for the Canadian Kayaker see David Ford (kayaker) for the English musician see David Ford (musician) David Ford (born March 23, 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian kayaker. ... David Ford, (C)2005 The Independiente Label David Ford (born on May 16th 1978 in Dartford, Kent) is a singer-songwriter. ...

David Ford is a Northern Ireland politician. He is a member of the currently-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly and has been leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since 2001. Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1... The logo of the Northern Ireland Assembly is a six flowered linen or flax plant, chosen for the plants historical economic importance to the region. ... The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), is a political party operating in Northern Ireland. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

David Ford MLA
Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

He was born on 24 February 1951 to mixed Northern Irish and Welsh parents and grew up in Orpington, Kent, England. He spent summer holidays on his uncle's farm in Gortin, County Tyrone, and moved to Northern Ireland permanently in 1969 when he went to study Economics at the Queen's University, Belfast. There he joined the Queen's Alliance. After University, he took a year out to work as a volunteer at the ecumenical Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle, County Antrim, before starting work as a social worker in 1973. Download high resolution version (438x637, 27 KB)David Ford, Leader of the Alliance Party File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English, Welsh Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff First Minister Rhodri Morgan Area  - Total Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS 1... Orpington is a suburban commuter town in the London Borough of Bromley. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... Gortin is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. ... This article is about County Tyrone. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... U.S. Economic Calendar Economics at the Open Directory Project Economics textbooks on Wikibooks The Economists Economics A-Z Daily analysis of economics in the news (UK focus) Institutions and organizations Bureau of Labor Statistics - from the American Labor Department Center for Economic and Policy Research (USA) National Bureau... For other educational establishments called Queens, see Queens College and Queens University (disambiguation) Queens University, Belfast - or officially The Queens University of Belfast (QUB; in Irish, Ollscoil na Banríona, Béal Feirste) - is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... The Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle on the north coast of Northern Ireland is a Christian peace-building centre where young people and others from a divided society can meet and get to know each other as a first step to healing divisions. ... Ballycastle (Baile an Chaistil in Irish) is a small town in County Antrim in Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. ... County Antrim ( in [Gaelic) is one of the six Irish counties that form Northern Ireland. ...

Ford stood unsuccessfully for Antrim Borough Council in 1989, and entered politics full-time when be became general secretary of the Alliance Party. In that rôle, he was best known as a strong supporter of then leader John Alderdice and an advocate of better political organisation and community politics. He was elected to Antrim Borough Council in 1993 and 1997. In 1996, he stood unsuccessfully for election to the Northern Ireland Forum in South Antrim, but was a key member of Alliance's team to the talks which led to the Good Friday Agreement. In 1997, he obtained 12% of the vote in the British General Election in South Antrim, and in 1998 was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the same constituency. He fought South Antrim again in the 2000 by-election and the 2001 general election. Antrim Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, in County Antrim. ... John Thomas Alderdice, Baron Alderdice (28 March 1955— ) is a Northern Ireland politician. ... Community politics is a movement in British politics to re-engage people with political action on a local level. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... South Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... South Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Clifford Forsythe, the Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for South Antrim, died on April 27, 2000, precipitating a by-election. ... The UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed the quiet landslide by the media. ...

In 2001, Séan Neeson resigned from the Party leadership following poor election results, and David Ford won the leadership election on 6 October by 86 votes to 45, ahead of Eileen Bell. Ford was identified with the more consciously Liberal, internationalist wing of Alliance, while Bell was a more traditionalist, bridge-building, candidate. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Séan Neeson (born February 9, 1946) is a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2001. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ... Eileen Bell (born August 15, 1943) is a Northern Ireland politician, member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Down and deputy leader of the Alliance Party. ...

Ford outlined his internationalist view point in his speech at the leadership selection when he said:

I am keen to co-operate with other non-sectarian groups in Northern Ireland, including political parties that will stand against the tribal divide. Our links to the South are not as good as they should be, either with the PDs or with Fine Gael, where we have many natural allies. We must also recognise that Northern Ireland is not unique in the world. Our stand is not different in substance from those who work for peace and reconciliation in Cyprus, Palestine or Bosnia. We should learn from friends abroad. To suggest that 'our wee province' is unique is to do a disservice. There is little more objectionable than the sight of the political begging bowl being dragged out by sectional politicians.

Ford gave Alliance a stability which it had lacked since the departure of John Alderdice, but the Party had declined seriously in the late 1990s and all Ford could do was stabilise the situation. Within a month of taking over the leadership, however, Ford had a chance to establish Alliance's relevancy in the post-Good Friday Agreement environment - on 4 November, 2001, the Northern Ireland Executive was to be re-established. However, due to defections within his own Ulster Unionist Party, First Minister David Trimble, had insufficient support within the Unionist bloc in the Assembly to be re-elected to his post. Ford and his five colleagues re-designated as Unionist in order to secure Trimble's position, and thereby enabled the devolved institutions to operate for another month. However, Alliance failed to make any political gains from their move, and the UUP and Sinn Féin failed to reach agreement on the decommissioning issue, ensuring that the institutions collapsed again in October 2002. The 1990s refers to the years 1990 to 1999; the last decade of the 20th Century, but in an economical sense The Nineties is often considered to span from the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... The Northern Ireland Executive as established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 is the (currently suspended) executive body for Northern Ireland, answerable to the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland, and was the party of government in Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. ... The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the leaders of the Northern Ireland Executive, Northern Irelands home rule government set up in the 1990s as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. ... David Trimble The Right Honourable William David Trimble (born on October 15, 1944) is a former Northern Ireland politician, who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the first First Minister of Northern Ireland. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland, and was the party of government in Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. ... It has been suggested that Sinn Féin (Kevin Street) be merged into this article or section. ... In experimental physics and elsewhere, decommissioning is the formal process intended to shut down an apparatus such as a particle accelerator. ... 2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections of 2003, Ford's seat in the Assembly was perceived to be under severe threat from Sinn Féin's Martin Meehan, with many commentators expecting him to lose it. However, Ford's expertise in nuts and bolts electioneering stood him in good stead. Although Alliance's vote almost halved, Ford's own vote in South Antrim increased from 8.6% to 9.1%. Meehan's vote increased dramatically, from 7.3% to 11.5%, and he started the election count ahead. However Ford had much greater transfer appeal and finished 180 votes ahead of Meehan at the end of a dramatic three-way fight for the last two seats, with the SDLP's Thomas Burns just 14 votes ahead of Ford. Despite the dramatic fall in vote, Alliance, almost miraculously, held on to its six seats in the Assembly, which remained suspended. The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on 26 November 2003. ... South Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ...

In 2004, Ford made good his leadership election pledge to work with other parties, as Alliance joined with the Workers' Party, Northern Ireland Conservatives and elements of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition to support Independent Candidate John Gilliland in the European Elections. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Workers Party is a name used by various political parties throughout the world. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the right-of-centre in the United Kingdom. ... The Northern Ireland Womens Coalition is a non-sectarian political party in Northern Ireland. ...

While Ford has undoubtedly stabilised Alliance, and is its most effective media performer since Alderdice's departure, Alliance remains in deep trouble with a small and shrinking base. His ability to turn around this, and indeed centrist politics more widely in Northern Ireland will be the true test of his party leadership.

David Ford is married to Anne, has four grown up children and lives in rural County Antrim. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ...

Resources

• Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Official site
• Alliance Party official site

Party leaders in Northern Ireland

Rev Dr IAN PAISLEY, MP, MLA (Democratic Unionist Party) | GERRY ADAMS, MP, MLA (Sinn Féin) | Sir REG EMPEY, MLA (Ulster Unionist Party) | MARK DURKAN, MP, MLA (SDLP) | DAVID FORD, MLA (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), is a political party operating in Northern Ireland. ... This work is copyrighted. ... The Reverend and Right Honourable Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, MP, MLA (born 6 April 1926), also known as Dr. Ian Paisley, is a prominent politician and church leader from Northern Ireland, and is head of the Democratic Unionist Party. ... The Democratic Unionist Party is a hardline unionist party in Northern Ireland led by Ian Paisley. ... Gerry Adams Gerry Adams, MP, MLA, (born October 6, 1948) is an Northern Irish politician and absentionist Member of Parliament for West Belfast. ... It has been suggested that Sinn Féin (Kevin Street) be merged into this article or section. ... Sir Reginald Empey (born October 26, 1947) is a Northern Ireland politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Belfast. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland, and was the party of government in Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. ... John Mark Durkan (born 1960) is a Roman Catholic nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. ... The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP — Irish: Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. ... The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), is a political party operating in Northern Ireland. ...