Malachi Curran

Malachi Curran is a Northern Irish politician. He was elected to Down District Council in 1993 for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).[1]

He resigned from the SDLP to stand as a Labour coalition candidate for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Although the group did not win any constituency seats, it was awarded two top-up seats, which went to Hugh Casey and Curran.

Shortly after the elections to the Forum, the Coalition dissolved. Curran was recognised as leader of the Labour group in the Forum.[2]

With seven other leaders of Forum groupings that had supported the Good Friday Agreement, he won the Harriman Democracy Prize of the National Democratic Institute in 1998.[3]

Curran then formed the Labour Party of Northern Ireland. Under this label, he failed to take a seat standing in South Down at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, winning only 1% of the first preference votes.[4]

Curran stood as an independent at the 2003 elections to the Assembly, but saw his vote drop to 0.4%.[4] At the 2007 election, he placed bottom in South Down, taking just 123 votes.[5]

After leaving politics, Curran became the owner of a pub, the Ann Boal Inn in Killough, County Down, following the death of Ann Boal, who had been a longtime friend of Curran.[6]