Seamus_Lynch
Seamus Lynch
Northern Irish politician
Seamus Lynch (born 1945) is a former Irish republican and socialist politician.
Born in North Belfast,[1] Lynch became a republican activist around the start of The Troubles, and sided with the Official wing of Sinn Féin in the split of 1970.[2] He was interned from October 1971 until the following year.[1] He was a strong supporter of the Official IRA's ceasefire in 1972 and Official Sinn Féin's vocal socialism.[2] As a result, he became active in the Republican Clubs movement, and stood for the organisation in Belfast North at the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. He received only 1.7% of the first preference votes cast and was not elected. He stood again for the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, but his vote dropped to just 1.3%. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1977, representing Area G, but lost his seat in 1981.[3]
Lynch next stood in the Westminster seat of Belfast North at the 1979 general election, increasing his vote to 4.5%, the best result for Republican Clubs in Northern Ireland, and at the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he increased his share to 7.1%.[4]