David Ervine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of the Progressive Unionist Party | |
| In office 13 April 2002 – 8 January 2007 | |
| Deputy | David Rose Andy Park |
| Preceded by | Hugh Smyth |
| Succeeded by | Dawn Purvis |
| Member of theNorthern Ireland Assembly forBelfast East | |
| In office 25 June 1998 – 8 January 2007 | |
| Preceded by | New Creation |
| Succeeded by | Dawn Purvis |
| Member ofBelfast City Council | |
| In office 21 May 1997 – 8 January 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Walker |
| Succeeded by | John Kyle |
| Constituency | Pottinger |
| Member of theNorthern Ireland Forum | |
| In office 30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Forum created |
| Succeeded by | Forum dissolved |
| Constituency | Top-up list |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1953-07-21)21 July 1953 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 8 January 2007(2007-01-08) (aged 53) Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Progressive Unionist Party |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Brian Ervine (Brother) |
| Children | Mark Owen |
| Website | PUP |
| Military service | |
| Paramilitary | Ulster Volunteer Force (c. 1972–1980) |
| Conflict | The Troubles |
David Ervine (21 July 1953 – 8 January 2007) was aNorthern IrishUlster Loyalist and politician who served as leader of theProgressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007 and was also aMember of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) forBelfast East from 1998 to 2007.[1] During his youth Ervine was a member of theUlster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was imprisoned for possessing bomb-making equipment, and planting a bomb on the Lisburn Road. Whilst in jail he became convinced of the benefits of a more political approach for loyalism and became involved with the PUP. As a leading PUP figure, Ervine helped to deliver theloyalist ceasefire of 1994.
David Ervine was the youngest of five children born to Walter and Elizabeth Ervine. He was raised in aProtestant working-class area of eastBelfast between the Albertbridge and Newtownards roads. His household was not loyalist at all: his father Walter described himself as a socialist, had no time forIan Paisley and didn't attend church.[2] When Ervine joined theOrange Order aged 18, he said he was the first member of his family to ever be a member. His membership, however, did not last long.[3] Like many in his situation, he grew up closely identifying with his community and absorbed itsunionist ideals and opinions. Ervine leftOrangefield High School (Orangefield Boys Secondary School) at 14 and, aged 19, joined the UVF, believing this step to be the only way to ensure the defence of the Protestant community after the events ofBloody Friday. A neighbour of Ervine's, William Irvine, who was a member of theUlster Defence Association (UDA), had died in one of the bomb blasts on that day.[4]
Before joining the UVF Ervine had attempted to join theRoyal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), but due to a misdemeanour in his childhood involving a stolen bicycle he was refused entry.[5]
Ervine was arrested in November 1974, while an active member of the UVF. He was driving a stolen car containing five pounds of commercial explosives, a detonator and fuse wire. After seven months on remand inCrumlin Road Gaol, he was found guilty of possession of explosives with intent to endanger life. He was sentenced to 11 years and imprisoned inThe Maze. While in prison, Ervine came under the influence ofGusty Spence who made him question what the loyalist struggle was about. Spence's influence unquestionably changed Ervine's direction: after much study and self-analysis, Ervine emerged with the view that change through politics was the only option.[6] He also became friends withBilly Hutchinson while in prison.
Ervine was released from prison in 1980. He owned a newsagents' in Belfast for several years before taking up full-time politics. He stood in local council elections as a Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) candidate in1985. In 1998, he was elected to theNorthern Ireland Assembly to represent Belfast East and was re-elected in 2003. He was also a member ofBelfast City Council from1997.
Ervine played a pivotal role in bringing civil disorder to theloyalist ceasefire of October 1994.[7] He was part of a delegation to Downing Street in June 1996 that met then British Prime MinisterJohn Major to discuss the loyalist ceasefire.
In 1996 Ervine was elected to theNorthern Ireland Forum from the regional list, having been an unsuccessful candidate in theEast Belfast constituency.[8][9]
Ervine was considered to be one of the most progressiveunionists in Northern Ireland politics. He had been a strong supporter of theGood Friday Agreement and was one of the few unionist politicians actively to support the Agreement.[10] At aLabour Party meeting in 2001, thenNorthern Ireland Secretary,John Reid, described him as "one of the most eloquent politicians in Northern Ireland". Some of his political peers, such asJohn Reid, made references to him having swallowed a dictionary, in reference to coming more informative and educated.[11][12] InLandscapes of Defense, Ervine was seen as one of the few politicians actively engaged with conflict resolution.[13]
In theNorthern Ireland Assembly, he was seen as a Unionist sympathetic to the short-term demands ofSinn Féin,[14] resisting attempts by theDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP) to exclude Sinn Féin from office in July 2000[15] and October 2001.[16] In April 2001, he provoked a direct political attack from the DUP over being the only unionist to vote against a motion condemning the display of lilies commemorating the 1916Easter Rising at Parliament Buildings.[17] Ervine also expressed support for the right of Sinn Féin members to make speeches inIrish on the floor of the Assembly. Later, editors and political commentators such as John Laverty noted how he sat next to Sinn Féin'sMartin McGuinness at the funeral of Northern Ireland football legendGeorge Best in December 2005 as a sign of how Northern Ireland had moved on.[18]
In May 2005, theIndependent Monitoring Commission (IMC) recommended a continuation of the financial sanctions on the Assembly salaries of PUP members imposed following its report of April 2004.[19][20] The IMC was of the opinion that the UVF and the PUP maintained strong links while the former was heavily involved in criminality.[21][22] It further noted that the UVF was responsible for a number of acts of violence (including murder) and was actively maintaining its capacity to wage a terrorist campaign. It concluded that, 12 months after the sanctions were originally imposed, the PUP leadership was still not doing enough to address the UVF's criminal and paramilitary activities.[21]
Ervine appealed the IMC's recommendation to newly appointed Northern Ireland SecretaryPeter Hain on the basis that he and the PUP could not be held directly responsible for the UVF's actions,[23][24][25] and thus it was wrong to penalise them as such.[25]
The IMC again recommended financial sanctions against Ervine and the PUP. These came in a special report of September 2005 on the violent feud that had erupted between the UVF and theLoyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) that summer, in which a number of murders and attempted murders had been committed. It argued that the PUP leadership was still in a position significantly to influence the UVF: the party could not have it both ways by associating with an active paramilitary organisation without facing political consequences.[26][25]
In its final regular reports of Ervine's life in April and October 2006, the IMC concluded that it was satisfied the PUP leadership had taken appropriate action to de-escalate UVF's violence and criminality, and it withdrew its punitive recommendations.[27][28]
On 13 May 2006, it was announced that when theNorthern Ireland Assembly reconvened, Ervine would join the Ulster Unionist assembly group, while remaining leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. Under theD'Hondt method used for allocating places on the Northern Ireland Executive, this would entitle theUlster Unionists to an additional place.[29]
The Presiding Officer (Speaker) of the Assembly,Eileen Bell MLA indicated at the first meeting of the 'shadow' Assembly (15 May 2006) that she would take legal advice before ruling on whether Mr Ervine could be treated as a member of the UUP group.[30]
On 11 September 2006 Ms Bell announced that the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group did not have a headquarters, at least one party leader and a scheme for financial support; thus it did not qualify as a political party. This meant that the UUPAG could not sit in the Assembly, so the alliance was deemed as invalid.[31]
Ervine was aProtestant and identified himself as both Irish and British. He once exclaimed "why can't I be an Irish citizen of the UK?" and remarked: "I am profoundly both British and Irish and those who have to deal with me have to take me on those terms."[1]
Ervine dismissed allegations of collusion between loyalists and British security forces as "sheer unadulterated nonsense", saying, "there comes a point when the concept insults me, insomuch as that aProvo could lie in bed and with a crystal ball... could pick their targets but a Prod could only do the same if there was anSAS man driving the car".[32]
Ervine cited his own arrest, and the number of UVF members in prison at the time, as evidence that widespread collusion did not exist:
"The Royal Ulster Constabulary arrested me on possession of explosives; now why did they do that if we lived in a process of collusion? When I went into jail there were 240 UVF men in three compounds, packed in like sardines, and the UVF were a relatively small organisation in comparison to some of the others, but they made up a hell of a percentage of that jail. Where’s collusion there?"[32]
Ervine was reported as having suffered two massive heart attacks and astroke[33] after attending a football match betweenGlentoran andArmagh City atThe Oval inBelfast on Saturday 6 January 2007. It was later confirmed that he had one heart attack, a stroke and brain haemorrhage.[34] He was taken to theUlster Hospital inDundonald and was later admitted to theRoyal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.[35] Ervine died on Monday 8 January 2007.[36]RTÉ News at 9pm and its website had reported the previous evening that he had died that day.[37][38] This incorrect reporting led RTÉ's Northern Editor, Tommie Gorman, to apologise for his error.[34]
Ervine's body was cremated atRoselawn Crematorium after a funeral service on 12 January in East Belfast. It was attended byMark Durkan,George Cassidy,Gerry Adams,Peter Hain,Dermot Ahern,Hugh Orde andDavid Trimble, among others.[39][40][41]
A memorial for David Ervine was erected on the Albertbridge Road, East Belfast.[47]
In 2023, Robert Niblock wrote a play about David Ervine, namedThe Man Who Swallowed a Dictionary. Niblock said attendees ranged from republicans to ex-prisoners and politicians, all of whom had praised the play.[48] It premiered in theLyric Theatre in August of that year.[49]
Whilst the Northern Ireland Assembly remains un-restored and it is not therefore possible for us to recommend measures it might take, we recommend that the Secretary of State should consider taking action in respect of the salary of Assembly members and/or the funding of Assembly parties so as to impose an appropriate financial measure in respect of Sinn Féin and the Progressive Unionist Party.
| Northern Ireland Forum | ||
|---|---|---|
| New forum | Regional Member 1996–1998 | Forum dissolved |
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
| New assembly | MLA forBelfast East 1998–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Progressive Unionist Party 2002–2007 | Succeeded by |
