Jennifer McCann
Encyclopedia
Jennifer McCann MLA is an Irish republican politician in Northern Ireland
, who was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly
as a Sinn Féin
member for Belfast West
.
McCann was born in the Twinbrook area of Belfast
, and was friends with Bobby Sands
and his sister Bernadette
. She joined the republican movement as a schoolgirl, becoming a member of Cumann na mBan
then joining the Provisional Irish Republican Army
aged 17. McCann was arrested aged 20, after shooting a Royal Ulster Constabulary
police officer, and subsequently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
McCann was released from prison after serving just over ten years of her sentence, and began working for Sinn Féin in the POW Dept and Women's Department. She is active on a number of projects in her community, including the Sally Gardens Community Centre Committee, the Safer Neighbourhoods Project, the Colin Community Festival, the Falls Community Council's Community Drugs Programme.
McCann is married to former IRA prisoner Rab Kerr
, with whom she has three children.
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...
, who was elected in 2007 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...
as a 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...
member for Belfast West
Belfast West (Assembly constituency)
Belfast West 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...
.
McCann was born in the Twinbrook area of Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, and was friends with Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
and his sister Bernadette
Bernadette Sands McKevitt
Bernadette Sands McKevitt is an Irish republican, and a former leading member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement. She lived in the mainly loyalist Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey before her family were forced out of their home to live in the mainly republican West Belfast...
. She joined the republican movement as a schoolgirl, becoming a member of Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914 as an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers...
then joining the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
aged 17. McCann was arrested aged 20, after shooting a Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
police officer, and subsequently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
McCann was released from prison after serving just over ten years of her sentence, and began working for Sinn Féin in the POW Dept and Women's Department. She is active on a number of projects in her community, including the Sally Gardens Community Centre Committee, the Safer Neighbourhoods Project, the Colin Community Festival, the Falls Community Council's Community Drugs Programme.
McCann is married to former IRA prisoner Rab Kerr
Rab Kerr
Robert 'Rab' Kerr is an Irish republican ex-prisoner who spent 18 years in British prisons, during which he spent three years on the 'Blanket Protest' in the H-Blocks and took part in the 'Great Escape' from Long Kesh in 1983...
, with whom she has three children.