Born: September 1st, 1938
Died: September 5th, 2025
Robin Glendinning, who has died in Comber, Co Down, aged 87, was a noted politician, playwright, poet and teacher who was a founding member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and became the party’s first full-time organiser, serving in this capacity from 1974 until 1976, at the height of the Troubles.
Born in Belfast and educated at Campbell College and at Trinity College Dublin, where he read history, he qualified as a teacher at Stranmillis College in Belfast. He taught English and history for 12 years at Omagh Academy and, after a break to work with Alliance, resumed his career by joining the staff at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (Inst), where he taught English literature.
He stood twice as an Alliance candidate – firstly in Mid Ulster at the 1973 Assembly elections and secondly in Armagh in the February 1974 general election – but lost his deposit on both occasions.
He remained politically active, campaigning for Alliance into the 1980s, and he presented a submission to the New Ireland Forum in 1983.
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Brought up in Co Armagh, Glendinning was fired by a keen sense of social justice, and this, combined with his knowledge of history, propelled him into politics at a time when Northern Ireland society was being torn apart by the Troubles. He sought to challenge sectarianism and violence and to build bridges.
A larger-than-life character, known by all for his hearty and infectious laugh, Glendinning had started writing when he was a child. This gift was further developed during his time as a teacher and several of his short stories were published in the Irish Press in its New Irish Writing section.
As a result of this he won the Hennessy Literary Award in 1976.
His literary interests broadened into drama, and five of his plays were produced for the stage: Stuffing It (Tricycle Theatre, London, 1982), Mumbo Jumbo (Manchester Royal Exchange and Lyric Hammersmith, 1986), Culture Vultures (Lyric Theatre, Belfast, 1988), Donny Boy (Manchester Royal Exchange and Theatre Royal, Oslo, 1991) and Summer House (Druid Theatre, Galway, 1994). Another play, Kingfishers Catch Fire, was staged at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York in October 2019.
Glendinning penned more than 20 plays for BBC radio and television, winning nominations for the Sony Award for Condemning Violence (1987) and a Giles Cooper award for The Words are Strange (1991).
A television play called A Night at the Campaign was produced by BBC Northern Ireland in 1987.
David Grant, senior lecturer in drama at Queen’s University Belfast and former artistic director of the Lyric Theatre in the city, was a pupil of Glendinning’s at Inst and later directed his former teacher’s Donny Boy play for Tinderbox at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1991.
“His Lyric premiere was Culture Vultures, which was inspired by his experience of amateur drama in Omagh,” said Grant. “The action is set against an amateur production of Chekhov but, like all his plays, it reflects on the wider politics of Northern Ireland.
“Donny Boy was a critique of how republicanism can be mythologised but I think his greatest play is Summer House, ostensibly about a declining unionist aristocrat, but really an analysis of the mourning process through which unionism was going as the reality of a United Ireland became more likely.”
Glendinning’s studies of Irish history sparked an interest in the Irish language and he studied Irish at a night class in Belfast.
His daughter Sarah said: “A new passion was born. Dad was devoted and delighted by the language and the world it opened up. He made many fantastic friends and looked forward to his annual summer trip to Oideas Gael, the Irish-language centre at Glencolmcille in Co Donegal.
“He began writing in Irish and has published some short stories and poetry in the language. In addition, he took part during the late 1990s in monthly Protestant church services in Irish.”
Glendinning himself was a member of the Church of Ireland, and sang in the choir at St Mary’s, Kilmood, near Killinchy, in Co Down, where a service of thanksgiving for his life took place on September 12th.
The Rev Canon Dr Stanley Gamble, who conducted the service, said: “Robin Glendinning made wonderful friends in all areas of his life and was excited by each and every one. We loved his laugh and the twinkle in his eye, his depth of knowledge and keen intellect.
“He was an active parishioner, writing contributions for the parish magazine, often about the background of various items of praise. Mr Glendinning also represented the parish at the annual meeting of the diocesan synod. He thought deeply about his faith and sought to live it out in words and actions.”
In a nod towards Glendinning’s love of language, his son Graham read an Irish translation of the Nunc Dimittis (the Song of Simeon) during the service.
Glendinning’s passions extended to sport, where he took a keen interest in cricket and rugby. A one-time player with Omagh Academicals 4ths, he was a season-ticket holder for Ulster Rugby at Ravenhill.
Robin Glendinning, who had been suffering from dementia for the past few years, is survived by his wife Lorna, whom he met in Omagh, their three children Sarah, Graham and Robert, and eight grandchildren. He also leaves three siblings, Rosemary, Johnny and Will, who is a former Alliance Party councillor and Assembly member.
