Jean Coulter Explained

Jean Coulter
Office:Member of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
for Belfast West
Term Start:1975
Term End:1976
Office1:Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Belfast West
Term Start1:1973
Term End1:1975
Birth Place:Shankill, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Party:UUP
Otherparty:Vanguard Unionist (1973-1975)

Rose Jean Coulter is a former Northern Irish unionist politician.

Background

Born in the Shankill Road district of Belfast, Coulter studied at the Girls' Model School before becoming a solicitor's clerk. She also became active in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). In June 1973, she worked with John Laird and Hugh Smyth to form the West Belfast Loyalist Coalition, which contested the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election.[1] All three were elected from the Belfast West constituency. In Coulter's case, she was co-sponsored by the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party.[2]

In January 1974, Brian Faulkner resigned as leader of the UUP, and Coulter switched her affiliation back to that party, allowing the West Belfast Loyalist Coalition to become inactive. In 1975, she was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention as a UUP member. Although she did not stand for election again, she remained politically active, calling for the Royal Air Force to bomb Irish republican areas of Northern Ireland, claiming that there were no "innocent people" there.[3] She opposed the Belfast Agreement,[4] and by the 2005 UK general election, was a supporter of the Democratic Unionist Party.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Ted Nealon, Ireland: a Parliamentary Directory, 1973–1974, p.196
  2. http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/cwb.htm West Belfast 1973–1982
  3. David McKittrick, Lost Lives, p.746
  4. Suzanne Breen, "No room for ghosts of Northern past at UUP's time for historic decision", Irish Times, 29 November 1999
  5. http://www.eoni.org.uk/foi_response_10-09.pdf Belfast South: Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll