Stephen McGlade, former chief advisor and trusted confidante to Michelle O’Neill, has played an instrumental role alongside her for seven years. Since she succeeded Martin McGuinness as Sinn Féin’s Northern Ireland leader, McGlade has remained by her side. The pinnacle moment of both their careers emerged when O’Neill became the first nationalist to preside over the Assembly in Northern Ireland’s history, an address scribed by McGlade himself.
Currently, McGlade has been summoned southward to act as a strategy advisor to Mary Lou McDonald, aiming to secure further electoral victories for Sinn Féin. His strategic vision will first be put to the test in the local and European elections on 7th June, before the impending general election due by next spring. Collaborating with chief of staff Dawn Doyle, he forms a crucial part of the senior team specialising in campaign strategy and planning.
During his tenure at Stormont, McGlade implemented a modern, professional methodology within the party and has been lauded for refining O’Neill’s perception after she took over reins from McGuinnes. His influence was clearly evident in O’Neill’s introductory speech as First Minister as McGlade continued to accentuate an aspect of forward thinking. He lent his skills to assist her transition into the role of deputy first minister from 2020 to early 2022.
“Michelle O’Neill has undoubtedly flourished as a leader in the North in recent years,” asserts Jon Tonge, a political science professor at the University of Liverpool. McGlade has channelled his efforts towards forging relationships spanning across diverse party borders and extending into governmental levels, often making him a primary source of political happenings.
Born and raised in west Belfast’s Black Mountain, McGlade became involved in community and peacebuilding activities in his later adolescent years. Descended from a republican family, the 44-year-old is now a resident of Carrickmore, Co Tyrone, where he resides with his wife and two young offspring.
His lineage includes a maternal great-grandfather, William Gilmore, who served as an adjutant in the Fianna and later the Irish Volunteers from 1916 before siding with the pro-Treaty IRA faction during the Civil War. More recently, his cousin, Joe Keenan, was a part of the Irish Defence Forces and served in UN peacekeeping missions in Lebanon and the Golan Heights.
Influenced by activists and trade unionists like Terry Enright and May Blood, McGlade’s youth was interspersed with grassroots community work. His interest in international relations led him to Queen’s University Belfast, after which he worked for the Belfast Education and Library Board and later took up a senior role with Sinn Féin, almost two decades ago.
Eoin Ó Broin, the Sinn Féin TD and party’s spokesman on housing, is attributed with initiating McGlade into Sinn Féin Youth in 1997. With an emergence in political activism, he joined the party’s staff in 2007 and served as advisor to Conor Murphy, then Regional Development Minister.
He boasts previous experience in Leinster House, having overseen the party’s political activities there from 2011 to 2017 under Gerry Adams’ leadership. He also played a pivotal role, alongside Dawn Doyle, in establishing key North/South contact while working with O’Neill.
Since 2017, McGlade has served as a part of the Sinn Féin negotiating team, providing advice on Brexit and contributing to the New Decade, New Approach agreement that facilitated the reinstatement of Stormont in 2020.
During his time as special adviser to O’Neill, while she served as deputy first minister, he took charge of managing interactions with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and three other Executive parties. He also liaised with the Northern Ireland Civil Service and governments in London, Dublin, and Brussels, which exhibits McGlade’s wealth of experience. Tonge explains that it’s logical for Sinn Féin to leverage this.
According to Tonge, it shows the party is mainly fixated on the southern election and is planning for what Sinn Féin hopes will be their administration. The experience accumulated in the North, where it held governmental status since 2007, gives them the resources to call in backup.
Tonge acknowledges that even the biggest party detractors can’t overlook the gifted team assembled around Michelle O’Neill. “They have some innovative ideas and have been instrumental in her rise in her role,” he says. He asserts that the experience gained up North can be applied elsewhere as Sinn Féin is required to cooperate with other parties on both sides of the border.
He adds, while coalitions may not be formal in the South, they share similar political realities with the North. So, why not use the expertise from the North? In Tonge’s opinion, McGlade has a substantial wealth of experience and unwavering loyalty to the party. “Not once has he tarnished his reputation,” says Tonge. “It’s evident of Sinn Féin’s robustness that they can accomplish such things.”