Charles Mulholland, 4th Baron Dunleath

The Right Honourable
The 4th Baron Dunleath
Member of the House of Lords
In office
1956–1993
Member of
the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
for North Down
In office
1975–1976
Preceded byConvention founded
Succeeded byConvention dissolved
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for North Down
In office
28 June 1973 – 1974
Preceded byAssembly established
Succeeded byAssembly abolished
Personal details
Born1933
County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Died1993 (aged 59–60)
Political partyAlliance Party (from 1973)
Other political
affiliations		Ulster Unionist (until 1973)

Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Henry John Mulholland, 4th Baron Dunleath, DL (1933–1993) was a Northern Irish politician and Territorial Army officer.

Early and personal life

Mulholland studied at Eton College and the University of Cambridge.[1] He was married to Dorinda (15 February 1929 – 19 March 2022), only daughter of Arthur Percival, on 5 December 1959.[2]

Career

Mulholland succeeded as Baron Dunleath in 1956 and entered the House of Lords. As Lord Dunleath, he became a deputy lieutenant of County Down and the commanding officer (lieutenant-colonel) of the North Irish Horse in the Territorial Army.[1] He was also interested in vintage motoring.[3] In August 1967, he was appointed to the BBC's board of governors, taking over from Richard Pim as governor for Northern Ireland.[4]

In the early 1970s, Dunleath was active in the Ulster Defence Regiment and was an Ulster Unionist Party member.[5] However, he joined the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, and was elected for the party in North Down at the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election. He held the seat on the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention.[6]

Dunleath was the only Alliance Party member in the House of Lords.[7] While there, he strongly promoted the Education (Northern Ireland) Act, 1978, which permitted representatives of the Roman Catholic church to take a role in the Protestant-dominated state school system.[8] He also attempted to introduce a bill to liberalise divorce law in Northern Ireland.[9]

Dunleath was chairman of a company which bid for the Independent Television licence for Northern Ireland in 1979. In order to place the bid, he was required to resign from his party affiliation,[7] and thereafter sat as a crossbencher.[8] However, he was elected at the 1982 Assembly election for the Alliance Party again in North Down.[6]

On Dunleath's death, his title passed to his first cousin Michael Mulholland.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Oliver Pritchett, "The team with the fate of radio in its hands", The Guardian, 29 May 1969
  2. ^ "An Appreciation of Dorinda Dunleath by Alistair Rowan". Ulster Architectural Heritage Society
  3. ^ Ivan Yates and Laurence Marks, "BBC: When Curran tried to blow the whistle", The Observer, 22 February 1970
  4. ^ "Lord Hill goes to BBC", The Guardian, 27 July 1967
  5. ^ "Ulster scheme to recruit women for search duties", The Guardian, 12 June 1973
  6. ^ a b North Down 1973–1982, Northern Ireland Elections
  7. ^ a b "Resignation", The Guardian, 3 November 1979
  8. ^ a b Bob Rodwell, "A fully-integrated, all-Protestant school", The Guardian, 2 November 1981
  9. ^ Anne McHardy, "Divorce reform for Ulster", The Guardian, 20 July 1977
Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)
New assembly Assembly Member for North Down
1973–1974 		Assembly abolished
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
New convention Member for North Down
1975–1976 		Convention dissolved
Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
New assembly MPA for North Down
1982–1986 		Assembly abolished
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Charles Mulholland
 Baron Dunleath
1956–1993 		Succeeded by
Michael Mulholland