Hugh News
Hugh News was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland.
Background
News grew up in Silverwood, Lurgan, and studied at St Colman's College, Newry, before working as a pharmacist and publican in Lurgan. In 1964, he was elected to Lurgan Borough Council, serving for three years as a member of the Independent Citizens' Association. News joined the Social Democratic and Labour Party in the early 1970s and was elected for the party to Craigavon Borough Council in 1973 [Northern Ireland local elections|1973], holding his seat at each election until he stood down in 1989.News was elected in Armagh at the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election and held his seat on the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975 and at the 1982 Assembly election. In the last two elections, he narrowly beat fellow SDLP member and friend Paddy O'Hanlon for the final seat.
In October 1973, armed men, believed to be loyalist paramilitaries, threw a grenade at News' public house, the Criterion Bar in Francis Street, Lurgan, injuring a customer and a barman. News continued to run the pub until his retirement in 1998.
In his spare time, News also served as national vice-president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in the 1970s.
News died in late April 2012.