Our Political Exports

Picking up from the recent inconclusive Australian election, and the central role played by Welsh born Julia Gillard, Agenda NI has been writing about Margaret Guilfoyle, a Belfast born woman who made her mark on Australian politics back in the 1970s and 80s.

This got me thinking about how many other politicians Northern Ireland has exported. In the current parliament there's the Bournemouth Conservative MP Conor Burns, born at the Royal Victoria Hospital on the Falls Road. The former Conservative Minister Lord Mawhinney also used to talk about his boyhood days growing up near Stormont. Labour has Kate Hoey, of course, and the Durham MP Roberta Blackman-Woods.

Then there's politicians like the SDLP's Austin Currie and Alliance's John Cushnahan who travelled south of the border to join Fine Gael.

Any other political exports anyone can recall? And any as far flung as Margaret Guilfoyle?

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