Conall McDevitt

Conall McDevitt MLA
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 May 2010
Preceded by	Carmel Hanna
Personal details
Born	1972 (age 38–39) County Dublin
Political party	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Website	Official website

Conall McDevitt (1 June 1972) became National Secretary of Labour Youth (Ireland) in 1993 and Vice President of ECOSY (European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth) in 1994. The son of an Official IRA internee^{[citation needed]} and a great-grandson of a Belfast republican socialist, Danny McDevitt,^{[citation needed]} he became the Social Democratic and Labour Party's (SDLP) Director of Communications in November 1996 until December 1999.

He was involved in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement.^{[citation needed]} During the talks McDevitt acted as spokesperson for John Hume and Seamus Mallon. He left the SDLP to work as customer relations manager of Viridian Group PLC, owners of Northern Ireland Electricity, the monopoly electricity supplier in Northern Ireland.

Following the establishment of the power sharing Executive, McDevitt served as Special Adviser to the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Brid Rodgers. He was involved in the attempts to resolve the standoff at Drumcree and advised Rodgers during the 2002 Foot and Mouth crisis in Northern Ireland when she received acclaim for her efforts.^{[citation needed]}

Managing Director of Weber Shandwick in Northern Ireland since 2007 and Chairperson of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, he has won several PRCA, CIPR Pride CIPR Excellence Awards for his consultancy work. He was selected as the new SDLP MLA for South Belfast on 9 December 2009 and succeeded Carmel Hanna in the Northern Ireland Assembly in early 2010.^[1]

Personal life

Born in Dublin, Ireland but brought up in Malaga, Spain, McDevitt was educated at the Instituto Bachillerato Mixto, Fuengirola. He lectures occasionally on public affairs and public relations. His blog was a source of commentary on economic and political issues in Ireland.

References

1. ^ Jim Fitzpatrick "Stormont new faces bring fresh perspectives", BBC News

Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by Carmel Hanna	MLA for South Belfast 2010–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Macdevitt, Conall
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 June 1972
Place of birth	County Dublin
Date of death
Place of death