14 Facts About Eileen Bell

Eileen Bell CBE was born on 15 August 1943 and is a retired Alliance Party politician from Dromara, Northern Ireland.

Eileen Bell was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Down from 1998 to 2007, and is a former deputy leader of the Alliance Party.

Eileen Bell was educated at the Dominican College, Belfast and the University of Ulster.

Eileen Bell held a number of jobs including working in the Civil Service and later as Welfare Officer for the Community of the Peace People.

Eileen Bell was later elected as one of two "top-up" members of the 1996 Northern Ireland Peace Forum and in the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly elections she won a seat in North Down.

In June 2001, Eileen Bell was appointed Deputy Leader of the Alliance by Sean Neeson, following the resignation of Seamus Close over disagreements on the party's direction.

However, Neeson himself soon resigned and Eileen Bell stood for the leadership as a traditionalist bridge-building candidate, against David Ford who was on the more consciously Liberal, internationalist wing of the party.

At the Party's council Eileen Bell received 45 votes to Ford's 86 and she remained as the party's deputy leader.

On 10 December 2005, it was announced that Eileen Bell would stand down as Deputy Leader of the party and not contest the next Assembly elections.

Eileen Bell acted as the Speaker of the Assembly established by the Northern Ireland Act 2006 and of the Transitional Assembly established by the Northern Ireland Act 2006.

Eileen Bell has been one of the driving forces behind a Lobby for an Autism Bill in Northern Ireland.

Eileen Bell was the chairperson of Downtown Women's Group which managed the Women into Politics Project.

Eileen Bell stayed on as a board member of the group until it wound down in 2015.

Eileen Bell was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours.