Maurice Morrow, Baron Morrow

Maurice George Morrow, Baron Morrow (born 27 September 1948)^[1] is a Northern Irish unionist politician. He is one of two Democratic Unionist MLAs for Fermanagh and South Tyrone alongside Arlene Foster, and was made a life peer in June 2006. He is also a councillor on Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council representing Dungannon Town.

He was educated at Ballygawley Primary School, Dungannon Secondary and Dungannon Technical College, following which he pursued a career as an estate agent. His political career began in 1973 when he was elected to Fermanagh District Council. He has been an MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 1998. In July 2000 he became Minister for Social Development in the Northern Ireland Executive, a position held until October 2001, during which time he was credited with implementing policies recognising the needs of the elderly, the farming community and introduced new measures to tackle welfare fraud.

It was announced on 11 April 2006 that Morrow would be one of the first three members of the DUP to be created life peers,^[2] giving the party its first representation in the House of Lords. He was created Baron Morrow, of Clogher Valley in the County of Tyrone, on 7 June 2006 and was formally introduced to the House of Lords on 27 June.^[3]

The other new DUP peers are Wallace Browne, the Lord Mayor of Belfast for 2005–6, and Eileen Paisley, a vice-president of the DUP and wife of the Leader of the DUP, Ian Paisley. All are to become "working" life peers. At the same time, it was announced that David Trimble, former MP and former leader of the Ulster Unionists, was also being appointed as a working life peer.

Morrow is married and has two daughters. He maintains an interest in rural development.

In 2012 his constituency office in Dungannon was broken into and ransacked. Maurice Morrow vowed it would be business as usual despite the burglary.^[4][5]

'In 2015, Morrow introduced a private members bill which made the purchase of sex illegal in Northern Ireland, but the law became a controversial matter amongst activists and campaigners that support the decriminalisation of sex work.^[6] Sex Workers' Rights Campaigner, Laura Lee, emphasised the need to decriminalised sex work,^[7] and is currently challenging the law that criminalises sex clients.^[8]'

Voting Record

Lord Morrow has voted consistently for educational autonomy of educational institutions (schools).^[9] Lord Morrow has also voted against raising the tuition fees.^[10]

References

External links

• Maurice Morrow MLA, DUP website
• List of Members, House of Lords
• Notice of Lord Morrow's Introduction, House of Lords – Minute
• Four new unionist peers appointed, BBC News, 11 April 2006
• TheyWorkForYou Voting Record, TheyWorkForYou TheyWorkForYou