Danny Kinahan

Daniel de Burgh Kinahan (born 14 April 1958) is a British politician from the Ulster Unionist Party, a former Member of Parliament for South Antrim and former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Antrim.

Danny Kinahan
Member of Parliament for South Antrim
In office 8 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded by	William McCrea
Succeeded by	Paul Girvan
Member of the Legislative Assembly for South Antrim
In office 1 June 2009 – 24 June 2015
Preceded by	David Burnside
Succeeded by	Adrian Cochrane-Watson
Personal details
Born	Daniel de Burgh Kinahan 14 April 1958 Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Spouse(s)	Anna
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Rank	Captain
Unit	Blues and Royals

In August 2020 he was appointed Northern Ireland's first Veterans Commissioner.[1]

Personal

He is the son of the late Sir Robin Kinahan and Coralie de Burgh and was educated at Craigflower Preparatory School (Torryburn[2]), Stowe School and the University of Edinburgh. He is a cousin of singer Chris de Burgh.[3] Professionally Kinahan is an antiques expert and worked as Christie's auctioneers Irish representative.[4]

He lived for many years with his wife and four children at Castle Upton, Templepatrick but in 2016 announced he was selling the family home to downsize following the moving out of his children.

Northern Ireland Assembly

In 2005 he was elected to Antrim Borough Council, and on 28 May 2009 the UUP South Antrim branch selected Danny to replace the outgoing MLA David Burnside who resigned to pursue business interests. Mr Burnside officially stood down on 1 June. Danny was sworn in on 9 June.[5]

Kinahan faced his first NI Assembly election in May 2011 and was returned to Parliament Buildings with 3,445 first preference votes. During his second period in Stormont, he was heavily involved in education legislation as the UUP's spokesperson on the policy area.

As Deputy Chair of the Education Committee, Kinahan became a leading figure during the passage of the Education Bill. As Deputy Chair of the Education Committee, he demonstrated vehement opposition to the Sinn Féin policy of scrapping Grammar Schools, arguing instead for academic capability streaming. Kinahan also expressed strong support in favour of shared and integrated education, greater emphasis on STEM subjects, a wider selection of apprenticeships, stronger provision of careers advice and more thorough and engaging university degrees.

Kinahan was the only UUP MLA to support legalising same sex marriage, making a speech on the issue at Stormont, which many deemed risky just weeks out from the Westminster election, which he eventually won. [6]

He stepped down from the NI Assembly after his election to Westminster and was replaced by Adrian Cochrane-Watson.[7]

Westminster MP

The UUP decided to run Kinahan in the 2015 General Election. He ousted the incumbent DUP MP Rev. William McCrea with a majority of 949.

General Election 2017

Following a resurgence of the DUP in the 2017 General Election, Kinahan lost his seat to Paul Girvan by 3,208 votes.

References

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-53934290
2. Torryburn
3. Hello (6 March 2007). "Billy Kennedy's election predictions continue..." The Newsletter. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
4. Queen's University Belfast, Antiques Evening Archived August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
5. "UUP select Burnside replacement". BBC News. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
6. https://www.agendani.com/back-to-basics-danny-kinahan/
7. Lorna McKay [email protected] (24 June 2015). "Watson new South Antrim MLA". Antrimtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2016.