- Esmond Birnie
Infobox Politician | name=Esmond Birnie
width=144px
term_start=1998
term_end=2007
predecessor=
successor=
birth_date=birth date and age|1965|1|06
birth_place=Edinburgh ,Scotland
constituency=South Belfast
party=Ulster Unionist Party
office=MLA
spouse=
website=http://www.uup.org/Dr John Esmond Birnie, (born
6 January 1965 ) is an author,economist , andUlster Unionist Party politician. He is a former Member of theNorthern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast.After attending
Ballymena Primary School andBallymena Academy , Birnie became a graduate ofGonville and Caius College, Cambridge in Economics. He completed aPhD inEconomics atQueens University Belfast before coming a senior lecturer.He has appeared as an expert economics witness in the House of Commons [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmwib/wb030215/sel-1.htm] and is a leading critic of the
euro .He was an unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate in the elections to
Belfast City Council for Balmoral in the 1993 Northern Ireland Local Election. In the 2005 Northern Ireland Local Election, he stood again for Balmoral, this time for theUlster Unionist Party and failed to get elected by 0.95 votes on the final count. Birnie was also second on the Conservative regional list for the 1996 Forum Election, [ [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/96cands.htm 1996 Elections - List of Candidates ] ] but was not elected as the party was 12th most popular in electoral support, and only the top 10 parties were eligible for two top up seats.He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. During the Assembly he was Chairman of the Assembly's Employment and Learning Committee. He retained his seat in 2003 but lost it in the 2007 elections. He is now employed as a special advisor to Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey
He is an elder of Fisherwick
Presbyterian Church [http://www.econi.org/LionLamb/028/esmondbirnie.html] .Works
* "Can the Celtic Tiger Cross the Irish Border? (Cross Currents)" by John Bradley, Esmond Birnie ISBN 1-85918-312-3
* "Firm, Competitiveness and Environmental Regulations: A Study of the European Food Processing Industries" by David Hitchens, Esmond Birnie, Angela McGowan, and Ursula Triebswetter (Hardcover -28 October 1998 )
* "The Northern Ireland Economy: Performance, Prospects and Policy" by Esmond Birnie and D.M.W.N. Hitchens (Hardcover -23 February 1999 )
* "Environmental Regulation and Competitive Advantage: A Study of Packaging Waste in the European Supply Chain" by David Hitchens, Esmond Birnie, William Thompson, and Ursula Triebswetter (Hardcover -29 March 2000 )References
External links
* [http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/members/biogs_03/birnie_e.htm NI Assembly profile]
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