John Barry

Who is John Barry?

John Barry is a former co-chair of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, which is a regional council of the all island Green Party formed in December 2006. He stood down as co-chair in April 2009, having held the position since 2003.

Barry studied at University College Dublin, and became active in the Workers' Party and then Democratic Left. He then moved to work as a lecturer at Keele University, while undertaking postgraduate study at the University of Glasgow.

In 2000, he moved to work at Queen's University Belfast. In January 2003, he was elected as joint leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, alongside Kelly Andrews. He stood unsuccessfully in North Down at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003. He also stood in the Holywood ward for the local elections in 2005 and narrowly missed being elected by 60 votes.

He was a prime mover behind the creation of an all-island Green Party, officially launched in December 2006, in advance of the 2007 NI Assembly elections which saw the Greens get their first Assembly seat in North Down with Brian Wilson.

Barry was Acting Director of the Institute of Governance, Public Policy and Social Research at Queen's University Belfast and is currently Reader in Politics in the School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy and Assistant Director of the Institute for a Sustainable World.