John Edmond Warnock PC(NI) KC (1887–19 December 1971Ian McAllister and Richard Rose, ''United Kingdom Facts'', p.60) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and politician. Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, he was educated at

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

and

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He was called to the English Bar in 1911, to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1921 and was appointed as King's Counsel in 1933. He served with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1938, he was elected to the

Northern Ireland House of Commons The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920''. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished wit ...

as a Unionist member for Belfast, St Anne's, which he represented until his retirement from Parliament in 1969. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

from 1938 to 1940, when he resigned in protest at the failure to extend

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1944, he rejoined the Government when he was appointed as

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, an office which he held until 1946. From June to September 1946 he served as Deputy Attorney General and then from September 1946 until November 1949 as Minister of Home Affairs for a second time. He was then

Attorney General for Northern Ireland The Attorney General for Northern Ireland is the chief legal adviser to the Northern Ireland Executive for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Attorney General for Northern Ire ...

from 1949–1956. He was appointed to the

Privy Council for Northern Ireland The Privy Council of Northern Ireland is a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of Ireland. The council was created in 1922 ...

in 1944, entitling him to be called The Right Honourable. While Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Home Affairs (1938–40), Warnock, despite being advised by defence experts in Great Britain to prepare for German aerial attacks, decided to cancel orders previously placed for fire-fighting equipment and to recommend not building air raid shelters to protect either the civilian population or workers in factories, even those in the vital Harbour Estate area containing the shipyards and aircraft factories. Warnock believed that Belfast was too remote for German bombers to reach, and, in any case, they would pass more attractive targets en route. Also, in the event of a raid, he claimed "people would not have time" to reach shelters anyway, as it would "probably all be over in a matter of minutes". (see Brian Barton 'The Belfast Blitz: The City in the War Years', Ulster Historical Foundation, 2015. pages 38–41).

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