Background
BEGGS, Roy was born on February 20, 1936. Parents: John Beggs.
BEGGS, Roy was born on February 20, 1936. Parents: John Beggs.
Beggs was educated at Ballyclare High School, followed by Stranmillis College, to study teacher training.
Foreign the Democratic Unionist Party. he moved to the Ulster Unionist Party and was re-elected in 1981 as a "loyalist". He joined the UUP in 1982 and has retained his council seat to date, serving several terms as Mayor of Larne from 1978 until 1983. In 1982 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly representing North Antrim.
In 1983 he was selected for the new East Antrim in the 1983 general election.
He held the position until the 2005 general election when he was defeated by Sammy Wilson of the Democratic Unionist Party. He was UUP Education Spokesman from 1986 up to and including his last few years in Parliament when he also served as Deputy Leader and Chief Whip of the Ulster Unionist Parliamentary Party. A strong supporter of maintaining Northern Ireland"s grammar schools, he attacked proposals to abolish academic selection in post-primary education in Northern Ireland, whilst also opposing the introduction of tuition fees for university students claiming that the latter discouraged many from entering higher education.
Beggs was also a strong supporter of the Orange Order during their stand-off over Drumcree Church and in 1995 took part in a blockade of the port of Larne as part of a show of solidarity. Beggs was charged with Public Order offences for his involvement and was fined £1,350.
In March 2001, he apologised in the House of Commons for failing to register a local business interest.
He still lives in Larne and operates a farm and owns a landfill site. He is also the Chairman of the North Eastern Education and Library Board, as well as continuing his council work.
He first entered politics in 1973 as a councillor for Larne Borough Council. He was suspended from the party in 1981 after taking part in a council visit to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council local authority in the South.
Orange Order; 49th United Kingdom Parliament. 50th United Kingdom Parliament. 51st United Kingdom Parliament.
52nd United Kingdom Parliament.
53rd United Kingdom Parliament. 1st Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)]
Beggs was known as one of the more hard-line members of the UUP, being vociferous in his Euroscepticism and his suspicions about the Belfast Agreement - initially involving himself in Union First (a group within the Ulster Unionist Party opposed to the Agreement), although in his final two years in Parliament he appeared publicly supportive of the Agreement and of leader David Trimble.
(one of four children) is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Spouse Wilma Beggs (née Lorimer), 1959. Children: two son, two d.