Thomas Harbison

Thomas James Stanislaus Harbison (8 November 1864 – 22 November 1930) was an Irish nationalist politician.

He was born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, to John Harbison, a general merchant, and Isabella Daly.

Harbison studied at St Malachy's College in Belfast. He became active in the Irish Parliamentary Party, acting from 1906 until 1910 as the election agent for William Redmond and Tom Kettle. In 1911, he was elected to Tyrone County Council.

In 1916 Harbison believed that his Irish Parliamentary Party would "never entertain the idea" of partition. After attending the Irish Convention, (July 1917 - March 1918) he was elected to Westminster at the 1918 East Tyrone by-election, after Redmond resigned it to contest Waterford City. At the 1918 general election, Harbison was elected for North East Tyrone. Speaking in the House of Commons on (11 November 1920), the day that the Government of Ireland Act 1920 was passed, Harbison made clear his feelings on the Act and the Partition of Ireland:

At the 1921 Northern Ireland general election, Harbison was elected on an abstentionist platform for Fermanagh and Tyrone. At the 1922 United Kingdom general election, he was elected for the Westminster constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone along with Cahir Healy for the Nationalist Party. With majorities of more than 6,000 votes over the Unionist candidates, their elections were seen as a plebiscite on the issue of the partition of Ireland. He stood down from the Westminster seat at the 1924 election, and in 1927 took his seat at Stormont. In 1929, he stood down from his Stormont seat, but was again elected to Westminster, serving until his death a year later.