ENG - Mark Henry Durkan (born 26 June 1960, Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
 
He became involved in politics in 1981 when he became a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. In 1984 he went to work for John Hume as his Westminster Assistant. He became a key figure in organising by-election campaigns for Seamus Mallon and Eddie McGrady in the 1980s.
In 1990 Durkan became chairperson of the SDLP, a position he served in until 1995. He was a key member of the party's negotiating team in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement.

Following the Agreement Durkan was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, and became a member of the Northern Ireland Executive as Minister for Finance and Personnel.

He served in that position until 2001 when he replaced Seamus Mallon as deputy First Minister. - Už jste hlasovali v tomto hlasování pro Mark Durkan ? - He was also elected Leader of the SDLP in that year. Durkan was reelected to the Assembly in the election of November 2003. However, the Assembly and the Executive remain suspended.
In the 2005 general election he retained the Foyle seat at Westminster for the SDLP. While down on Hume's vote, Durkan won with a comfortable majority, despite a strong effort by Sinn Féin to take the seat. Durkan won 21,119 votes which was 46.3% of the total.
He is a Fellow of the British-American Project.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Durkan

 

11th November