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Irene Calvert

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Lilian) Irene Calvert
Member of Parliament
for Queen's University Belfast
In office
1945–1953
Personal details
Born10 February 1909
Belfast, UK of GB and Ireland (now in Northern Ireland)
Died19 May 2000 (aged 91)
Donnybrook, Dublin, Ireland
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
Labour
EducationQueen's University Belfast

Lillian Eileen Mercer Calvert (10 February 1909 – 19 May 2000), known as Irene Calvert,[1] was a Northern Irish politician and economist who served as a Member of Parliament for Queen's University Belfast.

Early life and education

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Born in Belfast, as Lilian Irene Mercer Earls, she studied at Methodist College Belfast but for health reasons did not take examinations. Leaving school at the age of 18, she worked for some years in various stores, before going to Queen's University Belfast from 1933 to 1936 to study economics and philosophy.[2]

Career

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In 1941, she was appointed to the vacant post of Chief Welfare Officer for Northern Ireland, immediately having to organise care for a flood of wartime evacuees including those evacuated to Northern Ireland from Gibraltar.[3]

In 1944, Calvert, who had developed an interest in politics after her welfare work,[2] was urged to contest a by-election for the Queen's University Belfast constituency to put a woman's point of view. She was unsuccessful but stood again in the 1945 Northern Ireland general election, as an independent candidate, and on this occasion succeeded in taking a seat. She held the seat until she stood down at the 1953 election.[3] In Parliament, she refused to discuss the constitutional question, which she regarded as a distraction from the real task of social reform, including the passage of the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 1947. In her resignation speech, she did however question whether the Northern Irish economy could thrive while the partition of Ireland continued.[4]

In 1950 Calvert began working at the Ulster Weaving Company as an economist, and having successfully helped build up their institutional sales was appointed a managing director. In 1956 she was invited to become a group chairman at the Duke of Edinburgh's Study Conference on Industry. She also served on the Belfast City Chamber of Commerce, becoming its first (and indeed only) woman president in 1965 and 1966. She also served on Queen's University's Senate and Board of Curators, and was active in The Irish Association for Cultural, Economic and Social Relations.[3]

In 1964, she took up the position of executive manager (subsequently development manager) of the parent company of Great Southern Hotels and the Irish railway catering enterprise, a subsidiary of CIÉ, the State-owned transport authority. She worked there until early 1970. In 1970, she was briefly Head of Households for Doris Duke. She retired to Dublin, where she was an active supporter of the Irish Labour Party well into her eighties.[2]

Personal life

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Calvert married Raymond Colville Calvert. They met in 1926 at the University Drama Society. He was a stockbroker and writer, including poems, ballads, and radio plays. He died suddenly 11 July 1959 in Bangor, County Down. They had a son Peter who was with his mother when she died.[2] Calvert died at the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook, on 19 May 2000.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Card catalogue of debates and oral and written questions in the Northern Ireland House of Commons and Senate, arranged by subject, 1921-1972". Sources for Irish Women’s History. Irish Manuscripts Commission. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Dictionary of Irish Biography - Cambridge University Press". dib.cambridge.org.
  3. ^ a b c d "Irene Calvert: Remarkable pioneer of equal opportunities for women", Irish Times, 3 June 2000
  4. ^ "Portrait Gallery: Mrs. Irene Calvert", Irish Times, 9 January 1954
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Queen's University of Belfast
1945–1953
With: Frederick McSorley to 1948
Herbert Quin to 1949
Howard Stevenson to 1949
Samuel Irwin from 1948
Eileen M. Hickey from 1949
William Lyle 1949
Frederick Lloyd-Dodd from 1949
Succeeded by