. TheDirector of Public Prosecutionsrequested a full report on the inquest from theRUC.There were no prosecutions based on the findings.[16][17][18]

Lynch speaking withFrancie Molloy MLAandMichelle Gildernew MP MLAinLisnaskea,County Fermanagh,May 2011

Political career following prison release[edit]

Since his release from prison Lynch has worked as a senior member for Sinn Féin and was on the officer board of what was then the Sinn Féin Six-County Cúige and subsequently as a Six-County representative on the party’s ruling Ard Chomhairle. He was director of elections forMichelle Gildernewwhen she won the Westminster seat ofFermanagh and South Tyronefor the party in2005.[19]Lynch also sat on Fermanagh District Policing Partnership.[20]

Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2017[edit]

Lynch stood as a candidate in the2007 Assembly Election.Lynch polled 4,704 votes, failing to win a seat. He was selected bySinn Féinin Fermanagh and South Tyrone to stand again as a candidate in the2011 Assembly Electionon 5 May 2011. Lynch was elected on 7 May 2011. He was elected to Fermanagh District Council on 10 May 2011.[21]

In line withSinn Féin's policy of not holding dual mandates Lynch resigned from his council seat to allow a party member to take his place on the council. In September 2011, Tommy Maguire was co-opted ontoFermanagh District Council[22][23]

Lynch retained his seat in the 2016 Assembly Election with 4,782 first preference votes.[24]He again retained his seat in the 2017 Assembly Election with an increased first preference vote of 6,254.[25]In March 2021 it was announced that Sean Lynch would be stepping down from his role as an MLA[26]withAine Murphyreplacing him in July 2021.[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Fermanagh District Council:: The Council:: Councillor Profiles - Enniskillen".Archived fromthe originalon 27 September 2011.Retrieved17 July2011.
  2. ^"Sinn Féin monitor Enniskillen Loyalist Band Parade".Fermanaghsouthtyronesf.26 September 2011.Retrieved20 May2016.
  3. ^"Ex-IRa leader takes up policing role".Belfast Telegraph.Retrieved15 May2016.
  4. ^"DPP appointees named to oversee police - Belfast Newsletter".Newsletter.co.uk.Retrieved20 May2016.
  5. ^"Elections: Assembly Election (NI)".Cain.ulst.ac.uk.7 March 2007.Retrieved20 May2016.
  6. ^"CAIN: Politics: Elections: List of Candidates to the Northern Ireland Assembly Election Wednesday 7 March 2007".Cain.ulst.ac.uk.Retrieved20 May2016.
  7. ^"Northern Ireland Assembly -Fermanagh & South Tyrone 07".Archived fromthe originalon 15 December 2010.Retrieved22 January2011.
  8. ^Dr Nicholas Whyte (14 March 2010)."Fermanagh and South Tyrone 2007".Ark.ac.uk.Retrieved20 May2016.
  9. ^"BBC NEWS, Election 2007, Fermanagh & South Tyrone".BBC News.
  10. ^"News".An Phoblacht. 16 May 2016.Retrieved4 November2016.
  11. ^"One girl's long journey back from trauma (From Impartial Reporter)".Impartialreporter.Retrieved20 May2016.
  12. ^"Londubh Books | The Long Road Home".Londubh.ie.10 September 2010.Retrieved20 May2016.
  13. ^"Sinn Fein MLA Lynch was IRA man injured during SAS ambush where McElwaine was killed".The Irish News.10 February 2016.
  14. ^Taylor, Max; Currie, P. M. (15 July 2011).Dissident Irish Republicanism.Bloomsbury Publishing USA.ISBN9781441154750– via Google Books.
  15. ^"/ News / Roundup / Articles / Impartial Reporter".Archived fromthe originalon 13 July 2011.Retrieved22 January2011.
  16. ^"House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 January 1993".House of Commons. 18 January 1993.Retrieved15 April2007.
  17. ^"United Kingdom/Northern Ireland Human Rights, 1993".U.S. Department of State. 31 January 1994. Archived fromthe originalon 17 July 2011.Retrieved15 April2007.
  18. ^"Amnesty International Report 1994 - United Kingdom".United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.Retrieved6 August2010.
  19. ^"SF's Michelle Gildernew retains Fermanagh after dramatic recount".Retrieved15 May2016.
  20. ^Taylor, Max; Currie, P. M. (15 July 2011).Dissident Irish Republicanism.Bloomsbury Publishing USA.ISBN9781441132215– via Google Books.
  21. ^"Fermanagh South Tyrone Sinn Féin: Sean Lynch MLA".Fermanaghsouthtyronesf.Retrieved20 May2016.
  22. ^"Fermanagh District Council:: The Council:: Councillor Profiles - Enniskillen".Archived fromthe originalon 27 September 2011.Retrieved17 July2011.
  23. ^"The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland".EONI.Retrieved4 November2016.
  24. ^"Assembly Election (NI) Thursday 5 May 2016".
  25. ^"Fermanagh & South Tyrone Northern Ireland Assembly constituency".
  26. ^"Lynch to step down from Assembly role".31 March 2021.
  27. ^"New Fermanagh South Tyrone MLA Áine Murphy co-opted into Lynch's seat".
Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by MLAforFermanagh and South Tyrone
2011–present 		Incumbent
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