Patrick Michael O'Hanlon (8 May 1944 – 7 April 2009), known as Paddy O'Hanlon, was a barrister and former nationalist politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Born in Drogheda

Drogheda

Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

, but resided in Mullaghbawn, South Armagh since childhood, O'Hanlon studied at University College Dublin

University College Dublin

University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

. Prominent in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association

The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for equal civil rights for the all the people in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

, he was elected at the Northern Ireland general election, 1969

Northern Ireland general election, 1969

-References:*...

, as an independent Nationalist

Independent Nationalist

Independent Nationalist was a political title frequently used by Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland not as members of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.In the...

 MP for South Armagh

South Armagh (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

South Armagh was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:South Armagh was a county constituency comprising the southern part of County Armagh. It was created when the House of Commons Act 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland...

. In August 1970, he was a founder member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party

Social Democratic and Labour Party

The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...

 (SDLP).

The Parliament of Northern Ireland

Parliament of Northern Ireland

The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...

 was abolished in 1973, and O'Hanlon was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)

The Northern Ireland Assembly was a legislative assembly set up by the Government of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1973 to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland with the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive made up of unionists and nationalists....

, representing Armagh

Armagh (Assembly constituency)

Armagh was a constituency used for the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention and the 1982 Assembly...

. In the Assembly, he was the SDLP's Chief Whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

.

O'Hanlon stood for the Westminster constituency of Armagh

Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

Armagh or County Armagh was a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983.The Act of Union 1800 provided for the Parliament of Ireland to be merged with the Parliament of Great Britain, to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

 at the February 1974 general election, taking second place, with 29.3% of the votes cast. He stood for the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....

 and the 1982 Assembly in Armagh, but on both occasions was narrowly beaten by fellow party member Hugh News

Hugh News

Hugh News is a former Irish nationalist politician.News studied at St Colman's College, Newry before working as a pharmacist and publican in Lurgan. In 1964, he was elected to Lurgan Borough Council, serving for three years as a member of the Independent Citizens' Association...

.

Following this second loss, O'Hanlon left active politics and qualified as a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

remaining a member of the SDLP.

O'Hanlon died on 7 April 2009 in Dublin's Mater Hospital following a short illness; he was 65 years old.