Departures of note

Paul Butler was an Irish republican politician in Northern Ireland and a former member of the Provisional IRA. In 1974, aged 17, he was convicted of the murder of reserve Royal Ulster Constabulary officer John Rodgers in an IRA gun attack near Glengormley, and served 15 years of a life sentence in prison. Butler served as a Sinn Féin councillor on Lisburn City Council from 1997 until 2011, leading the party's group on the council, and campaigned against discrimination and for the town to gain city status. He stood unsuccessfully in the Lagan Valley constituency in the 2001 and 2005 UK general elections. He was elected as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley in 2007 and served a single term, standing down in 2011. Butler died suddenly on 23 September 2026.