Frank McCoubrey was born on 5 February 1967 and is a Northern Irish unionist politician and Ulster Loyalist, as well as a community activist and researcher.
16 Facts About Frank McCoubrey
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Frank McCoubrey is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group.
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Frank McCoubrey was first elected to Belfast City Council in 1997 as a member of the Ulster Democratic Party and was eventually elected as deputy mayor in 2000, with the votes of the Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Unionist Party councillors.
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Frank McCoubrey became one of the leading figures in the UPRG and even joined Kirkham and Gallagher in meeting Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in 2004, along with UDA leader Jackie McDonald and prisoners' spokesman Stanley Fletcher in a 'historic' event.
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Frank McCoubrey led a campaign in 2003 to bring Gerry Adams to trial for violation of the human rights of the people of the Shankill.
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Frank McCoubrey, who organised a petition to this effect, argued that Adams' and Sinn Fein's policy of abstentionism meant that the people of the Shankill were being denied representation and sought to bring a case to the European courts to alter the situation.
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Frank McCoubrey officially sat as an Independent, as do all elected members of the UPRG.
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However, in November 2012 it was announced that Frank McCoubrey was giving up his independent status to become a member of the DUP.
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Frank McCoubrey remains a prominent community activist in the Shankill, working to secure increased funding for the Shankill district, which was named in 2008 as Northern Ireland's most deprived area.
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In December 2008, Frank McCoubrey was nominated by Bob Stoker for the post of High Sheriff of Belfast and was sworn into office on 21 January 2009.
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Frank McCoubrey retained his seat for the DUP in 2014.
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Frank McCoubrey topped the poll at the 2019 Council election, and was elected on the first count.
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In 2020, Frank McCoubrey was appointed Lord Mayor of Belfast, replacing Sinn Fein's Daniel Baker.
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Frank McCoubrey stood again in Belfast West at the 2022 Assembly election.
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Frank McCoubrey was beaten by People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll for the final seat, despite initially polling higher than him, with 4,166 first-preference votes, to Carroll's 3,279.
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Frank McCoubrey is a member of the board of directors of the Shankill Mirror, a newspaper aimed at the loyalist communities of the Greater Shankill and North Belfast.