Dinah McNabb

Who is Dinah McNabb?

Dinah McNabb was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

Born in Lurgan, McNabb studied at Queen's University, Belfast. She was elected to Armagh County Council for the Ulster Unionist Party, and was then elected at the Northern Ireland general election, 1945 in North Armagh, serving until her retirement in 1969.

McNabb was a strong supporter of the Lord's Day Observance Society and throughout the 1940s campaigned against greyhound racing on Sundays, particularly in her home town of Lurgan.

McNabb was a bitter opponent of the development of the new town of Craigavon in the area she represented, and was in particular concerned that compensation payments to farmers took no account of their attachment to the land. In February 1966, she gave a thirty minute speech attacking the project, which culminated in her resignation from the government. She lent support to other projects, and led calls for the construction of a bridge or tunnel to connect Northern Ireland with Britain.

McNabb also served as the first Chairman of the 1966 Committee of backbenchers, from its establishment until 1968, and was the President of the Federation of Soroptimists of Great Britain and Ireland.