THEREwas no big night of celebration for Declan O'Loan (pictured right with Mark Durkan) following his victory in North Antrim where, early on in the count, it looked like it could be close between himself and the DUP for the final seat. Instead, the modest SDLP man went to a St Vincent de Paul meeting, as he had previously arranged. But one of his five sons brought home a bottle of champagne which the O'Loans later quietly enjoyed.

The husband of police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, he joined the SDLP 23 years ago and is a long-serving councillor in Ballymena, which has witnessed some of the worst sectarianism in the North. Catholic teenager Michael McIlveen was stabbed to death there last summer. O'Loan (55) is a parishioner of the Catholic church in Harryville, which previously endured loyalist pickets.

A former maths teacher, he worked in Africa for three years: "Teaching there was a great experience. Life was simple. The schools were very basic and the youngsters were so grateful for an education." It strengthened his motivation to work against global poverty.

He plans to return to Kenya this year to see a pupil with whom he remains in contact and to visit a game park. He met Nuala when they were both students in London. "There was an instant appeal, we were on the same wave-length, " he says.

His hero is Daniel O'Connell "who mobilised the population in a non-violent way. He was quite exemplary."

O'Loan enjoys detective novels and classical music. He likes visiting cities with a strong archaeological heritage and enjoyed attending an organ recital in Tallinn in Estonia last year. "I find the Baltic states fascinating, " he says.