Gerry McHugh MLA is a nationalist politician in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. He represented Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 on Fermanagh District Council

Fermanagh District Council

Fermanagh District Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. The borders of the district are very similar to those of the traditional County Fermanagh, containing all of that county plus a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore Road and Kilskeery Road areas. Council headquarters are...

 from 1993 to 2007 and has sat as an independent since then. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum

Northern Ireland Forum

The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....

 in 1996, then to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...

 at the 1998 election

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...

 as a Sinn Féin member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Fermanagh and South Tyrone (Assembly constituency)

Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...

. He lost his seat in 2003

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003

The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...

, but regained it in 2007

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007

The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...

. His fellow Sinn Féin member on both occasions was Michelle Gildernew

Michelle Gildernew

Michelle Gildernew is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician and former Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Executive...

. McHugh is a past pupil of St Comhghall's Secondary School in Lisnaskea

Lisnaskea

Lisnaskea is the second-biggest settlement in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 2,739 people in the 2001 Census. The town is built around the long main street, which bends at almost 90 degrees along its course.- History :...

.

He became an independent on 29 November 2007, citing his perceived problems with lack of democracy in his former party.

On the 30th November, he announced that he was a member of Fianna Fáil.

He did not contest the 2011 Assembly election.