{{Short description|Northern Irish politician (born 1976)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Karen Mullan | honorific_suffix = MLA | image = Karen Mullan 2017.jpg | caption = Karen Mullan at Stormont | office = Member of the Legislative Assembly for Foyle | assembly = Northern Ireland | predecessor = Elisha McCallion | successor = Pádraig Delargy <br> | majority = | term_start = 20 June 2017 | term_end = 13 September 2021 | birth_name = <!-- Waiting for NI Assembly info to be updated --> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1976|8|18}} | birth_place = Derry, Northern Ireland | death_date = | death_place = | party = Sinn Féin }}
'''Karen Mullan''' MLA (born 18 August 1976) is a former Sinn Féin politician from Derry, Northern Ireland who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Foyle constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly from June 2017 to 2021.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Madden|first1=Andrew|title=Sinn Féin co-opt new MLAs in Foyle and West Tyrone|url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2017/06/13/news/karen-mullan-sinn-fe-in-select-community-worker-as-new-foyle-mla-1053185|website=The Irish News|date=12 June 2017}}</ref>
==History== Mullan served as a community worker in Derry prior to her co-option by Sinn Féin.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Now|first1=Derry|title=New Foyle MLA Karen Mullan has celebrated her first day at Stormont|url=https://www.derrynow.com/news/new-foyle-mla-karen-mullan-celebrated-first-day-stormont/169483|work=Derry Now|archive-date=8 December 2017|access-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208174736/https://www.derrynow.com/news/new-foyle-mla-karen-mullan-celebrated-first-day-stormont/169483|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was co-opted after Foyle MLA Elisha McCallion was elected to the House of Commons following the 2017 general election. Mullan was Sinn Féin's northern education spokesperson in the assembly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.derrydaily.net/2017/07/21/mla-mullan-named-as-sinn-feins-new-education-spokesperson|title=MLA Mullan named as Sinn Féin's new education spokesperson|publisher=Derry Daily|date=21 July 2017|access-date=20 November 2017}}</ref>
She is a graduate of Ulster University with a degree in community development, and is a former manager of Hillcrest Trust, a community centre in the Waterside area of Derry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hillcresttrust.com/karen-mullan|title=Karen Mullan|publisher=Hillcrest Trust|access-date=20 November 2017|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035242/http://www.hillcresttrust.com/karen-mullan/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
She played a key role in setting up a charity, Pink Ladies Cancer Support Group, which lobbied for the delivery of the North-West Cancer Centre at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/health/pink-ladies-branch-out-1-3190419|title=Pink Ladies branch out|publisher=Sentinel|date=27 October 2011|access-date=20 November 2017}}</ref>
She left the assembly with Martina Anderson on 13 September 2021 being replaced by Pádraig Delargy and Ciara Ferguson.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-09-08|title=Sinn Féin selects Pádraig Delargy and Ciara Ferguson as new Foyle MLAs|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-58495303|access-date=2021-09-08}}</ref>
===Controversy=== Mullan is also a director of Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership, which is a community group based in Derry. The organisation was found guilty in 2017 of having unlawfully discriminated against a job applicant based on political opinion.<ref name="discrimination">{{cite news|last1=Hughes|first1=Brendan|title=Sinn Féin MLA is director of group found to have discriminated against job applicant|url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/2017/06/14/news/new-sinn-fe-in-mla-heads-community-group-that-lost-employment-case-1054451/|date=14 June 2017|work=The Irish News|language=en}}</ref> The organisation was ordered to pay £11,000 to the applicant, who was the highest-scoring candidate in the interviews.<ref name="discrimination" /> Giving evidence at the tribunal, Mullan revealed during cross-examination that an interview panellist informed her that they "had been bullied" into giving a better score. The tribunal said Mullan's evidence "lacked credibility".<ref name="discrimination" />
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|ni/ass}} {{s-bef|before=Elisha McCallion}} {{s-ttl|title=MLA for Foyle|years=2017–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{Sinn Féin}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullan, Karen}} Category:Living people Category:Sinn Féin MLAs Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Category:Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Category:Politicians from Derry (city) Category:1976 births