Danny O'Connor

Who is Danny O'Connor?

Danny O'Connor is a former nationalist politician in Northern Ireland. He was a member of Larne Borough Council from 1997 to 2011.

Born in Larne, O'Connor worked as a security guard in the Shorts factory in Belfast and also served in the Ulster Defence Regiment before being elected to Larne Borough Council, representing the Social Democratic and Labour Party, in 1997. The same year, he stood for the party at the 1997 Westminster election in East Antrim, but received only 4.6% of the votes cast.He had joined the SDLP earlier in 1993 and helped found the party branch in Larne.

O'Connor was elected for East Antrim at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election. In 1999, his car was twice petrol-bombed, while his house and his brother's house were also attacked. He described it as part of a systematic loyalist campaign against Catholics in Larne. In 2000, he accused then Democratic Unionist Party councillor Jack McKee of raising tension in the Catholic Seacourt estate in Larne when McKee blamed republicans for targeting the estate's Protestant population. His home was attacked again in 2001, and in 2002, when he blamed the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association.