- Clifford Forsythe
-
Clifford Forsythe Member of Parliament
for South AntrimIn office
9 June 1983 – 27 April 2000Preceded by James Molyneaux Succeeded by William McCrea Personal details Born 25 August 1929 Died 27 April 2000 (aged 70)Nationality British Political party Ulster Unionist Party Clifford Forsythe (25 August 1929 - 27 April 2000) was a Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party politician. He served as Member of Parliament for South Antrim from 1983 to his death. He had previously been Mayor of Newtownabbey Borough Council, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1982 to 1986. He also once served as the President of the Northern Ireland Institute of Plumbing.
In his paper Quangopus Government published by the Ulster Unionist Party in June 1992, Forsythe - as the then UUP Spokesman on Local Government - argued passionately for an end to quango-rule and for devolution of responsibility to locally-elected representatives.
Like his predecessor in the old South Antrim constituency (James Molyneaux), Forsythe opposed the Good Friday Agreement and supported proposals for a Northern Ireland-wide administrative assembly/regional council (with powers broadly analogous to the National Assembly for Wales) to administer legislation and public services currently administered by Northern Ireland Office Ministers, civil servants and quangos of Government-appointed Yes-Men. On more than one occasion, Forsythe claimed that his experience - both in the 1982-86 Northern Ireland Assembly and as a Past Vice-Chairman of the Ulster Monday Club - led him to conclude that the unimplemented 1979 Conservative General Election Manifesto commitment to administrative devolution in Northern Ireland offered the way forward for Northern Ireland.
More recently, as a Member of the House of Commons' Social Security Select Committee (from 1991 to 1997) and the Commons' Environment, Transport and the Regions Select Committee (from 1997 until his death in 2000), Forsythe was an active Committee Member ensuring that Northern Ireland's interests were represented and needs were articulated. Shortly before his death Forsythe rounded on Government authorities for their failure to tackle social security fraud by paramilitary groups and reiterated Unionist calls for flights between Great Britain and Northern Ireland to be exempt from air passenger duty, arguing that the tax placed Northern Ireland at a crying disadvantage compared with the rest of the United Kingdom given the limited alternative means of travelling between Belfast and London.
He was a former professional footballer with Derry City and Linfield Football Clubs.[1]
References
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Clifford Forsythe
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
James MolyneauxMember of Parliament for South Antrim
1983 – 2000Succeeded by
William McCreaCategories:- 1929 births
- 2000 deaths
- Linfield F.C. players
- Derry City F.C. players
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for Northern Irish constituencies
- Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986
- Ulster Unionist Party politicians
- Councillors in Northern Ireland
- UK MPs 1983–1987
- UK MPs 1987–1992
- UK MPs 1992–1997
- UK MPs 1997–2001
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