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Michael Copeland
Michael Copeland
Member of the Legislative Assembly; for Belfast East
	In office; 5 May 2010 – 7 September 2015
Preceded by	Sir Reg Empey
Succeeded by	Andy Allen
	In office; 26 November 2003 – 7 March 2007
Preceded by	Ian Adamson
Succeeded by	Wallace Browne
Deputy mayor of Castlereagh
	In office; 2002–2003
Member of ; Castlereagh Borough Council
	In office; 7 June 2001 – 22 May 2014
Preceded by	Alan Carson
Succeeded by	Council abolished
Constituency	Castlereagh Central
Personal details
Born	23 June 1954 (age 70); Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Children	Sarah and Matthew
Residence(s)	Cherryvalley, Belfast
Alma mater	Sandhurst
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Military Officer
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Ulster Defence Regiment
Battles/wars	The Troubles

Michael Copeland (born 23 June 1954) is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfast from 2003 to 2007, and then from 2010 to 2015.

Copeland was born in Belfast and was educated at Lisnasharragh Primary School, Lisnasharragh Secondary School, Castlereagh College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst becoming a lieutenant of the Ulster Defence Regiment, HM Armed Forces.

Political career

Copeland was first elected to Castlereagh Borough Council in 2001 and in May 2002 was elected Deputy Mayor of Castlereagh.

In 2002, he was elected chairman of Castlereagh District Policing Partnership. He later resigned in protest at the treatment of the RUC full-time Reserve. He also served as Director of Castlereagh Local Strategy Partnership.

After defeating incumbent MLA Ian Adamson for the East Belfast UUP nomination for the 2003 Assembly Election he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. He was re-selected to stand for the constituency in the elections in 2007 but lost his seat. Copeland remains an extremely active figure in local governmental politics within Northern Ireland: maintaining a keen interest in domestic, socioeconomic and housing problems. He was re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as MLA for East Belfast in the Assembly Elections in May 2011.

A member of the Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution, Copeland has served as the party's Parades spokesman.

He stepped down from the Assembly for health reasons was replaced by Andy Allen.^[1]^[2]

Views

Copeland has spoken in favour of same-sex marriage, saying he "backed the change."^[3]

Personal

His wife Sonia was elected to Belfast City Council in the 2014 Northern Ireland local elections.^[4] She represents the Titanic ward. They have two children and he is a member of the Church of Ireland.

References

^ "UUP MLA Michael Copeland resigns due to depression". BBC News. 7 September 2015.
^ "Andy Allen is co-opted as Ulster Unionist MLA for East Belfast". BBC News. 15 September 2015.
^ McBride, Sam. "Maginnis blasts UUP colleague in gay row". News Letter. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
^ "Shame on her: Furious ex-mayor Gavin Robinson blasts rival Naomi Long". Belfast Telegraph.

External links

Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by Ian Adamson	MLA for Belfast East 2003 – 2007	Succeeded by Wallace Browne
Preceded by Reg Empey	MLA for Belfast East 2011–2015	Succeeded by Andy Allen