Geoffrey Martin

Thomas Geoffrey Martin (born 26 July 1940) is a politician from Northern Ireland and the longest serving Head of the Representation of the European Commission in the United Kingdom. He led the offices in London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh during the years from the completion of the Single Market until after the Maastricht Treaty was ratified (1993 - 2003). He was awarded the OBE in 2002.. Early life and education Martin was born in the Irish border town of Newry and lived in and around the townland of Mullaghglass and the linen village of Bessbrook in South Armagh until his late teens. He attended Bessbrook Public Elementary School, Newry Grammar School and Queens University Belfast where he played for the hockey First XI. He graduated with an honours degree in Geography in 1964. NUS involvement At Queens he was President of the Students Representative Council. In 1964 he was elected Vice President for International Affairs of the NUS. In that year the NUS was voted out of the International Student Conference by left wing and Communist Party influences within its membership. In 1966 he was elected President of the NUS. It voted to rejoin the International Student Conference. In 1967 he was elected Chairman of the Supervision Committee of the International Student Conference.