About Cllr Sharon Haughey-Grimley In 1995, when President Bill Clinton first came to Northern Ireland he quoted words of the then 14 year-old Sharon Haughey who had written to him about her hopes and vision for Northern Ireland.
In September 1998, Sharon introduced President Bill Clinton to a worldwide audience from the Mall in Armagh . Her unique peace speech was broadcasted around the globe and she received many letters and cards from people she inspired, famously she even received a wedding proposal from India .
Sharon Haughey said that President Clinton gave her a platform to make her young views heard and from that she has used every opportunity to encourage other young people to make their voices heard. She was later nominated as the youngest member of the Northern Ireland Civic Forum.
In 2003 Sharon was selected as a ‘young leader’ on the island of Ireland by the Washington Ireland Program. During her time in Washington DC she worked in Senator Hillary Clinton’s Office on Capitol Hill.
By 2005, Sharon had become heavily involved in Irish politics and was elected to Armagh City and District Council for the SDLP. She also worked full time in politics as a political press officer and advisor for the SDLP Leadership at Stormont.
She has been a key member of the SDLP for almost 20 years now and was elected to the Party’s decision-making body and was Chair of the Party’s Communications Committee. She is founder of Newry and Armagh SDLP Youth and has acted as an ambassador for young people fighting for youth voices to be listened to in political and civic life. In 2007, she stood in the NI Assembly elections - and was the youngest candidate standing in the Newry and Armagh Constituency. In the Assembly elections Haughey received 4500 first preference votes. She was unsuccessful in being elected to the assembly but stayed in the count until the final count where transfers had brought her total to 5368, that’s more votes than 40% of those who did get elected to the Assembly across the north.
In 2011 Sharon Haughey was victorious in retaining her council seat in the Cusher Ward of Armagh City and District Council with 1272 votes, polling exceptionally well with 823 first preference votes.
On 25th June 2012 Sharon Haughey was appointed Lord Mayor of Armagh City and District, and married Gerard during her Lord Mayor Year in 15th December 2012
In May 2014, Sharon Haughey-Grimley was elected to the new super council Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council with 1949 votes, an overwhelming 1200 of those being first preference votes. Sharon is the only nationalist councillor elected to the Cusher ward.
Sharon has chaired the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough council's Economic Development and Regeneration Committee, and also sits on Governance and Policy Committee and Community Planning and Strategy Committee.
In 2018, Sharon announced that she was taking a break from elected politics to concentrate on raising her young family. Committed to fulfilling her promise to the people she is completing her council term and will official step away in May 2019
Education: Sharon was educated at St Michael’s Primary School Clady and Our Lady’s Grammar School Newry. She is a First Class Honours Graduate from the University of Ulster where she studied Communications, Advertising and Marketing. She also won the prestige award for University of Ulster ’s Dissertation of the Year 2003 and successfully obtained a Diploma in Strategic Perspectives on Governance and Growth from the esteemed JFK School of Government at Harvard University in Boston . She also attended the Irish Institute at Boston College where she undertook the ‘Government Media Spokesperson Program’.
Outside of politics, Sharon works with Ulster GAA as Volunteer Development and Policy Officer. She is an ardent Gael and is an active member of St Mary’s Granemore GFC and is a huge Armagh County supporter.
As a mother, she loves best being at home with her family.