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{{short description|Irish republican, political activist, councillor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}
[[File:Gerry MacLochlainn 2012.jpg|thumb|MacLochlainn in 2012]]

'''Gerard MacLochlainn''' (born 1954) is a [[Sinn Féin]] politician from [[Derry]], [[Northern Ireland]], where he was a councillor. He chaired several of the council's major committees including regional and cross border committees. His writings were widely circulated in his now deceased wife (Valerie June "Val" Cardwell)'s native [[Wales]] and several of his prison letters are held in the [[National Library of Wales]].{{Why?|date=July 2012}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6xgoAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Gerry+MacLochlainn%22+-inpublisher:icon|title=Annual Report - National Library of Wales - National Library of Wales|year=1987|accessdate=24 March 2016}}</ref>

==Life==
Born in [[Derry]] in 1954, MacLochlainn attended Brow of the Hill Christian Brothers School and [[St Columb's College]], both in that city. In 1980, MacLochlainn was arrested and charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and possession of explosives. He was sentenced to six years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ellen Barr|url=http://www.derryjournal.com/news/local/a-life-in-politics-1-3763411|title=A life in politics|publisher=Derry Journal|date=23 April 2012|accessdate=24 March 2016}}</ref>

MacLochlainn was at the centre of a controversy in October 1984 when he was a guest to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] of Labour MP [[Jeremy Corbyn]], along with another former IRA prisoner, Linda Quigley, to discuss prison conditions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bufvc.ac.uk/tvandradio/lbc/index.php/segment/0015200180017|title=Jeremy Corbyn on IRA meeting · British Universities Film & Video Council|website=Bufvc.ac.uk|accessdate=4 January 2016}}</ref> A decade later, as Sinn Féin's then representative in London, he was in the first delegation to meet with the British Labour Party front bench in December 1994.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/61/024.html|title=British Labour Party confirms having had talks with Sinn Féin|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=30 December 1994|accessdate=23 August 2015}}</ref>

MacLochlainn was part of the campaign to free the [[Guildford Four]] and [[Birmingham Six]]. He represented Sinn Féin at the Inaugural Meeting of the [[Kurdish Parliament in Exile]] in the Hague and addressed that conference alongside parliamentarians from around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.derryjournal.com/news/maclochlainn-set-for-new-challenges-1-3632720|title=MacLochlainn set for new challenges|publisher=Derry Journal|date=16 March 2012|accessdate=4 January 2016}}</ref>

In 2011, he condemned a bomb attack in Derry carried out by [[dissident republican]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-northern-ireland-13485267|title=Derry City centre bomb thrown into bank by attackers |publisher=BBC|date=21 May 2011|accessdate=4 January 2016}}</ref>

==Elected representative==
A leading Sinn Féin Councillor in Derry, he is the party spokesperson on environmental matters and has been chair of the Environmental Services Committee, ERNACT (European Region Network for the Application of Communications Technology), and represents the City on the North West Regional Waste Management Committee. {{Citation needed|date=July 2012}}

A strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, MacLochlainn was one of the leaders of the campaign against the Israeli embargo of Gaza. He proposed and gained acceptance of a city policy {{Where?|date=July 2012}} {{When|date=July 2012}} of a boycott of Israeli goods until an end to the embargo. On 26 May 2009, he crossed [[Rafah]] into the Gaza Strip with the ''Hope For Gaza'' convoy of medical aid. As deputy leader of the European Hope Convoy, MacLochlainn helped to deliver some 25 ambulances, a kidney dialysis machine, medicine and several wheel chairs.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090525143556/http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/914-convoy-of-hope-for-gaza-update]}}</ref> He met with [[Ismail Haniyeh]], Palestinian prime minister and leader of [[Hamas]] in Gaza.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/38308|title=News|publisher=An Phoblacht|accessdate=24 March 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclochlainn, Gerry}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Sinn Féin politicians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Derry (city)]]
[[Category:Irish republicans]]
[[Category:Date of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict]]

Gerry MacLochlainn - Revision history

imported>GreenC bot: Reformat 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:USURPURL and JUDI batch #27aj