From here he became more involved in the political side of the movement and stood as a candidate for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election in South Antrim, although he was not elected. The IRA described him as "one of the key people responsible for winding up the loyalist paramilitary sectarian machine",[3] a "propogator of anti-Catholic sectarian hatred",[5] and "a prominent motivator of attacks on Catholics". Kenneth Campbell, the 29-year-old Protestant caretaker in the centre, was also killed in the attack. He had replaced the Rev Martin Smyth (UUP) who had retired. M.P. Bradford later resigned from the Methodist ministry in the late 1970s after feeling that he and his fellow ministers were on divergent paths both politically and ecumenically.[why?]

Nevertheless, Bradford claimed to always remain at heart a Methodist and also rejected suggestions that he was to join Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church (which he never did). In one of his speeches he said the causes of the problems in Northern Ireland were down to the Roman Catholic Church, Marxism, and ecumenical confusion.[2]. After spending the rest of the 1960s attached to congregations in East Belfast and Fivemiletown, Bradford was fully ordained in 1970 and given his own parish in the Suffolk area of southwest Belfast. His death and that of Mr. Ken Campbell, caretaker at the Finaghy Community Centre, are part of a calculated series of atrocities committed in recent days.

Secretary of State Jim Prior was verbally abused and jostled by a group of angry loyalists outside the church at his funeral and hissed at by members of the congregation. I would like to refer to the brutal murder, by the Provisional IRA, of the Reverend Robert Bradford, MP in Belfast on Saturday last. Explore the constituencies in this county, or view the representation of parties. I know that all the people we represent share the sense of sorrow, anger and outrage widely felt in Northern Ireland at present. His seat was won by Martin Smyth, also of the UUP, in a by-election in 1982. Bradford was shot dead by the IRA on 14 November 1981 in a community centre in Finaghy, Belfast, while hosting a political surgery. Belfast is a county in Northern Ireland. The killing of an elected representative of the people calls for particular condemnation in the strongest possible terms and serves to remind us of the real objectives of the organisation responsible. (Norah Bradford, A Sword Bathed in Heaven 1984:98) and would spend the final years of his life without a church. Little Pengelly had defeated Alasdair McDonnell (SDLP) who had held the seat between 2005 and 2017. The MP since 2019 is Claire Hanna (SDLP); she defeated Emma Little Pengelly (DUP) who had held the seat since 2017. Belfast South is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. Bradford was born on 8 June 1941 to a Belfast family resident in Limavady, County Londonderry, due to the wartime evacuation. Its true attitude to democracy and freedom was summed up in a recent statement of an IRA spokesman who, when asked by an interviewer for a foreign newspaper about the wishes of the people in this part of the country concerning an aspect of reunification, replied, "We call the shots. His campaign had been openly supported by the far-right National Front, and at a National Front rally September 1974, Martin Webster read out a letter of solidarity from Bradford.[1].

Reverend Robert Jonathan Bradford (8 June 1941 – 14 November 1981) was a Methodist Minister and a Vanguard Unionist and Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for the Belfast South constituency in Northern Ireland until his assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 14 November 1981. He was described as a religious and political hardliner, identifying with British Israelism. Posted at 11:28 13 Dec 2019. Who won, who lost and who held on in NI. The IRA has once again shown its utter contempt for human life and for the democratic process which it has recently sought to distort for its own ends. A book about Bradford's life, A sword bathed in heaven: The life, faith, and cruel death of the Rev. Bradford's father left the family not long after his birth and his mother died so he was raised by foster parents. as a teenager and his displays soon attracted the attentions of the English side Sheffield Wednesday F.C., who invited him to a trial. During these years he came to spend time in the 'Bible belt' of the US and became associated with American Evangelicalism. Bradford was first elected as Member of Parliament for South Belfast in the February 1974 British general election, this time under the banner of the United Ulster Unionist Council (an alliance between the Vanguard, the Democratic Unionist Party and the anti- Brian Faulkner section of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) under Harry West), defeating the sitting MP Rafton Pounder, a pro-Faulkner Ulster Unionist.

A talented footballer, Bradford signed for Glenavon F.C. Voters react to their new SDLP MPs in Foyle and south Belfast.

We don't really give a damn what they want". The current MP is Claire Hanna of the SDLP. Ian Paisley also protested against his attendance. Bradford gave up football in 1964, after deciding to train to become a Methodist minister. Seanad Éireann (Senate of the Republic of Ireland) passes motion of sympathy on assassination of Rev Robert Bradford MP. (1984), was written by his widow, Norah. He was re-elected in 1979 for the UUP. However, Bradford was not signed by the club and returned to Northern Ireland to resume his career with the then Belfast-based club Distillery. Claire Hanna's hopes have been bolstered by the absence of Sinn Féin and Green Party candidates At her campaign launch in the Lyric Theatre, she was announced as "the next MP for South Belfast… Dáil Éireann Parliamentary Debates - Volume 330. Between 1974 and 1978 he sat for the Vanguard Party until in February 1978 he joined the UUP (then often called the Official Unionist Party), along with Vanguard leader William Craig and most of the membership. [5] A number of Catholics were killed by loyalists in retaliation.[3].

Bradford greatly increased his majority in the October election, after Pounder dropped out, and largely maintained this increased majority in 1979. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Bradford_(Northern_Irish_politician)&oldid=977069352, Assassinated politicians from Northern Ireland, Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (since 1922), Association footballers from Northern Ireland, People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party politicians, Methodist ministers from Northern Ireland, All Wikipedia articles written in Irish English, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2013, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Association footballers not categorized by position, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 September 2020, at 18:59. It dealt largely with his path to Methodism, although also examined his political career and assassination.

Bradford was first elected as Member of Parliament for South Belfast in the February 1974 British general election, this time under the banner of the United Ulster Unionist Council (an alliance between the Vanguard, the Democratic Unionist Party and the anti-Brian Faulkner section of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) under Harry West), defeating the sitting MP Rafton Pounder, a pro-Faulkner Ulster Unionist. Robert Bradford B. Th.

[3], Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald made an expression of sympathy in Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament of the Ireland) stating:[4].

[citation needed], Bradford first became involved with unionism in 1971 when he joined the Orange Order.


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