{{Short description|Northern Irish politician (1959–2021)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Gordon Dunne | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|MBE}} | image = Gordon Dunne.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | office3 = Member of North Down Borough Council | constituency3 = Holywood | term_start3 = 21 May 1997 | term_end3 = 22 May 2014 | predecessor3 = James White | successor3 = Council abolished | constituency4 = Holywood | term_start4 = 15 May 1985 | term_end4 = 19 May 1993 | predecessor4 = District created | successor4 = James White | constituency5 = North Down Area D | term_start5 = 20 May 1981 | term_end5 = 15 May 1985 | predecessor5 = Frederick White | successor5 = District abolished | office2 = Member of the Legislative Assembly<br />for North Down | assembly2 = Northern Ireland | majority2 = | term_start2 = 5 May 2011 | term_end2 = 9 June 2021<ref name="Resignation">{{cite news|last1=McCormack|first1=Jayne|title=DUP MLA Gordon Dunne steps down due to serious illness |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57420146|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=9 June 2021}}</ref> | predecessor2 = Alan McFarland | successor2 = Stephen Dunne | birth_date = {{birth date|1959|4|4|df=yes}} | birth_place = {{nowrap|Enniskillen, County Fermanagh,}} Northern Ireland | death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|6|20|1959|4|4|df=y}} | death_place = | party = Democratic Unionist }}
'''Gordon Dunne''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (4 April 1959 – 20 June 2021) was a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Down from 2011 until June 2021.<ref>[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/election-2011/northern-ireland-assembly-elections-north-down-results-15152702.html NI Assembly elections], BelfastTelegraph.co.uk; accessed 3 March 2017.</ref>
==Biography== Born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/dups-gordon-dunne-i-found-it-hard-to-work-with-sinn-fein-yet-we-were-able-to-do-that-36856094.html|title=DUP's Gordon Dunne: 'I found it hard to work with Sinn Fein, yet we were able to do that'|newspaper=Belfasttelegraph|date=30 April 2018|access-date=22 June 2021}}</ref> Dunne was first elected to North Down Borough Council in the 1981 local elections representing the Holywood area.<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/73-81lgnorthdown.htm North Down results 1973-1981], Ark.ac.uk; accessed 11 May 2011</ref> He was re-elected in 1985 and 1989.<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lgnorthdown.htm North Down results 1985-1989], Ark.ac.uk; accessed 3 March 2017.</ref> He lost his seat in the 1993 local elections but regained it in 1997 and sat on the council since then.<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgnorthdown.htm North Down results 1993-2011], Ark.ac.uk; accessed 3 March 2017.</ref> He resigned from the assembly effective 9 June 2021 for health reasons, and his son Stephen was subsequently co-opted to the role.<ref name="bt">{{cite news|title=DUP MLA Gordon Dunne's son to take over his seat at Stormont Assembly|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dup-mla-gordon-dunnes-son-to-take-over-his-seat-at-stormont-assembly-40547861.html|website=Belfast Telegraph|access-date=22 June 2021|date=16 June 2021|last=Preston|first=Allan}}</ref><ref name="Resignation" />
On 20 June 2021, eleven days after his resignation, Dunne died of cancer, aged 62.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Preston|first1=Allan|title=Tributes paid as veteran DUP MLA Gordon Dunne dies|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/tributes-paid-as-veteran-dup-mla-gordon-dunne-dies-40560487.html|work=The Belfast Telegraph|date=20 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Corr|first1=Shauna|title=DUP's Gordon Dunne dies 11 days after resigning as MLA because of illness|url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/dups-gordon-dunne-dies-11-20862326|website=Belfast Live|date=20 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=DUP Leader pays tribute to Gordon Dunne|url=https://mydup.com/news/dup-leader-pays-tribute-to-gordon-dunne|website=Democratic Unionist Party|date=20 June 2021|access-date=20 June 2021|archive-date=29 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629022745/https://mydup.com/news/dup-leader-pays-tribute-to-gordon-dunne|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[http://www.gordondunne.org/ Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624064535/http://www.gordondunne.org/ |date=24 June 2021 }} {{s-start}} {{s-par|ni/ass}} {{s-bef | before = Alan McFarland }} {{s-ttl | title = MLA for North Down | years = 2011–2021 }} {{s-aft | after = Stephen Dunne }} {{s-end}}
{{Democratic Unionist Party}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Gordon}} Category:1959 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Category:Members of North Down Borough Council Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire