Mary Nelis

Mary Nelis
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Foyle
In office 25 June 1998 – 15 July 2004
Preceded by	New Creation
Succeeded by	Raymond McCartney
Personal details
Born	1935 (age 75–76) Derry, Northern Ireland
Political party	Sinn Féin
Spouse(s)	William Nelis
Website	Mary Nelis

Mary Margaret Nelis, was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. She was born in Wellington Street in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1935. She is the eldest daughter of the late Catherine and Denis Elliott. She was educated at St Eugene's Convent School and left school at fourteen to work in the Hogg and Mitchell shirt factory. In 1955 she married William Nelis. They had nine children, eight sons and a daughter. Their eldest son was killed in a road traffic accident in 1974.^[1]

In the early 1960s, Mary Nelis organised the first community association in the Foyle Hill estate and helped spread community groups in other areas of the city, including the Protestant Fountain estate.^{[citation needed]}

She became active in the civil rights campaign demanding equal rights for the people of the city.^{[citation needed]} She trained as an adult literacy teacher and was a founder member of the Derry Reading Workshop, an organisation set up to help those with educational needs.^{[citation needed]} In 1974, she joined the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), but resigned a year later.^{[citation needed]} In 1976, she became active in the Relatives Action Committee: an organisation campaigning for prisoners' rights.^{[citation needed]} Two of her sons were imprisoned in the H Blocks in HMP Maze.^{[citation needed]} Her work with young people led to the setting up of Dove House, a resource centre in the Bogside.^{[citation needed]} She later established the Templemor Co-op, a craft co-operative for woman with exceptional sewing skills.^{[citation needed]}

In 1981, Nelis joined Sinn Féin. She was elected to Derry City Council in 1993 and served two terms. She was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, one of only fourteen women of 108 members. She was re-elected in 2003, but resigned a year later to care for her husband, who sustained injuries in a road traffic accident; and was succeeded by Raymond McCartney. Nelis is the current Hon. President of Sinn Féin in Derry, the second person and only woman to receive the honour.^{[citation needed]} She was presented with the Paul O Dwyer Award by the IAUC for her work for peace and justice in Ireland.^{[citation needed]} She writes the political column in the Sunday Journal and also contributes to the Sinn Féin paper, An Phoblacht.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ NI Assembly Biography

External links

• Northern Ireland Assembly profile

Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by New creation	MLA for Foyle 1998 - 2004	Succeeded by Raymond McCartney

Persondata
Name	Nelis, Mary
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1935
Place of birth	Derry, Northern Ireland
Date of death
Place of death