{{Short description|Irish politician (born 1948)}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=June 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Cllr | image = Christy Burke Lord Mayor of Dublin.jpg | caption = Burke in 2015 | office = Dublin City Councillor | term_start = 20 June 1985 | constituency = North Inner City | office2 = Lord Mayor of Dublin | term_start2 = June 2014 | term_end2 = June 2015 | predecessor2 = Oisín Quinn | successor2 = Críona Ní Dhálaigh | birth_date = 1948 | birth_place = | party = Independent<br/>Sinn Féin (to 2009) | spouse = | occupation = Docker | website = }} '''Christopher Burke''' is an independent Dublin City Councillor and former Lord Mayor of Dublin.<ref name="it-burke-quits-sinn-fein">{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/burke-quits-sinn-fein-1.841697 |title=Burke quits Sinn Féin |first=Patrick |last=Logue |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=9 June 2009}}</ref>
Burke sided with the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the 1970 split in Sinn Féin and the IRA. He served two prison sentences in Portlaoise Prison on IRA membership charges in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yates | first=Padraig |title=Smack: The Criminal Drugs Racket in Ireland|publisher=Gill and Macmillan |year=1985 |pages=233 |chapter=Chapter 14 }}</ref> By his own account, Burke rejoined the IRA upon leaving prison.<ref>{{cite news |last=Scott |first=Claire |date=1 October 2016 |title=Dublin Lives: Christy Burke on his battle with addiction and being a member of the IRA |url=https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/dublin-lives-christy-burke-battle-11965665 |access-date=10 August 2021 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809231824/https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/dublin-lives-christy-burke-battle-11965665 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In the early 1980s he became involved in local politics. He was involved in anti-illegal drug trade activism in Dublin, particularly with Concerned Parents Against Drugs, and criticised the Garda Síochána for their treatment of his fellow activists.<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/1996/1018/96101800004.html Adams urges alliance on drugs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019180500/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/1996/1018/96101800004.html |date=19 October 2012 }}, Mark Brennock, The Irish Times, 18 October 1996</ref><ref name="pushers-out-p32">[https://books.google.com/books?id=oqZawhqrldMC&dq=%22Christy+Burke%22+heroin&pg=PT27 Pushers Out: The Inside Story of Dublin's Anti-drugs Movement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608192346/https://books.google.com/books?id=oqZawhqrldMC&pg=PT27&lpg=PT27&dq=%22Christy+Burke%22+heroin&source=bl&ots=PnXEXZJfwW&sig=urPm5wT1hWWVKJZaQxEWETLiZqE&hl=en&ei=QqRZS4KbCIHw0gTs-PyBBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBAQ6AEwBA |date=8 June 2020 }}, André Lyder, p. 32</ref> He was first elected to Dublin City Council at the 1985 Dublin Corporation election.<ref>[http://www.dublin.ie/profiles.aspx?id=13724 Councillor Christy Burke's Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126035642/http://www.dublin.ie/profiles.aspx?id=13724 |date=26 November 2007 }}, dublin.ie</ref>
In 1986, he, Tony Gregory and Joe Costello were jailed for fourteen days for campaigning on behalf of Moore Street traders.<ref name="independent-rare-beast">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/much-respected-councillor-a-rare-sinn-fein-beast/26542683.html |title=Much respected councillor a rare Sinn Fein beast |first=Ciaran |last=Byrne |date=10 June 2009 |newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref>
In 1996, he was awarded £7,500 for the distress caused by false statements after a member of the Garda Special Branch had told Burke he was in danger of being assassinated.<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/1996/1123/96112300003.html Burke awarded £7,500 in action against former detective garda] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019180445/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/1996/1123/96112300003.html |date=19 October 2012 }}, The Irish Times, 11 November 1996</ref>
He was involved in negotiations during the Northern Ireland peace process in the 1990s and supported the IRA ceasefires.<ref name="independent-rare-beast"/>
After winning a seat for Sinn Féin in the 2009 Dublin City Council election, he left the party three days later, leading to criticism from Aengus Ó Snodaigh<ref name="it-burke-quits-sinn-fein"/> that Sinn Féin had promoted him in the campaign as its longest-serving councillor.<ref name="independent-rare-beast"/>
In 2010, the ''Sunday World'' newspaper was forced by the High Court to apologise to Burke for a May 2007 article by crime reporter Paul Williams, published during the campaigning period for that year's general election, that falsely accused him of knowing a criminal by the name of Christy Griffin, as well as accusing of him of lying about knowing Griffin.<ref>[http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1109/sundayworld.html Sunday World apologises to councillor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110205515/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1109/sundayworld.html |date=10 November 2010 }}. RTÉ. 9 November 2010.</ref>
He ran for the Dáil ten times in Dublin Central from 1982 until 2020 but was not elected.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ryan |first=Nicky |date=10 February 2020 |title=Social Democrats' Gary Gannon takes final seat in Dublin Central battleground |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-central-gary-gannon-christy-burke-battleground-5001224-Feb2020/ |work=Thejournal.ie |archive-date=11 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211152552/https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-central-gary-gannon-christy-burke-battleground-5001224-Feb2020/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2014 he was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin for a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/2020-09/lord-mayors-of-dublin-1665-2021.pdf|title=Lord Mayors of Dublin 1665–2020 |work=Dublin City Council|date=June 2020|access-date=18 November 2023}}</ref> He was elected for the sixth time at the 2024 Dublin City Council election.<ref name="Elections Ireland">{{cite web |title=Elections Ireland Profile: Christy Burke|url=https://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3439 |website=Elections Ireland}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-civ}} {{s-bef|before = Oisín Quinn}} {{s-ttl|title = Lord Mayor of Dublin |years = 2014–2015}} {{s-aft|after = Críona Ní Dhálaigh}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Christy}} Category:Living people Category:Independent local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Category:Lord mayors of Dublin Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army members Category:Sinn Féin local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Category:Sinn Féin candidates in Dáil elections (post-1923) Category:Independent candidates in Dáil elections Category:1948 births