Jane Morrice

Jane Morrice (born 11 May 1954) is a former politician in Northern Ireland. She was a prominent member of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition until the NIWC ceased to exist in 2006 due to an ongoing electoral decline. She was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in June 1998 and was appointed as Deputy Speaker in February 2000.

Morrice was involved in the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and was a member of the Standing Orders Committee which set the initial rules governing Assembly procedures post-devolution. She was also a member of the Assembly's Trade and Industry Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.

Born in Belfast, Morrice was educated at the Methodist College Belfast and the University of Ulster. She began her career as a journalist in Brussels in 1980; in 1987, she joined BBC Northern Ireland as a reporter covering current affairs for radio and television. She became the BBC Business and Labour Relations Correspondent in 1989.

In 1992, Morrice was appointed Head of the European Commission (EC) Office in Northern Ireland, representing the EC for five years. She took a particular interest in the establishment of the Special EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

She entered politics in 1996 when she joined the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (founded by Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar). She stood unsuccessfully as an independent in North Down at the 1997 UK general election. She was elected in North Down at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998, but lost the seat at the 2003 election.

Morrice is a member of the Board of Governors of the Integrated Education Fund and of the European speakers' panel - Team Europe. She is involved with the North Down Victims Support Group. In 1998, she was appointed to the Board of the Laganside Corporation, which was tasked with regenerating Belfast's waterfront.

Morrice graduated from the University of Ulster and speaks fluent French and basic Spanish and German. She lives in North Down with her husband and son.

Links

* [http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/Speakers_Office/DSbiography.htm Jane Morrice bio]