Francis Hanna known as Frank Hanna, was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

After studying at St. Mary's Christian Brothers Grammar School, Belfast

St Marys CBGS Belfast

St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland-History:...

 and Queen's University, Belfast, Hanna became a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

, founding Francis Hanna and Co., specialising in personal injuries

Injury

-By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection...

 and trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 cases. A Roman Catholic supportive of a united Ireland

United Ireland

A united Ireland is the term used to refer to the idea of a sovereign state which covers all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes the territory of two independent sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties of the island, and the...

, Hanna joined the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)

The Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....

 and was elected to Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...

.

In 1942, he joined James Collins in defecting to the Northern Ireland Labour Party

Northern Ireland Labour Party

The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...

 (NILP), and in a 1946 by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

, he was elected for Belfast Central

Belfast Central (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Belfast Central was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:Belfast Central was a borough constituency comprising part of central Belfast...

. Hanna beat Victor Halley

Victor Halley

Victor Halley was a nationalist trade unionist in Northern Ireland, from West Belfast.A Presbyterian, Halley joined the Independent Labour Party, and when this disaffiliated from the British Labour Party, he became a founder member of the small Socialist Party of Northern Ireland, an integral part...

 of the Socialist Republican Party

Socialist Republican Party (Ireland)

The Socialist Republican Party was an Irish republican political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1944 by a coalition of former Nationalist Party members, former Irish Republican Army members and Protestant trade unionists around Victor Halley, all based in West Belfast.The party...

 at the election; the Nationalist Party which had held the seat for many years choosing not to stand.

In 1949, Hanna resigned from the NILP in protest at its support for the partition of Ireland

Partition of Ireland

The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...

. He was re-elected unopposed as an "Independent Labour" candidate at the Northern Ireland general election, 1949

Northern Ireland general election, 1949

-References:*-See also:*MPs elected in the Northern Ireland general election, 1949...

, and shortly afterwards became the vice-chairman of the new Northern Section of the Irish Labour Party. He resigned from the party soon afterwards. In 1958, he set up his own Independent Labour Group, with support from various Catholic clerics. In 1964, he was one of the original supporters of Unity

Unity (Northern Ireland)

"Unity" was the political label for a series of electoral pacts by Irish nationalist and Irish Republican candidates in Northern Ireland elections in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

, but he stood down at the Northern Ireland general election, 1965

Northern Ireland general election, 1965

-Seats summary:-References:*...

.

He was the father of the British political journalist Vincent Hanna

Vincent Hanna

Vincent Leo Martin Hanna was a Northern Irish television journalist famed for his coverage of United Kingdom by-elections.-Background:...

.