| Honorific suffix | CBE |
|---|---|
| Office | 2nd Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly |
| Term label | Interim |
| Term start | 8 May 2007 |
| Term end | 8 May 2007 |
| Deputy | Francie Molloy (2007 – 2007) David McClarty (2007 – 2007) John Dallat (2007 – 2007) |
| Predecessor | Herself |
| Successor | William Hay |
| Term start 1 | 9 May 2006 |
| Term end 1 | 30 January 2007 |
| Predecessor 1 | John Alderdice |
| Successor 1 | Herself |
| Office 2 | Deputy leader of the Alliance Party |
| Leader 2 | Sean Neeson David Ford |
| Term start 2 | 2001 |
| Term end 2 | 2006 |
| Predecessor 2 | Seamus Close |
| Successor 2 | Naomi Long |
| Constituency am 3 | North Down |
| Assembly 3 | Northern Ireland |
| Term start 3 | 25 June 1998 |
| Term end 3 | 7 March 2007 |
| Predecessor 3 | New Creation |
| Successor 3 | Stephen Farry |
| Office 4 | Member of North Down Borough Council |
| Constituency 4 | Bangor West |
| Term start 4 | 19 May 1993 |
| Term end 4 | 7 June 2001 |
| Predecessor 4 | James O'Fee |
| Successor 4 | Tony Hill |
| Office 5 | Member of the Northern Ireland Forum |
| Constituency 5 | Top-up list |
| Term start 5 | 30 May 1996 |
| Term end 5 | 25 April 1998 |
| Predecessor 5 | Forum created |
| Successor 5 | Forum dissolved |
| Birth date | 15 August 1943 (age 83) |
| Birth place | Dromara, Northern Ireland |
| Party | Alliance |
| Alma mater | University of Ulster |
| Occupation | Public servant, politician |
Eileen Bell CBE (born 15 August 1943) is a retired Alliance Party politician from Dromara, Northern Ireland. She was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Down from 1998 to 2007, and is a former deputy leader of the Alliance Party.
Early life
Bell was born in Dromara and grew up in West Belfast. She was educated at the Dominican College, Belfast and the University of Ulster. She held a number of jobs including working in the Civil Service and later as Welfare Officer for the Community of the Peace People.[1]
Political career
In 1986, she became General Secretary of the Alliance Party. Later, in 1993, she won the election to North Down Borough Council. She was later elected as one of two "top-up" members of the 1996 Northern Ireland Peace Forum [2] and in the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly elections she won a seat in North Down.[3]
In June 2001, Bell was appointed Deputy Leader of the Alliance by Seán Neeson, following the resignation of Seamus Close over disagreements on the party's direction. However, Neeson himself soon resigned and Bell stood for the leadership as a traditionalist bridge-building candidate, against David Ford who was on the more consciously Liberal, internationalist wing of the party. At the Party's council Bell received 45 votes to Ford's 86 and she remained as the party's deputy leader. In the 2003 Assembly elections she retained her seat.[4]
On 10 December 2005, it was announced that Bell would stand down as Deputy Leader of the party and not contest the next Assembly elections.[5]
Bell acted as the Speaker of the Assembly established by the Northern Ireland Act 2006 and of the Transitional Assembly established by the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006.[6] On 8 May 2007, she was appointed Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly (which had been suspended since 2002) only to be replaced that same day by William Hay.[7]
Post Political career
After leaving political life Eileen Bell turned to a charity she had long supported and became vice president and Legislative Advisor to Autism NI. She has been one of the driving forces behind a Lobby for an Autism Bill in Northern Ireland. She was also the chairperson of Downtown Women's Group which managed the Women into Politics Project. [8] She stayed on as a board member of the group until it wound down in 2015.
Honours
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.
References
- ^ "Eileen Bell". Northern Visions. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
- ^ "1996 Elections - List of Candidates". Archived 10 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
- ^ "NI Assembly Election 1998". EONI. Archived 20 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ "NI Assembly Election 2003". EONI. Archived 6 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ Gay row 'difficult' for Alliance BBC News, 10 December 2005
- ^ "Bell named new assembly speaked". BBC News. 10 April 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ^ "Historic return for NI Assembly". BBC News. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ^ "Women parliamentarians of Northern Ireland: First female Speakers". www.niassembly.gov.uk. NI Assembly. n.d. Retrieved 7 May 2026.