About Andy
Born and raised in East Belfast, Andy attended Knocknagoney and Avoniel Primary and Orangefield Secondary School. In 2006 after leaving school he joined the Military. He is married to Natalie and they have three children, Carter, Chloe and Tyler.
In 2008 he served in Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment, where he was horrifically injured by a Taliban Improvised Explosive Device. He featured in the BAFTA-winning documentary, 'Wounded', which followed Andy through his recovery. In 2010, he established a service charity to help fellow service personnel, Veterans and their families in Northern Ireland.
Andy got involved in politics in 2014 joining the Ulster Unionist Party and worked on the ground as a community activist assisting constituents with a wide range of issues. In 2015 he was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly as an MLA for East Belfast. He was elected back to the Assembly by the people of East Belfast at the scheduled election in May 2016, again at the snap election in March 2017 following the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly and, most recently in May 2022.
He is the Ulster Unionist Party Communities spokesperson, which covers sports, arts, housing, disability, social security and more.
Outside of politics he remains actively involved in support services for service personnel, veterans and their families and was awarded the MBE in the 2018 New Years Honours for Services to Veterans and their families in Northern Ireland.
Andy enjoys spending time with his family and both participating in and spectating a range of sports. He has been involved in adaptive powerlifting and in 2019 he competed at the 'Warrior Games' in Tampa, Florida winning four silver medals in adaptive rowing, shot put and discus and came 4th in adaptive powerlifting, bench pressing 112kg. He continues to be involved in sports and hopes to compete at further competitions in the near future.
He operates a busy constituency office which assists constituents with a wide range of issues.
