Background
She was born in Wellington Street in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1935. She is the eldest daughter of the late Catherine and Denis Elliott.
She was born in Wellington Street in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1935. She is the eldest daughter of the late Catherine and Denis Elliott.
She was educated at Street Eugene"s Convent School and left school at fourteen to work in the Hogg and Mitchell shirt factory.
Their eldest son was killed in a road traffic accident in 1974. She became active in the civil rights campaign demanding equal rights for the people of the city. In 1974, she joined the Social Democratic and Labour Party (Social Democratic and Labour Party), but resigned a year later.
In 1976, she became active in the Relatives Action Committee: an organisation campaigning for prisoners" rights.
Her work with young people led to the setting up of Dove House, a resource centre in the Bogside. She later established the Templemor Company-op, a craft co-operative for women with exceptional sewing skills.
In 1981, Nelis joined Sinn Féin. She was elected to Derry City Council in 1993 and served two terms.
She was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, one of only fourteen women of 108 members.
Nelis is the current Honorary President of Sinn Féin in Derry, the second person and only woman to receive the honour. She was presented with the Paul O Dwyer Award by the IAUC for her work for peace and justice in Ireland.
She writes the political column in the Sunday Journal and also contributes to the Sinn Féin paper, An Phoblacht.
1st Northern Ireland Assembly. 2nd Northern Ireland Assembly]
She trained as an adult literacy teacher and was a founding member of the Derry Reading Workshop, an organisation set up to help those with educational needs.
