Linda Dillon

{{short description|Irish politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Linda Dillon | honorific_suffix = MLA | image = Linda Dillon, 2023 (cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Dillon in 2023 | office = Member of the Legislative Assembly<br />for Mid Ulster | assembly = Northern Ireland | majority = | term_start = 5 May 2016 | term_end = | predecessor = Martin McGuinness | successor = | office1 = Chair of Mid-Ulster District Council | term_start1 = April 2015 | term_end1 = May 2016 | office2 = Member of <br/> Mid-Ulster District Council | term_start2 = 22 May 2014 | term_end2 = 5 May 2016 | 1blankname2 = DEA | 1namedata2 = Torrent | predecessor2 = ''Council established'' | successor2 = Niamh Doris | birth_date = | birth_place = South Armagh, Northern Ireland | birth_name = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1978|08|05}} | party = Sinn Féin | spouse = Gerard | children = 1 | profession = Politician | website = [https://www.sinnfein.ie/linda-dillon Official website] }}

'''Linda Dillon''' (Irish: Líonda Diolún; born 5 August 1978) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician from Northern Ireland, serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster since 2016.<ref name="mid-ulster"/>

==Political career== Originally elected as a Mid-Ulster councillor for the Torrent DEA (topping the poll with 14.8% of the total valid votes), she served as the inaugural chairperson of Mid-Ulster District Council since its inception in April 2015 and also sat on the Council's Development Committee until being elected to Stormont in May 2016.

As Martin McGuinness elected to run in the Foyle constituency in the 2016 Assembly election, Linda was then selected to replace him as a candidate in the Mid-Ulster constituency.<ref name="mid-ulster">{{cite news|last=Corr|first=Shauna|url=http://www.midulstermail.co.uk/news/mid-ulster-news/linda-dillon-delighted-at-selection-in-place-of-martin-mcguinness-for-mid-ulster-1-7213768 |title=Linda Dillon 'delighted' at selection in place of Martin McGuinness for Mid Ulster |newspaper=Mid Ulster Mail |date=2016-02-13 |accessdate=2017-03-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214083428/http://www.midulstermail.co.uk/news/mid-ulster-news/linda-dillon-delighted-at-selection-in-place-of-martin-mcguinness-for-mid-ulster-1-7213768 |archive-date=2016-02-14}}</ref> She was elected with her two other party colleagues (Ian Milne and Michelle O'Neill) on the first count, amassing 5,833 votes (14.3%).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/northern-ireland-constituencies/N06000010 |title=Mid Ulster - Northern Ireland Assembly constituency - Election 2017 |website=bbc.co.uk |accessdate=2017-03-04}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|ni/ass}} {{s-bef | before = Martin McGuinness }} {{s-ttl | title = MLA for Mid-Ulster | years = 2016–present }} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Linda}} Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Sinn Féin MLAs Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Category:Members of Mid Ulster District Council Category:Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Category:Women councillors in Northern Ireland Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027 Category:Politicians from County Armagh