Mark Durkan
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Mark Durkan MP |
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|---|---|
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| Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland | |
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In office 6 November 2001 – 14 October 2002 Serving with David Trimble |
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| First Minister | David Trimble |
| Preceded by | Seamus Mallon |
| Succeeded by | Martin McGuinness |
| Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party | |
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In office 6 November 2001 – 7 February 2010 |
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| Deputy |
Bríd Rodgers Alasdair McDonnell |
| Preceded by | John Hume |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Ritchie |
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Member of Parliament for Foyle |
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Assumed office 5 May 2005 |
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| Preceded by | John Hume |
| Majority | 6,046 (16.3%) |
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Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Foyle |
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In office 25 June 1998 – 9 November 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency Created |
| Succeeded by | Pól Callaghan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Mark Durkan 26 June 1960 Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | SDLP |
| Spouse(s) | Jackie Durkan |
| Children | Dearbháil |
| Alma mater |
Queen's University Belfast University of Ulster |
| Website | Website |
Mark Durkan MP (born 26 June 1960) is an Irish SDLP politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party from 2001 to 2010.
John Mark Durkan was born in Derry; his father, Brendan, was a Royal Ulster Constabulary District Inspector in Armagh. He was raised by his mother, Isobel, after his father was killed in a road accident in 1961. He was educated at St. Patrick's Primary School and at St. Columb's College, where he was Head Boy.
He studied politics at the Queen's University of Belfast (QUB), and later did a part-time postgraduate course in Public Policy Management with the University of Ulster at Magee. While at QUB Durkan served as Deputy President of Queen's Students' Union from 1982 to 1983. He was also elected Deputy President of the Union of Students in Ireland from 1982 to 1984.
He became involved in politics in 1981 when he became a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. In 1984 he went to work for John Hume as his Westminster Assistant. He became a key figure in organising by-election campaigns for Seamus Mallon and Eddie McGrady in the 1980s.
In 1990 Durkan became chairperson of the SDLP, a position he served in until 1995. He was a key member of the party's negotiating team in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement. Following the Agreement he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, and became a member of the Northern Ireland Executive as Minister for Finance and Personnel. He served in that position until 2001 when he replaced Seamus Mallon as deputy First Minister. He was also elected Leader of the SDLP the same year. Durkan was re-elected to the Assembly in the election of November 2003. However, the Assembly and the Executive remained suspended. In the 2005 general election he retained the Foyle seat at Westminster for the SDLP. While down on Hume's vote, Durkan won with a comfortable majority, despite a strong effort by Sinn Féin to take the seat. He won 21,119 votes which was 46.3% of the total.
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