Brief Biography:

Michelle Gildernew was born in Caledon, County Tyrone, and attended the local primary school St Joseph's and then later St Catherine's College, Armagh, and the University of Ulster at Coleraine. Gildernew's family was involved in one of the incidents which gave rise to the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland when in 1968 they were evicted from a local authority house in Caledon. After becoming a member of Sinn Féin (SF) she worked as head of the party?s London Office, and as its Press Officer. Gildernew was first elected as a public representative in June 1998 when returned for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the new Northern Ireland Assembly (1998-present). Then at the Westminster election in June 2001 Gildernew was nominated by SF to contest the seat of Fermanagh and South Tyrone and in a surprise result won by 53 votes. The narrow margin of her victory was later contested by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in a legal challenge but this was unsuccessful and she was confirmed as the victor. In line with SF policy Gildernew has yet to take her seat in the House of Commons.

Book References:

Elliott, Sydney. and Flackes, W.D. (1999), Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-1999. Belfast: Blackstaff Press.

Web Sources:

http://www.qub.ac.uk/cawp/UK%20bios/UK_bios_00s.htm#gildernew
http://www.ni-assembly.gov.uk/members/biogs/mgildernew.htm
http://www.politicallinks.co.uk/politics2/BIOG/MP_BIOGS/bio.asp?id=0252
http://www.stratagem-ni.org/

[Entry written by B.Lynn - 12 November 2002]