Brian Maginess
| William Brian Maginness | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Labour of Northern Ireland |
|
| In office 2 August 1945 – 12 April 1949 |
|
| Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland |
|
| In office 4 November 1949 – 26 October 1953 |
|
| Minister of Finance for Northern Ireland |
|
| In office 13 February 1953 – 20 April 1956 |
|
| Attorney General of Northern Ireland |
|
| In office 14 April 1956 – 20 March 1964 |
|
| Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons |
|
| In office 1938–1964 |
|
| Constituency | Iveagh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 July 1901 Hillsborough, Ireland |
| Died | 16 April 1967 (aged 65) Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
| Profession | Barrister |
| Religion | Anglican |
William Brian Maginess, QC (10 July 1901 – 16 April 1967) was a member of the Government of Northern Ireland, who was widely seen as a possible successor to Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
Born in 1901, the son of a Lisburn solicitor, he was educated at The Wallace High School and Trinity College Dublin[1] from where he graduated with a Law degree (LLD), and was called to the Northern Ireland bar in 1923.
Having served in the Royal Corps of Artillery during the Second World War he entered the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1938 when he won the Lisburn-centered seat of Iveagh.[citation needed] He entered the Cabinet of Basil Brooke in 1945 when he became Minister of Labour. His stints as the Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance (de facto Deputy Prime Minister) left him favorite to succeed Brooke as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.[citation needed]
In the early 1950s however, Maginess became a hate figure for the Orange Order when he banned marches through Catholic areas in Counties Down and Londonderry. Brooke demoted him to the non-Cabinet post of Attorney General in April 1956.[2]
While Attorney General, Maginess was party to the case of Attorney General for Northern Ireland v Gallagher [1961] 3 All Er 299, which remains authority in the law of Northern Ireland and England & Wales for the principle that Dutch courage is not a defence in criminal law. Counsel for Gallagher were future Attorney General and Lord Justice, Basil Kelly, and future Stormont MP and Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association in England, Richard Ferguson.
In December 1959, Ian Paisley led a demonstration of Ulster Protestant Action members to Stormont Castle to protest at Brooke's refusal to dismiss Maginess and Sir Clarence Graham for making speeches at an Ulster Young Unionist Council event supporting Catholic membership of the Ulster Unionist Party.[2]
Having been appointed a King's Counsel in 1946 he was appointed a County Court Judge in 1964 when he resigned from Parliament. He died three years later in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital at age 65. A plaque in his memorial is cited inside the Church of Ireland parish church in Hillsborough, where he is buried.[3]
Sources
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Oxford Biography
- 'The Ulster Unionist Party, 1882-1973 : its development and organisation' (1973), J F Harbinson
- 'Paisley' (1985), Moloney & Pollak
- 'Brian Maginess and the Limits of Liberal Unionism', Irish Review, 25, 1999–2000, Henry Patterson
- 'Ireland since 1939' (2006), Henry Patterson
| Parliament of Northern Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Iveagh 1938 - 1964 |
Succeeded by Samuel Magowan |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Labour 1945 - 49 |
Succeeded by Harry Midgley |
| Preceded by | Minister of Home Affairs 1946 |
Succeeded by Edmond Warnock |
| Preceded by | Minister of Commerce and Production 1949 |
Succeeded by William McCleery |
| Preceded by | Minister of Home Affairs 1949 - 53 |
Succeeded by George Boyle Hanna |
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1953 - 56 |
Succeeded by George Boyle Hanna |
| Preceded by | Attorney General for Northern Ireland 1956 - 64 |
Succeeded by Edward Warburton Jones |
- Use dmy dates from December 2011
- Use British English from December 2011
- Articles with unsourced statements from November 2015
- 1901 births
- 1967 deaths
- Royal Artillery officers
- British Army personnel of World War II
- Alumni of Trinity College, Dublin
- Barristers from Northern Ireland
- Members of the Bar of Northern Ireland
- Judges in Northern Ireland
- Ulster Unionist Party politicians
- Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1938–45
- Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1945–49
- Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1949–53
- Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1953–58
- Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1958–62
- Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1962–65
- Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland Cabinet ministers (Parliament of Northern Ireland)
- Attorneys General for Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland junior government ministers (Parliament of Northern Ireland)
- People educated at Wallace High School (Northern Ireland)
- 20th-century Irish lawyers
- Ministers of Finance of Northern Ireland
