John Finucane is the Sinn Féin MP for Belfast North, having first won the seat at the 2019 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Finucane won 17,674 votes, representing 43.7% of the vote. The DUP candidate, Phillip Brett, received 12,062 votes (29.8%), while the Alliance Party candidate, Nuala McAllister, secured 4,274 votes (10.6%). Finucane was duly elected with a majority of 5,612 votes.

The Belfast North constituency covers the northern part of the city. Historically represented by unionist MPs, Finucane’s election in 2019 marked the first time an Irish nationalist won the seat. The 2011 census found that there is a slightly higher population of Catholics (47%) compared with Protestants (46%).

Finucane’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Belfast North was Nigel Dodds of the DUP, who represented the seat from 2001 to 2019. At the time of the 2019 election, when he was unseated, Dodds served jointly as leader of his party in the House of Commons and DUP deputy leader. Later created a life peer, Dodds is now leader of the DUP in the House of Lords.

Political career

In line with Sinn Féin’s longstanding policy of abstentionism, Finucane does not take his seat in the House of Commons. Sinn Féin MPs focus on constituency work and activity within Ireland.

In the foreword to Sinn Féin’s manifesto for the 2024 general election, the party’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, said Sinn Féin MPs would work “hard as part of a strong all-Ireland Sinn Féin team to deliver for all our people and communities.”

The manifesto added: “We want a stronger and fairer economy that delivers good jobs that pay well, offers workers secure conditions, and supports local business.”

In 2023, Sky News and Tortoise Media’s Westminster Accounts tool found Finucane to be the highest-earning Northern Irish MP exclusive of Westminster pay. Finucane earned a total of £161,259 from January 2020 to December 2022 – which placed him among Westminster’s highest earners for work outside of their roles representing constituents. Most of Finucane’s secondary earnings, it was found, came from his work as a solicitor with Belfast law firm Finucane Toner.

Before becoming an MP, Finucane served briefly as the 76th lord mayor of Belfast from June 2019 until his resignation in December 2019.

After being elected as Mayor, he was informed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) that loyalists had made threats to his life. In response, Finucane said he would “not be deterred” in his mission to serve and represent “all the people of this city”. The following day, he welcomed Charles, Prince of Wales, to the city on an official visit.

Finucane was elected as a Sinn Féin councillor for the Castle electoral area on Belfast City Council in May 2019, resigning this post in December 2019. He first contested the Belfast North Westminster seat at the 2017 general election. On that occasion, he finished second to Dodds – the incumbent DUP MP.

Political views

Hazzard represents Sinn Féin, an Irish republican and democratic socialist party. The party’s core policies include advocating for a united Ireland and promoting left-wing economic and social policies.

Sinn Féin’s abstentionist policy is derived from its belief that the parliament at Westminster is illegitimate, and that its authority over Ireland rests on British sovereignty which the party does not recognise. Consequently, Sinn Féin MPs refuse to take their seats in the House of Commons, as doing so would require swearing an oath of allegiance to the British monarch, which the party regards as incompatible with its republican principles.

Before Politics

Born John Finucane in Belfast in 1980, he is the son of solicitor Pat Finucane and Geraldine Finucane.

Finucane was educated at St Malachy’s College, Belfast. He qualified and practised as a solicitor, becoming a partner at the firm Finucane Toner Solicitors.

Personal Life

John Finucane has four children.

His father, Pat, was murdered in front of his family by loyalist paramilitaries, believed to be acting in collusion with elements of the British security forces, in 1989. Former United Nations war crimes prosecutor Sir Desmond de Silva was asked by the government to carry out a review of all the existing documentation on the Finucane murder. His report in 2012 confirmed that agents of the state were involved in the 1989 killing and that it should have been prevented.

Sir Desmond found that there was “no overarching state conspiracy” – but his report prompted then prime minister David Cameron to apologise for “frankly shocking levels of collusion”.

His father’s family had republican connections. His mother, Geraldine, came from a Protestant background.

Trivia

John Finucane is the first Irish nationalist MP to represent the Belfast North constituency.

Finucane is goalkeeper and captain of GAA’s Lámh Dhearg GAC.