Researching John Lyons

At the 2001 general election, he was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Strathkelvin and Bearsden.

Following the reduction in Scottish constituencies in the House of Commons under the Scotland Act 1998, that constituency was abolished for the 2005 general election. Lyons stood at the new East Dunbartonshire seat, where he lost to the future Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson.

Following his defeat, he became a consultant on trade unions for FirstGroup.

Before his election to Parliament in 2001, he had worked as a UNISON official.

Lyons consistently voted against and opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

He married Catherine Walrond, the daughter of the 5th Marquis de Vallado and Sarah Lyons (1731-1764). John and Catherine Lyonshad 15 children, including Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons. John's grandchildren included Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons, the diplomat who solved the Trent Affair, Sir Algernon McLennan Lyons, Admiral of the Fleet, and Richard Lyons Pearson, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Born near Blackpool in Cork, Lyons first played competitive hurling during his schooling at the North Monastery. Here he was a key member of the college team that completed the final two stages of winning four successive Harty Cup titles. Immediately after leaving school, Lyons joined the Glen Rovers senior team. In a club career that spanned three decades he won ten county senior championship medals, serving as captain of the team on two occasions. As a Gaelic footballer with the Glen's sister club, St. Nicholas', he also won a county senior championship medal. Lyons retired from club hurling at the age of thirty-eight following the Glen's failure to secure a fourth successive championship in 1961.

Having never played minor or junior hurling for Cork, Lyons made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-three when he was picked on the Cork senior team for the first time in 1946. He won his first All-Ireland medal that year, albeit as a non-playing substitute, before later being dropped from the panel. Lyons was recalled to the team in 1950 and retained the full-back position for a decade, winning a further three All-Ireland medals in succession. He also won five Munster medals and one National Hurling League medal. Lyons played his last game for Cork in July 1960.

Lyons was moving towards the end of his career when he was chosen for the Munster inter-provincial team in 1954. He was a regular at full-back over the course of the next five years and won three Railway Cup medals.

Lyons was an all-Ivy defensive back while playing for the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 1974 he worked as an assistant at Penn for the next 11 seasons, eventually riding up to become defensive coordinator. In 1988, he was brought to Dartmouth by then-coach Buddy Teevens. When Teevens moved on, Lyons was promoted to head coach in 1992.

During his time as head coach, Lyons was successful during his first six seasons, winning two Ivy League titles and posting five winning seasons. He also coached future NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler. However, the program tailed off after 1997 and the school would finish in last place four times in the next seven years. His later years saw increasing criticism from fans and the local media as his decision-making was called into question. He was dismissed by the school after the 2004 season.

After being fired by Dartmouth he coached in NFL Europe for the Cologne Centurions. He held the position from 2005 to 2007 and concurrently coached at Kimball Union Academy; he also was the school's athletic director, starting in 2008, and stayed in both jobs through 2010. In January 2011, he joined the University of New Hampshire's football program as its defensive coordinator.

A son of John and Josie Lyons, he attended Trinity Comprehensive (then known as Ballymun Comprehensive).

He studied at Maynooth University, gaining a BA and HDip, subsequently he studied special education at Trinity College Dublin.

He is openly gay and was one of the first two openly LGBT members of Dáil Éireann, along with Meath East's Dominic Hannigan.

He lost his seat at the 2016 general election.

Public collections that hold artwork by John Lyons include Rochdale Art Gallery, Huddersfield Art Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum's Word & Image Print Collection and the Arts Council National Collection.

His collections of poetry have been described both as being focused on "describing the texture of the Caribbean landscape and the vividness of its peoples" and contributing "to the enrichment of the West Indian British voice".

Born in Hendon, Lyons was educated at St Paul's School, London. He served in the Royal Navy from 1944 until 1946, then attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he studied economics. Following a year doing market research for the Vacuum Oil Company, he briefly worked in the research department of the British Army.

In 1952, Lyons worked for the Post Office Engineering Union, then in 1957 was appointed as assistant general secretary of the Institution of Professional Civil Servants. In 1973, he moved to the Electrical Power Engineers' Association (EPEA), where he was appointed as general secretary. Lyons was involved in arranging a series of mergers which formed the Engineers' and Managers' Association, serving as its general secretary, while remaining secretary of its EPEA section.

Lyons joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1948, but he left following the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. He subsequently became identified with the right-wing of the trade union movement. In particular, he was vocally opposed to the UK miners' strike, and was supportive of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers split.

Lyons also served on the General Council of the Trades Union Congress. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1986, and retired from his trade union posts in 1991. From 1996 until 1998, he served as president of the Single Market Observatory.