Colum Eastwood
| Colum Eastwood | |
|---|---|
Eastwood in 2014
|
|
| Leader of the Opposition | |
|
Assumed office 12 May 2016 Serving with Mike Nesbitt |
|
| First Minister | Arlene Foster |
| Preceded by | Position re-established |
| Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party | |
|
Assumed office 14 November 2015 |
|
| Preceded by | Alasdair McDonnell |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Foyle |
|
|
Assumed office 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Pól Callaghan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
30 April 1983 Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | SDLP |
| Spouse(s) | Rachael Eastwood |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool |
Colum Eastwood (born 30 April 1983) is an Irish nationalist politician and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) since 2015. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011, and has since been re-elected.
Eastwood was elected to Derry City Council in 2005, and elected for a one-year term as Mayor of Derry in June 2010. Aged 27, he was the youngest mayor of the city to date.
Following his election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2011, Eastwood was appointed SDLP representative on the committee of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. He sits on the Northern Ireland Assembly committees on Standards and Privileges, and the Environment. He is the youngest SDLP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
In 2012 he drew criticism from Unionists including Jim Allister after carrying the coffin at the paramilitary funeral of a former Irish National Liberation Army member in Derry. A masked Real Irish Republican Army gunman fired a volley of shots over the coffin, although Eastwood stated he was not present at the time of the gunfire. He defended his attendance at the funeral saying the deceased was a personal friend and added "I wasn't concerned at the time about who was standing beside me, or about what flag or otherwise was draped over the coffin." It later emerged that party colleague Mark H. Durkan also attended the funeral.
On 14 November 2015, Eastwood contested the leadership election held at the SDLP's annual conference. He beat the incumbent, Alasdair McDonnell, by 172 votes to 133.
When a serving British soldier posted an offensive remark about the victims of Bloody Sunday on the internet, Eastwood said that "they [i.e. the Ministry of Defence] should dismiss this man from the army without delay."
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Wikipedia