David Ervine
David Walter Ervine (born July 21, 1953 in Belfast , † January 8, 2007 there ) was a Northern Irish politician. From 2002 to 2007 he was party leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP).
Life
Ervine grew up in a loyalist-unionist working -class district in east Belfast . Until 1969 he attended the local Orangefield High School . Ervine's efforts to become a police officer failed because of a minor juvenile sentence. He worked as a laborer, among other things in a paint shop. In 1972 Ervine married; the marriage resulted in two children.
According to his own account, Ervine joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary organization, in July 1972 during the Northern Ireland conflict . A few days earlier, nine people had been killed in a series of IRA bombings on Bloody Friday in Belfast . Ervine has no information about his work in the UVF; probably he was involved in bomb attacks. In November 1974, Ervine was arrested while driving a car with a bomb inside. Sentenced to 11 years in prison in May 1975 for possession of explosives, Ervine was imprisoned in Long Kesh until May 1980 . While in custody, Ervine came into contact with Gusty Spence and from then on, like Spence, advocated a peaceful solution to the Northern Ireland conflict .
After his release from prison, Ervine first worked as a milkman ; later he took over a newsagent. In 1983 or 1984 he joined the PUP; a party that was founded in 1979 as the political wing of the banned UVF and initially served the UVF leadership as a framework for contacts with the British Ministry of Northern Ireland. From the end of the 1980s, Ervine was responsible for internal disciplinary measures as the UVF's " Provost Marshal ".
During the Northern Ireland peace process, Ervine was involved in reaching a ceasefire between the loyalist paramilitaries in October 1994. A month later he was in the United States for talks with the US government. In 1996 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum . In this role Ervine was involved in the negotiations on the Good Friday Agreement . Ervine became the most important spokesman for the loyalist paramilitary forces during the peace process. From 1998 until his death he represented the PUP as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly ; in addition, Ervine had been a member of Belfast City Council since 1997 . In 2002 he took over the party leadership of the PUP.
Ervine died of complications from a heart attack. Northern Ireland Minister Peter Hain , former Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds , Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern and Sinn Féin politicians Gerry Adams and Alex Maskey attended his funeral .
literature
- Ed Moloney: Voices from the grave. Two men's was in Ireland. Faber, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-571-25168-1 .
Web links
- Florian Osuch: "A courageous politician" Obituary for David Ervine, published in Junge Welt (January 11, 2007).
- David McKittrick: Obituary: David Ervine. Progressive Unionist Party leader. at the Belfast Telegraph .
- David Ervine at CAIN - Conflict Archive on the Internet (English).
Individual evidence
- ^ Moloney, Voices , p. 306.
- ↑ This assessment in Moloney, Voices , p. 350.
- ^ Moloney, Voices , pp. 387, 396.
- ^ Moloney, Voices , p. 406.
- ↑ This assessment in Moloney, Voices , pp. 466, 471.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ervine, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ervine, David Walter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Northern Irish Politician (PUP) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 21, 1953 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Belfast |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 8, 2007 |
| Place of death | Belfast |