Eileen M. Hickey

Eileen M. Hickey (1886 - 3 February 1960) was a politician in Northern Ireland.

Hickey studied at Queen's University Belfast, where she received a BSc, MD and DPH, [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=laEVAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Eileen+M.+Hickey%22&dq=%22Eileen+M.+Hickey%22&pgis=1 Commonwealth Universities Yearbook] (1958)] before working as a civil servant at the Mater Hospital in Belfast. She became a member of the Board of Governors and was later President of the Ulster Medical Society. [http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/biographies.html Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons] ] In 1929, she was appointed clinical examiner in medicine at Queen's University, the first woman to hold the post. [Ida Clyde Gallagher Clarke, "Women of Today" (1929)] In 1945, she was appointed to the Advisory Committee for the Belfast Area under the Unemployment Act (Northern Ireland), 1934,Arthur Maltby, "The Government of Northern Ireland, 1922-72"] while in 1949, she was appointed to the Irish National Health Council.

Hickey was nominated by Roman Catholic graduates of Queen's University as their candidate in the Queen's University, Belfast by-election, 1948, but was easily defeated by Samuel Irwin. [ [http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/qub.html Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: University] ] . She was again nominated for the Queen's University Belfast constituency at the Northern Ireland general election, 1949. [ [http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search/index.php?browse=true&category=1&subcategory=9&offset=8570&browseresults=true Women in 20th-Century Ireland, 1922-1966 Search Results] , National Archives of Ireland] She was elected, and served as an independent Member of Parliament. While there, she was viewed as a potential ally by the Anti-Partition of Ireland League MPs. [ [http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search/index.php?browse=true&category=1&subcategory=9&offset=8560&browseresults=true Women in 20th-Century Ireland, 1922-1966 Search Results] , National Archives of Ireland]

Hickey was re-elected in 1953 but stood down in 1958. A committee of the Parliament of Northern Ireland concluded that her Advisory Committee post constituted an office of profit under the crown, even though she never claimed or received any remuneration. This officially invalidated her elections.

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