Michael Copeland

Alderman Michael Copeland
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East
Incumbent
Assumed office 05 May 2010
Preceded by	Reg Empey
Personal details
Born	23 June 1954 (1954-06-23) (age 57) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Spouse(s)	Sonia Copeland
Children	1 daughter (Sarah), 1 son (Matthew)
Residence	Cherryvalley, Belfast
Occupation	Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Councillor for Castlereagh Central
Profession	Politician
Committees	Department of Social Development, Standards and Priviledges, Public Accounts
Religion	Church of Ireland

Alderman Michael Copeland (born 23 June 1954 in Belfast) is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Copeland was educated at Lisnasharragh Primary School, Lisnasharragh Secondary School, Castlereagh College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst becoming a lieutenant of the Ulster Defence Regiment, HM Armed Forces.

Copeland was first elected to Castlereagh Borough Council in 2001 and in May 2002 was elected Deputy Mayor of Castlereagh.

In 2002, he was elected chairman of Castlereagh District Policing Partnership. He later he resigned in protest at the treatment of the RUC full-time Reserve. He also served as Director of Castlereagh Local Strategy Partnership.

After defeating incumbent MLA Ian Adamson for the East Belfast UUP nomination for the 2003 Assembly Election he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. He was re-selected to stand for the constituency in the forthcoming elections in 2007 but lost his seat. Copeland remains an extremely active figure in local governmental politics within Northern Ireland: maintaining a keen interest in domestic, socioeconomic and housing problems. He was re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as MLA for East Belfast in the Assembly Elections in May 2011.

A member of the Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution, Alderman Copeland is the party's Parades spokesman.

References

External links

• NI Assembly biography
• Stratagem biography
• Castlereagh Council biography

Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by Ian Adamson	MLA for Belfast East 2003 - 2007	Succeeded by Wallace Browne
Preceded by Reg Empey	MLA for Belfast East 2011–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Copeland, Michael
Alternative names
Short description	Resides with his family in Cherryvalley
Date of birth	23 June 1954
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death
Place of death