Stephen Farry
Stephen Farry Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party | |
---|---|
Assumed office 3 December 2016 | |
Leader | Naomi Long |
Preceded by | Naomi Long |
Member of Parliament for North Down | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Sylvia Hermon |
Majority | 2,968 (7.3%) |
Member of the Legislative Assembly for North Down | |
In office 7 March 2007 – 16 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Eileen Bell |
Succeeded by | Andrew Muir |
Minister for Employment and Learning | |
In office 5 May 2011 – 6 May 2016 | |
First Minister | Peter Robinson (FM) Arlene Foster (FM) Martin McGuinness (dFM) |
Preceded by | Danny Kennedy |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Stephen Anthony Farry[1] 22 April 1971 Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland |
Political party | Alliance |
Spouse |
Wendy Watt (m. 2005) |
Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
Stephen Anthony Farry (born 22 April 1971)[2] is a Northern Irish politician who has served as the deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since December 2016 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Down since 2019.[3]
Farry served as the
Early life and career
Farry is the son of Vincent Farry and Margaret Farry (née Greer).
He is a former General Secretary of the
Political career
Minister for Employment and Learning
Farry held his North Down seat in the 2011 Assembly election, and was subsequently appointed Minister for Employment and Learning in the 4th Northern Ireland Executive.[6]
In September 2011, Farry announced a freeze on tuition fees in Northern Ireland, with fees only subject to an inflationary rise.[7]
Following the decision by Alliance Party councillors to vote in favour of restricting the flying of the
In February 2013, he launched a review of
Following the 2016 elections, Farry had been tipped by The Irish News to succeed David Ford as Minister of Justice.[12] However, with the Alliance Party opting to enter opposition, he returned to the backbench.[13] He subsequently assumed positions on the Stormont Committee for the Economy and Business Committee, remaining on these until the collapse of the Assembly in February 2017.[14]
Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party
Following the resignation of David Ford as Alliance leader on 5 October 2016, Farry was named by The Irish Times as a potential leadership contender alongside Naomi Long.[15] However, he did not stand as a leadership candidate and was later elected unopposed as Deputy Leader of the party.[16][17]
At the
Member of Parliament
On 13 December 2019, Farry was elected to represent the constituency of North Down in the 2019 general election.[19][20] Farry replaced long-term incumbent Lady Hermon, who had stepped down at the election after eighteen years as an Ulster Unionist, and later independent, MP.[21] He made his maiden speech on 20 December 2019, starting his speech speaking in Irish to "reflect the shared traditions of Northern Ireland"; it was the first time since 1901 that a maiden speech had been conducted in Irish, when Thomas O'Donnell was chastised by the then-Speaker for not speaking in English in the chamber.[22]
In May 2020, Farry was one of a number of politicians warned that he was under threat from
Personal life
In 2005, Farry married Wendy Watt. He lists his recreations as travel and international affairs.[3]
References
- ^ "No. 8218". The Belfast Gazette. 23 December 2019. p. 1002.
- OCLC 1129682574.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ "1996 Candidates – Fermanagh and South Tyrone". www.ark.ac.uk.
- ^ "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | North Down". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- Irish Times. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ "NI university tuition fees frozen". BBC News. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ McDonald, Henry (6 December 2012). "Alliance minister accuses loyalist attackers of endangering child's life". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^ "Minister reviewing apprenticeships". BBC News. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Review of NI training and skills". BBC News. 12 January 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ Manley, John (11 May 2016). "Stephen Farry earmarked by Alliance for justice portfolio". The Irish News. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Moriarty, Gerry (19 May 2016). "Battle looms for NI justice post as Alliance pulls out of executive". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Dr Stephen Farry Biography". Northern Ireland Assembly.
- ^ Moriarty, Gerry. "David Ford to step down as leader of North's Alliance Party". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Naomi Long becomes new Alliance leader". BBC News. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Farry is new deputy leader of Alliance". BBC News. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ^ "DUP loses seats as SDLP and Alliance Party make gains". Helensburgh Advertiser. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Preston, Allan (13 December 2019). "North Down: Alliance 'elated' with Stephen Farry's shock victory". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Rea, Ailbhe (13 December 2019). "How Alliance's Stephen Farry won North Down". New Statesman. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Murray, Sean (20 December 2019). "'Go raibh maith agat': New Alliance MP makes first remarks to the House of Commons in Irish". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ O'Neill, Julian (11 May 2020). "Police warn politicians about loyalist paramilitary threats". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2022.