GERRY ADAMS MP MLA (SF)

Gerry Adams was born in Belfast in 1948.  He was educated at St Mary's CBS and once worked as a barman.  He is married to Colette and has one son. Interned between 1973 and 1977 for republican activities, Adams became Sinn Féin President and MP for West Belfast in 1983. While he lost his seat in 1992 to Dr Joe Hendron, he retook the seat in 1997.   He did not sit on any Committees in the 1998-2003 Assembly, however he tabled Questions on issues concerning the minimum wage, health, the environment and the Irish language.  Sinn Féin managed to successfully manage Adams’s huge personal vote so that a record total of five Sinn Féin MLAs were elected from the Belfast West constituency in the 2007 Assembly election. Adams does not sit on any Committees in the Assembly.

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ALEX ATTWOOD MLA (SDLP)

Alex Attwood was born in 1959.  Educated at St Malachy's College, he went on to become President of the Students’ Union at Queen's University Belfast. He is a qualified solicitor and has been a member of Belfast City Council since 1985.  He was appointed to the Policing Board in 2001 but was replaced on the Board by Dolores Kelly in 2007.  He is currently SDLP Chair and the party's Spokesperson on Employment and Learning and North South Development.  Alex has been an MLA for Belfast West since 1998 and was successfully re-elected in 2007, albeit with a substantially reduced vote in the constituency. Attwood is a member of the Assembly Executive Review Committee and the Employment and Learning Committee in the Assembly.

FRA McCANN MLA (SF)

A former Republican prisoner, Fra McCann was first elected to Belfast City Council in 1987. He served as Chair of the Council's Community and Leisure Services Committee.  He also served as Chair of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland.  He is the party's Spokesperson on Housing.  Fra has been an MLA since 2003 and was successfully re-elected as one of the West Belfast Sinn Féin MLAs in 2007. Fra is a member of the Finance and Personnel Committee and the Social Development Committee in the Assembly.

JENNIFER MCCANN MLA(SF)

Jennifer McCann comes from Twinbrook, West Belfast. She is a long time political activist who spent 10 and a half years in prison. On her release Jennifer joined the Sinn Féin POW Dept and the Sinn Féin Women's Department. She is a community activist who has worked on a number of projects in the Colin area including the development of the Sally Gardens Community Centre, the Safer Neighbourhoods Project and the Colin Community Festival. She currently works in the Falls Community Council's Community Drugs Programme. Jennifer is the mother of 3 young children and is a Councillor for Dunmurry Cross on Lisburn Council.  Jennifer became an MLA in 2007. Jennifer is a member of the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee and the Finance and Personnel Committee in the Assembly. In May 2008 she was made Deputy Chair of the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee replacing party colleague Paul Maskey as part of a reshuffle. She is also Sinn Féin's Party Spokesperson on Women.

PAUL MASKEY MLA (SF)

Paul has represented Sinn Féin in the Upper Falls Ward since 2001 in Belfast City Council and is currently the leader of the Sinn Féin team in Belfast City Council.  He is a member of the Andersonstown Martyrs Sinn Féin Cumann, a Board member of the Upper Andersonstown Community Forum, Greater Andersonstown Neighbourhood Partnership and has been involved in the re-establishment of the Friends of the Falls Park.  The brother of South Belfast MLA Alex Maskey, Paul was successfully elected in West Belfast in 2007.  He is married with two children. As part of Sinn Féin's reshuffle in May 2008 Paul stood down from the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee of which he was Deputy Chair and moved to replace party colleague John O'Dowd as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. He remains a member of the Business Committee and also sits on the Committee on Standards and Privileges in the Assembly.

SUE RAMSEY MLA (SF)

Sue Ramsey MLA was born in 1970 and was educated at St Louise's College Belfast and Portrush Catering College. First elected to Lisburn Borough Council in 1997, she was then elected to the 1998-2003 Assembly in 1998. A former Chairperson of West Belfast Sinn Féin, Ramsey served as Party Whip until she lost her Assembly seat in 2003. She then replaced Bairbre de Brún MEP as MLA for West Belfast in 2004.  Sue was successfully re-elected to the Assembly in 2007, polling second in the constituency behind Party Leader Gerry Adams MP MLA. Sue is Chair of the Employment and Learning Committee in the Assembly. She is also a member of the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee and is Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Children and Young People.

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