Michael Canavan (born October 1924) is a former Irish nationalist business owner and politician.

Born in Derry, Canavan studied at St Columb's College in the city before entering business.[1] By the 1960s, he owned a chain of bookmakers, a salmon-processing factory and a pub in the city.[2] He was treasurer of the University for Derry Committee in 1965,[1] and worked with John Hume to try to attract industry to the area.[3]

An advocate of credit unions, Canavan founded the Derry Credit Union with Hume and chaired it from 1963 to 1966, following which he spent a year as a director of the Irish League of Credit Unions.[1] In 1968, he was elected as Chairman of the Derry Citizens' Action Committee, and was subsequently prominent in the Derry Citizens' Defence Association and chaired the Derry Citizens' Central Council.[1]

Canavan entered electoral politics as campaign manager for Hume at the 1969 Northern Ireland general election. Hume stood in Foyle as an independent and was elected.[4] The following year, Canavan was a founder member of Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and served as its security spokesman for many years.[5]

At the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he was elected for Londonderry, and he held his seat in 1975 on the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention.[6] However, he decided not to stand in the 1982 Assembly election, instead calling for the party to boycott to vote because there was no power-sharing in the proposed assembly.[7] He remained active in the SDLP for some time, and chaired Derry's civic committee during the mid-1980s.[8]

Canavan turned 90 in October 2014.[9] His brother Ivor was a prominent member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ted Nealon, Ireland: a Parliamentary Directory, 1973–1974, p.199
  2. ↑ Peter Pringle and Philip Jacobson, Those are Real Bullets, Aren't They?, p.31
  3. ↑ Paul Routledge, John Hume: a Biography, p.57
  4. ↑ Raymond McClean, The road to Bloody Sunday, p.64
  5. ↑ John Potter, Testimony to Courage
  6. ↑ "Londonderry 1973–1982", Northern Ireland Elections
  7. ↑ Sydney Elliot et al, The 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, p.23
  8. ↑ Northern Ireland Assembly: Official Report of Debates, vol.15 (1985), p.70
  9. ↑ McKinney, Seamus (17 February 2015). "'University aim backfired' claim". The Irish News. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  10. ↑ Niall Ó Dochartaigh, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p.100
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