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Seán Lynch | |
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| Member of theNorthern Ireland Assembly forFermanagh & South Tyrone | |
| In office 7 May 2011 – July 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Gerry McHugh |
| Succeeded by | Aine Murphy |
| Councillor onFermanagh District Council | |
| In office 10 May 2011 – 11 September 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Pat Cox[1] |
| Succeeded by | Tommy Maguire[2] |
| Constituency | Enniskillen Electoral Area |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1954-01-11)11 January 1954 (age 71) Enniskillen,County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Profession | Politician |
| Known for | Officer CommandingProvisional IRAprisoners inLong Kesh |
| Website | Official webpage |
Seán Lynch MLA (Irish:Seán Ó Loingsigh; born 11 January 1954) is anIrish republicanSinn Féin politician and a formerMLA for 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 Féin inFermanagh and 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 election but was unsuccessful.[5][6][7][8][9] Lynch was a councillor onFermanagh District Council prior to his election to theNorthern Ireland Assembly.
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 Council Sinn Féin councillor. Another, Mary Lynch, wroteThe Long Road Home.[11][12]
In April 1986 Lynch was seriously wounded and fellow IRA memberSéamus McElwaine was shot dead when theSAS opened fire on them as they prepared to ambush a passing army patrol with a land mine on the Lisnaskea toRoslea road. 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]
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 Prosecutions requested a full report on the inquest from theRUC. There were no prosecutions based on the findings.[16][17][18]
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 Gildernew when she won the Westminster seat ofFermanagh and South Tyrone for the party in2005.[19] Lynch also sat on Fermanagh District Policing Partnership.[20]
Lynch stood as a candidate in the2007 Assembly Election. Lynch polled 4,704 votes, failing to win a seat. He was selected bySinn Féin in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to stand again as a candidate in the2011 Assembly Election on 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 Murphy replacing him in July 2021.[27]
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | MLA forFermanagh and South Tyrone 2011–present | Incumbent |