Patrick Bradley, then chief electoral officer, who was designated to announce the result of the referendum on the Belfast Agreement in 1998.
Born: August 30th, 1935
Died: September 18th, 2025
In May 1998, Patrick (Pat) Bradley, who has died aged 90, was designated as chief electoral officer to announce the result of the referendum on the Belfast Agreement, which was famously signed on Good Friday the previous month.
He didn’t have much sleep in the run-up to the count but he was sufficiently sharp to realise that such were the divisions and tensions between the Yes and No camps, that any glitches or missteps could have incendiary consequences - there was a huge media presence, and the world was watching, he must get it right.
When the voting finished on May 22nd, the ballot boxes were brought to the count centre in the King’s Hall in south Belfast. Bradley had appointed one of his staff to stay with the boxes overnight in case of any skulduggery, but that did not satisfy the DUP leader, the Re
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