{{BLP sources|date=June 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Jane Morrice | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | caption = | office = Deputy speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly | term_start = 31 January 2000 | term_end = 28 April 2003 | predecessor = ''Office created'' | successor = Francie Molloy (2006) | constituency_AM1 = North Down | assembly1 = Northern Ireland | majority1 = | term_start1 = 25 June 1998 | term_end1 = 26 November 2003 | predecessor1 = ''New Creation'' | successor1 = Alex Easton | birth_date = | birth_place = Belfast, Northern Ireland | birth_name = | party = NI Women's Coalition (1996–2006) | other_party = Independent | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = University of Ulster | occupation = | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Jane Morrice''' is a Northern Irish politician and journalist who helped architect the Good Friday Agreement.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Casale|first=Roger|date=2019-05-12|title=Jane Morrice, Independent, Northern Ireland|url=https://neweuropeans.net/authors/jane-morrice-independent-northern-ireland|access-date=2020-08-28|website=neweuropeans.net|language=en|archive-date=19 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619153534/https://neweuropeans.net/authors/jane-morrice-independent-northern-ireland|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Kelly|first=Ben|date=2020-06-28|title=Ireland's new government fails to bring in Northern voices despite 'shared island' commitment|language=en-GB|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-new-government-shared-island-northern-seanad-senators-a9589786.html|access-date=2020-08-28|archive-date=18 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818005415/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-new-government-shared-island-northern-seanad-senators-a9589786.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She is the former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, former Head of the European Commission Office in Northern Ireland and former reporter for BBC Belfast.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rodgers|first=Fionnbharr|date=2019-06-10|title="There's a lot still to do." An interview with Jane Morrice|url=https://www.northernslant.com/theres-a-lot-still-to-do-interview-jane-morrice/|access-date=2020-08-28|website=Northern Slant|language=en-GB|archive-date=26 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126011340/https://www.northernslant.com/theres-a-lot-still-to-do-interview-jane-morrice/|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=European election: Former Women's Coalition leader Jane Morrice launches campaign|url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/european-election-former-womens-coalition-leader-jane-morrice-launches-campaign-977485|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.newsletter.co.uk|date=6 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Morrice was Vice President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) from 2013 to 2015 and again from 2019 until 2020 when Brexit forced the United Kingdom out of the European Union.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-23|title=The EESC bids farewell to its British members with the promise of maintaining close ties with UK civil society|url=https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases/eesc-bids-farewell-its-british-members-promise-maintaining-close-ties-uk-civil-society-0|access-date=2020-08-28|website=European Economic and Social Committee|language=en|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112202436/https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases/eesc-bids-farewell-its-british-members-promise-maintaining-close-ties-uk-civil-society-0|url-status=live}}</ref> Morrice served two terms as Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and was a prominent member of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition until it ceased to exist in 2006.
Morrice was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in June 1998 and was appointed Deputy Speaker in February 2000. She represented NI interests as an EESC Member in Brussels from 2006 to Brexit in 2020, and, after many decades as a Member of the European Movement Northern Ireland, she was nominated Hon. President.
Morrice was involved in the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and was a member of the Standing Orders Committee which set the initial rules governing Assembly procedures post-devolution. She was also a member of the Assembly's Trade and Industry Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.
== Early life and education == Born in Belfast, she is the younger sister of Susan Morrice.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 January 2013 |title=Why life's never boring for Belfast's oil baron |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/why-lifes-never-boring-for-belfasts-oil-baron-29013598.html |access-date=2022-06-08 |issn=}}</ref> Morrice was educated at Ashleigh House School and Methodist College Belfast and the University of Ulster.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lynn|first1=Brendan|title=Biographies of People Prominent During 'the Troubles'|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/biography/Morrice_Jane_1998.html|website=CAIN Web Service|access-date=29 July 2016|archive-date=17 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817053152/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/biography/Morrice_Jane_1998.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She began her career as a journalist in Brussels in 1980; In 1986, she moved to BBC Belfast as reporter covering news and current affairs during the 'troubles' and was later promoted to Business and Labour Relations correspondent.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Jane Morrice: Could this novel initiative help Boris woo the DUP... or would it be a bridge too far?|language=en-GB|work=belfasttelegraph|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/jane-morrice-could-this-novel-initiative-help-boris-woo-the-dup-or-would-it-be-a-bridge-too-far-38339423.html|access-date=2020-08-28|issn=0307-1235|archive-date=24 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724094459/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/jane-morrice-could-this-novel-initiative-help-boris-woo-the-dup-or-would-it-be-a-bridge-too-far-38339423.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1992, she was appointed Head of the European Commission (EC) Office in Northern Ireland and, as a member of the task force set up by EC President Delors, she was involved in the creation of the first EU PEACE Programme which has invested £2billion in cross-community and cross-border peace initiatives to date. Morrice graduated from the University of Ulster, with a BA Hon in European Studies. She speaks fluent French and basic Spanish and German.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=By David Young, Press |date=2019-05-07 |title=Former Women's Coalition members back Jane Morrice European election campaign |url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2019/05/07/news/former-women-s-coalition-members-back-jane-morrice-european-election-campaign-1614108/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507024517/http://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2019/05/07/news/former-women-s-coalition-members-back-jane-morrice-european-election-campaign-1614108/ |archive-date=7 May 2019 |access-date=2020-08-28 |website=The Irish News |language=en}}</ref>
== Political career == Dr Jane Morrice entered politics in 1996 when she co-founded the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. She stood unsuccessfully as a NI Women’s Coalition representative in North Down at the 1997 United Kingdom general election. She was elected in North Down at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, but lost the seat at the 2003 election.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Jane Morrice launches European election campaign|language=en-GB|work=belfasttelegraph|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/jane-morrice-launches-european-election-campaign-38082941.html|access-date=2020-08-28|issn=0307-1235|archive-date=6 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506133312/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/jane-morrice-launches-european-election-campaign-38082941.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Morrice also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Integrated Education Fund, as Deputy Chief NI Equality Commissioner and as a Board Member of the Laganside Corporation, which was tasked with regenerating Belfast's waterfront.
In 2006, Jane was nominated to represent Northern Ireland on the Brussels-based European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and, in 2013, she was elected its vice president. In a role similar to that of her previous one as Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, she chaired sessions of the Committee made up of 350 members from 28 EU Member States speaking 23 languages. In 2008, she was appointed to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland as Deputy Chief and, in this role, she also chaired the Equality and Diversity Steering Group promoting the role of women in local councils, and was a member of the Audit Committee.
As an EESC Member, Morrice has authored two reports on the EU role in peace-building in Northern Ireland and the world. She also works to promote exchange of experience between Northern Ireland and conflict zones and has carried out such work in Afghanistan, the Lebanon, Turkey and Cyprus.
In recognition of her work, Jane was awarded the Boston Certificate of Recognition for Peace and Equality.
In the 2019 European Parliament election, Morrice stood as an Independent candidate for Northern Ireland. She was eliminated in the first count, getting 0.30% of first preference votes.
Jane was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Queens University Belfast in 2021 to mark her contribution to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060926053628/http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/Speakers_Office/DSbiography.htm Jane Morrice biography (Northern Ireland Assembly)]
{{S-start}} {{s-par|ni/ass}} {{s-new | Assembly }} {{s-ttl | title = MLA for North Down | years = 1998 – 2003 }} {{s-aft | after = Alex Easton }}
{{s-new | Office}} {{s-ttl | title = Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly | years = 2000–2007 | with = Sir John Gorman 2000–2002 | with2 = Donovan McClelland 2000–2007 | with3 = Jim Wilson 2002–2007 }} {{s-aft | after =Francie Molloy | after2 = David McClarty | after3 = John Dallat }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrice, Jane}} Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Category:Politicians from Belfast Category:Alumni of Ulster University Category:Journalists from Belfast Category:Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Category:Northern Ireland Women's Coalition politicians Category:People educated at Methodist College Belfast Category:20th-century women politicians from Northern Ireland Category:20th-century women journalists from Northern Ireland Category:21st-century women journalists from Northern Ireland Category:20th-century journalists from Northern Ireland Category:21st-century journalists from Northern Ireland