Jennifer McCann (born 1 March 1960) is an Irish republican former politician in Northern Ireland, who was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Sinn Féin member for Belfast West. She resigned from the Assembly in December 2016.
Early life McCann was born in the Twinbrook area of Belfast, and was friends with Bobby Sands and his sister Bernadette. She joined the republican movement as a schoolgirl, becoming a member of Cumann na mBan then joining the Provisional Irish Republican Army aged 17. McCann was arrested aged 20, after shooting a Royal Ulster Constabulary police officer, and subsequently sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.
Political career McCann was released from prison after serving just over ten years of her sentence, and began working for Sinn Féin in the POW Department and Women's Department. She is active on a number of projects in her community, including the Sally Gardens Community Centre Committee, the Safer Neighbourhoods Project, the Colin Community Festival, and the Falls Community Council's Community Drugs Programme.
Personal life In 1990 McCann, then a prisoner at HM Prison Maghaberry, married fellow IRA prisoner Rab Kerr at HM Prison Maze. Fellow prisoners Laurence McKeown and Mary McArdle were the best man and bridesmaid. Kerr died in May 2023, being survived by McCann and their three children.
References
Sources
Northern Ireland Assembly West Belfast MLAs Stratagem NI