Danny Kennedy

Danny Kennedy MLA
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Newry and Armagh
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 November 2003
Personal details
Born	6 July 1959 (1959-07-06) (age 52) Bessbrook, Northern Ireland
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Religion	Presbyterian

Danny Kennedy MLA (born 6 July 1959) is a unionist politician in Northern Ireland a former deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Assembly Group and current Minister for Regional Development.

Background

Kennedy is married with three children; Steven, Phillip and Hannah. He was educated at Newry High School, and was an employee of British Telecom for 20 years before being elected to the Assembly.

Kennedy has served at all levels, both local and within the wider party organisation of the Ulster Unionist Party, which he joined in 1974. He ran unsuccessfully for the UUP in the Westminster election in 1997, in which he polled over 18,000 votes against Seamus Mallon.

Kennedy was UUP Assembly spokesman for education and chaired the Assembly Committee which both scrutinised and helped frame legislation at Stormont between 1998 and 2002. On the restoration of devolution in 2007 he became chairman of the Assembly Committee scrutinising the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. His performance in this office earned him the award for best Committee Chair from Northern Ireland blog Slugger O'Toole in 2008.^[1]

Kennedy is a member of his local Presbyterian church and is a member of the Orange Order.

Political career

• Member of The Northern Ireland Assembly since 1998
• Previous Chairman of the Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Education
• Deputy Leader Ulster Unionist Party

References

1. ^ "UK | Northern Ireland | Blog selects heroes and villains". BBC News. 2008-10-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7658101.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-20. 

External links

• NI Assembly page
• UUP Profile

Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by New creation	MLA for Newry and Armagh 1998 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Sir Reg Empey	Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party 2005 – 2010	Succeeded by John McCallister
Political offices
Preceded by Sir Reg Empey	Minister for Employment and Learning 2010 - 2011	Succeeded by Stephen Farry
Preceded by Conor Murphy	Minister for Regional Development 2011 - present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Kennedy, Danny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	6 July 1959
Place of birth	Newry, Northern Ireland
Date of death
Place of death