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Dr. ALASDAIR McDONNELL MP.
Alasdair at a glance:
As well as being a prominent politician Dr Alasdair McDonnell continues to work, when time permits, as a part-time family doctor in the Ormeau Road.
Alasdair grew up as the eldest child, in a large farming family, in Glenariffe near Cushendall in the Glens of Antrim, went to school in Garron Tower and then medical school in University College Dublin, graduating in 1974. Married to Olivia Nugent with four young children, Dearbhla (aged 8), Ruairi 6, Oisin 4, and Aileen 18 months.
Politics:
First elected on-to Belfast City Council in 1977 he served for many years in the Laganbank (Ormeau) ward. In 1995 Alasdair was the first ever Nationalist to be elected Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast. In May 1996 he was elected for the South Belfast constituency to the Inter-Party Talks Forum and elected to the New Assembly in 1998, topping the poll in South Belfast. In 2001 he retired from the City Council and withdrew from full time medical Practice, to concentrate on Assembly duties. Alasdair has stood as an SDLP Candidate for S. Belfast in every Parliamentary election since 1979 steadily building support. The pinnacle of his political career so far came in the general election of May 2005 when he was elected as the first ever Nationalist MP for South Belfast. Alasdair was elected Deputy Leader of the SDLP in February 2004 and is currently the Party Spokesperson on Enterprise Trade and Investment. He recently helped deliver another fantatsic result for the SDLP in South Belfast in the 2007 Assembly elections, narrowly missing out on topping the poll but bringing his running mate Carmel Hanna safely home.
Additional Information:
Alasdair’s main political interest’s include; The National Health Service; Developing a better Education System and rebuilding the Economy. As a Belfast Councillor in the 1990’s Alasdair was a key driver for Urban reconstruction and Economic Development. He has served as a director of Laganside Development Corporation and as a member of the Assembly Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee and he continues to spearhead a number of economic regeneration projects across Belfast. He currently serves on the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee in The House of Commons
