Órfhlaith Begley | |
Parliament: | United Kingdom |
Constituency Mp: | West Tyrone |
Term Start: | 3 May 2018 |
Predecessor: | Barry McElduff |
Majority: | 15,917 (36.5%) |
Birth Name: | Órfhlaith Acife Begley |
Birth Date: | 1991 12, df=y |
Birth Place: | Carrickmore, Northern Ireland |
Party: | Sinn Féin |
Alma Mater: | Queen's University Belfast |
Órfhlaith Acife Begley (; born 19 December 1991) is a Sinn Féin politician from Northern Ireland. She is Member of Parliament (MP) for West Tyrone, having first won the seat in a by-election on 3 May 2018. Prior to her political career, Begley was a solicitor.
Órfhlaith Acife Begley was born on 19 December 1991 in Carrickmore, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.[1] She is the daughter of former Sinn Féin Omagh District Council chairman Seán Begley.[2] Begley grew up in Carrickmore, and played Gaelic football at the local club. She studied Law and Politics at the Queen's University Belfast.[3] She then studied at the Institute of Professional and Legal Studies, graduating as a solicitor. Begley then worked as a solicitor in Portadown, County Armagh with her brother.[4]
Begley was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for West Tyrone in the 2018 West Tyrone by-election on 26 February. The by-election had been called following the resignation of the previous Sinn Féin MP Barry McElduff on 15 January.[2] She was elected with a majority of 7,956.[5] Begley was the first female MP to represent the constituency since it was created in 1997.[3] She held the seat in the 2019 general election with a majority of 7,478.[6] She does not sit in the House of Commons, given her party's long-standing policy of abstentionism.[3]
Begley became engaged to engineer Conor Carson in February 2021, and they married on 29 December 2022 in Carrickmore.[7] [8]