SDLP stalwart shows that he’s more than an unfamiliar face

Alban Maginness’s new look belies the SDLP European election candidate’s wealth of experience in Northern Ireland politics

Thousands of SDLP posters with a smiling European Election candidate who some may not immediately recognise have been erected across Northern Ireland.

But the face is in fact that of veteran politician Alban Maginness— just without his former trademark moustache.

He removed it last year for charity and decided to stick with the look.

But new image aside, he is among one of the most experienced politicians in the seven candidates running in the European elections on June 4.

Elected to Belfast City Council for north Belfast in 1985, he has been a member of the SDLP since he was 22 years old.

And in 1998 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a member for North Belfast.

He was the SDLP party chairman from 1984 to 1991.

The father of eight unsuccessfully competed for the deputy leadership of the party in 1997, losing out to south Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell.

Along with his lengthy political career Mr Maginness also has historical credentials on his CV.

In 1997, he was the first Catholic Lord Mayor of Belfast.

And since he wore the chains of office he paved the way for two fellow nationalists, Martin Morgan and Pat McCarthy, and republican Alex Maskey and Tom Hartley to hold the post.

But despite the experience political commentators have cast doubt on whether the SDLP’s votes will be strong enough to win the seat beating Sinn Fein and the DUP.

The party (slogan: “When we win, you win”) hopes the current campaign will recapture the European seat previously won by former leader and MEP John Hume.

But during the last European election in 2004, the SDLP chose Martin Morgan to defend Mr Hume's seat when he decided not to contest the election, a seat he had held for 25 years.

However, the move to choose the younger candidate (Mr Morgan was 36 at the time) did not pay off and the party saw their vote dropping to 16% from 28%.

The SDLP says that now, five years on, it is possible for the nationalist party to recoup the lost ground.

At the manifesto launch Mr Maginness stressed that the SDLP was the only major party in Northern Ireland that was pro-Europe.

And he hailed its manifesto as a roadmap to greater prosperity for Northern Ireland.

Family life was also a strong element in the party’s election broadcast, which featured two of his children and his wife Carmel making breakfast.

Born in Holywood, Co Down he was educated first at Holy Family School and then at St Malachy's, Belfast before going to the University of Ulster, Coleraine.

He then went on to read for the Northern Ireland Bar at Queen's University Belfast, and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar Michaelmas in 1976 and the Bar of Ireland Michaelmas in 1984.

Looking back on his term as Lord Mayor, the SDLP MLA said he did feel that by 1998 the political landscape had shifted immensely in Belfast.

“My last official duty was at the Lord Mayor's Show and on that day in May the news came through that the referendum in 1998 had been passed by a large majority. Belfast is now a good city to invest in.”

But he has recognised that these are now “challenging times” economically and feels that a strong voice in Europe will help solve current economic problems, a voice he believes he can supply.

“At a time when people across the North and indeed Europe are facing unprecedented challenges —an economic recession, rising unemployment, high food and fuel costs and an increasing risk of poverty — it is a choice between parties with very different ideas,” he said.

“I will put the needs of the people back at the top of the agenda.”

The SDLP candidate also believes his membership of the influential European Socialists group would help create more jobs and ensure economic recovery.

And he has pledged to stand strong for a fair deal for farmers during CAP reform negotiations, along with helping to create a better future for fishermen and coastal communities.

Belfast Telegraph