John Dallat obituary: SDLP stalworth and fierce civil rights defender

John Dallat
Born March 24th, 1947, Died May 5th, 2020

John Dallat, the veteran SDLP MLA for East Londonderry, has died after suffering from cancer. He was 73. He had been politically active for almost 50 years, and remained so until recent months. Dallat came from the classic traditional SDLP background, having been a rural teacher for 30 years. He taught business studies in Cardonagh in Co Donegal before returning to teach in his native Kilrea, in Co Derry. He was elected as a councillor in Coleraine in 1977 and went on to serve as the staunchly unionist town’s first nationalist mayor. He was elected to the first NI Assembly in 1998. He retired briefly but returned to Stormont in 2017 “to sort out the mess”, he said.

Dallat was a friendly, affable and courteous man – he was what is known in Derry as “a civil man”. But he was also a fierce one. A passionate believer in civil rights, he consistently opposed the use of violence for political ends and spoke out against it across the sectarian divide. He described his sense of outrage over the murders of local protestants, including police officers, by the IRA. He also deplored loyalist paramilitarism, notably calling for an investigation into allegations of police collusion with the UDA in the Greysteel massacre in 1993. Inevitibly, he paid for this stance with more than his share of threats, slurs and denunciations.

He learned forbearance in a hard school – Kilrea was a typical small northern rural town in which relations between the two communities were often extremely strained, while Coleraine council during the Troubles was not a comfortable place for a nationalist unwilling to keep his head down. As former SDLP leader Mark Durkan said in a tribute, “John stood up to bullies from all sides in the very worst of times”.

‘Dad, you can shove your offer. I’m going to sit the Leaving Cert’

---

Sean Moncrieff: Why does the sight of me in a dress bother people?

---

Thank you, Gwyneth Paltrow, from the heart of my phlegmatic bottom

---

‘I see so much more drinking in Ireland than I did in Italy’

---

A diligent local politician who spent long hours in his constituency office in Kilrea, it was as chair of the NI Assembly’s public accounts committee that Dallat made his name on the national stage. He was relentless in his determined pursuit of those who misappropriated or misused public money. The Nama, Red Sky, Renewable Heat Incentive and other northern financial scandals incensed him. The SDLP leader, Colm Eastwood, said Dallat had been “a forensic champion of the people and the public interest”. The Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister described Dallat’s work on the committee as “particularly notable”. First Minister DUP leader Arlene Foster said she was “deeply saddened” and that Dallat was “always to the fore in speaking up for his constituents”. UUP leader Steve Aiken praised his diligence and long service and Sinn Fein expressed sympathy.

Helpful

There have been many tributes to Dallat from journalists. Instead of blaming the media for awkward news for politicians, Dallat embraced his relationship with those he trusted in order to get important stories into the public domain. He was unfailingly helpful. The sister of the late Inga Maria Hauser, who was murdered shortly after she arrived in Northern Ireland 32 years ago, said she wept when she heard of his death. He had relentlessly pursued justice in the case, and the PSNI finally sent a murder file to the Public Prosecution Service earlier this year. “He just would not give up,” said solicitor Claire McKeegan. Pat Hume described him as a good and loyal friend to her husband, SDLP founder John Hume, and said he was “always on the side of the underdog, defending the disadvantaged and standing strong against sectarianism and unfairness”.

But for Covid-19, his funeral would undoubtedly have drawn a large and eclectic crowd of mourners. The anthem of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, “We Shall Overcome” was played. Dallat is survived by his wife Anne, their children Helena, Ronan and Diarmuid, and eight grandchildren. The family brought his favourite car, a vintage Morris Minor Traveller he had restored, to the funeral.