# Raymond Ferguson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raymond_Ferguson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raymond_Ferguson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Ferguson > Source revision: 1327983912 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{for|the Jamaican cricketer|Raymond Ferguson (cricketer)}} {{short description|Irish rugby union player}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}} {{Use Irish English|date=February 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Raymond Ferguson | office = Member of [Fermanagh District Council](/source/Fermanagh_District_Council) | constituency = [Enniskillen](/source/Enniskillen_(District_Electoral_Area)) | term_start = 15 May 1985 | term_end = 5 May 2005 | predecessor = ''District created'' | successor = [Arlene Foster](/source/Arlene_Foster) | constituency1 = [Fermanagh Area E](/source/Fermanagh_Area_E) | term_start1 = 18 May 1977 | term_end1 = 15 May 1985 | predecessor1 = George Cathcart | successor1 = ''District abolished'' | office2 = [Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly](/source/Member_of_the_Northern_Ireland_Assembly)
for [Fermanagh and South Tyrone](/source/Fermanagh_and_South_Tyrone_(Assembly_constituency)) | term_start2 = 20 October 1982 | term_end2 = 1986 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|2|16}} | birth_place = [County Fermanagh](/source/County_Fermanagh), Northern Ireland | death_date = | party = [Ulster Unionist Party](/source/Ulster_Unionist_Party) }} '''Raymond Ferguson''' (born 16 February 1941) is a [Northern Irish](/source/Northern_Ireland) former [rugby union](/source/rugby_union) player with [Ulster Rugby](/source/Ulster_Rugby) and a politician with the [Ulster Unionist Party](/source/Ulster_Unionist_Party) (UUP). ==Early life and career== Part of a well established Ulster Unionist family in his native [County Fermanagh](/source/County_Fermanagh), Ferguson represented his province at rugby.W.D. Flackes & Sydney Elliott, ''Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-1993'', The Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 159 He studied law at [Queen's University, Belfast](/source/Queen's_University%2C_Belfast) and subsequently practised as a [solicitor](/source/solicitor), initially in [Belfast](/source/Belfast) and then [Coleraine](/source/Coleraine) before establishing his own still extant legal partnership in [Enniskillen](/source/Enniskillen).{{Cite web |url=http://www.fergusons-solicitors.co.uk/OurTeam/TheLegalTeam/tabid/81/Default.aspx |title=Fergusons Solicitors - The Legal Teams |access-date=7 September 2011 |archive-date=2 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402061131/http://www.fergusons-solicitors.co.uk/OurTeam/TheLegalTeam/tabid/81/Default.aspx |url-status=dead }} ==Politics== Ferguson gained his first elected office in 1977 when he was elected to [Fermanagh District Council](/source/Fermanagh_District_Council). He held a seat on the body until 2005.[https://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgfermanagh.htm Fermanagh District Council Elections 1993-2005] He served as Council Chairman from 1981 to 1983. He was chosen as UUP candidate for the [Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency](/source/Fermanagh_and_South_Tyrone_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) for the [1979 general election](/source/1979_United_Kingdom_general_election) although the seat was retained by sitting [Independent Republican](/source/Independent_Republican_(Ireland)) MP [Frank Maguire](/source/Frank_Maguire_(politician)). Ferguson was elected to the [Northern Ireland Assembly](/source/Northern_Ireland_Assembly_(1982)) in 1982 for [Fermanagh and South Tyrone](/source/Fermanagh_and_South_Tyrone_(Assembly_constituency)). Following the collapse of the Assembly Ferguson became a leading voice in support of the restoration of devolution and in 1988 advocated the adoption by the UUP of a policy in favour of negotiation with constitutional [Irish nationalist](/source/Irish_nationalist)s on both sides of the border. His views were rejected at the annual UUP conference however. The suggestion was labelled a "[Lundy](/source/Robert_Lundy)-like attack on the leadership" of the party by fellow Fermanagh delegate Sammy Foster.Feargal Cochrane, ''Unionist Politics and the Politics of Unionism Since the Anglo-Irish Agreement'', Cork University Press, 2001, p. 254 However Ferguson's moderate views made him popular with the [Republic of Ireland](/source/Republic_of_Ireland)'s political leaders and he was offered a seat in the [Seanad Éireann](/source/Seanad_%C3%89ireann). He declined the offer due to his opposition to the [Anglo-Irish Agreement](/source/Anglo-Irish_Agreement). Nonetheless his support for cross-community politics continued and in 1992 he publicly criticised colleagues on Fermanagh Council for their refusal to rotate the Council chairmanship with the nationalist [Social Democratic and Labour Party](/source/Social_Democratic_and_Labour_Party). ==References== {{Reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|ni/ass82}} {{s-new | Assembly }} {{s-ttl | title = [MPA](/source/Member_of_the_Parliamentary_Assembly) for [Fermanagh and South Tyrone](/source/Fermanagh_and_South_Tyrone_(Assembly_constituency)) | years = 1982–1986 }} {{s-non | reason = Assembly abolished }} {{s-end}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Raymond}} Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Ulster Rugby players Category:Ulster Unionist Party councillors Category:Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986 Category:Members of Fermanagh District Council Category:Solicitors from Northern Ireland Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Category:Lawyers from County Fermanagh --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Raymond Ferguson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Ferguson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Ferguson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.