Raymond Ferguson

Part of a well established Ulster Unionist family in his native County Fermanagh, Ferguson represented his province at rugby.^[1] He studied law at Queen's University, Belfast and subsequently practised as a solicitor, initially in Belfast and then Coleraine before establishing his own still extant legal partnership in Enniskillen.^[2]

Ferguson gained his first elected office in 1977 when he was elected to Fermanagh District Council. He held a seat on the body until 2005.^[3] He served as Council Chairman from 1981 to 1983.^[1] He was chosen as UUP candidate for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency for the 1979 general election although the seat was retained by sitting Independent Republican MP Frank Maguire.^[1] Ferguson was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1982 for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.^[1]

Following the collapse of the Assembly Ferguson became a leading voice in support of the restoration of devolution and in 1988 advocated the adoption by the UUP of a policy in favour of negotiation with constitutional Irish nationalists on both sides of the border. His views were rejected at the annual UUP conference however.^[1] The suggestion was labelled a "Lundy-like attack on the leadership" of the party by fellow Fermanagh delegate Sammy Foster.^[4]

However Ferguson's moderate views made him popular with the Republic of Ireland's political leaders and he was offered a seat in the Seanad Éireann. He declined the offer due to his opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.^[1] Nonetheless his support for cross-community politics continued and in 1992 he publicly criticised colleagues on Fermanagh Council for their refusal to rotate the Council chairmanship with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party.^[1]