Person

Mallon, Seamus

1936–2020

In 1994 Mallon was elected to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. He was a member of the SDLP team at the all-party negotiations (the 'Stormont talks') that opened in Belfast in June 1996. He has frequently been quoted as saying that the Good Friday Agreement, which resulted from the talks in 1998, was "Sunningdale for slow learners". The Good Friday Agreement led to the setting up of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which was elected in June 1998, with a power-sharing Executive. Mallon was elected as member for Newry and Armagh, and in December 1999 he became Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, serving alongside Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble.