Gary McMichael (born 1969) is a

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 ...

community activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, and retired politician. He was the leader of the short-lived

Ulster Democratic Party The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), to replace the New Ulster Political Res ...

(UDP) during the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developm ...

, and was instrumental in organizing the

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

ceasefire in

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

in 1994.

Early years

McMichael is the eldest son of the

John McMichael John McMichael (9 January 1948 – 22 December 1987) was a Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent and charismatic figure within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belf ...

, a former leader of the

paramilitary

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...

(UDA). He left school in his native

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

in 1985, and began working with the civil service, although he subsequently also worked as a youth worker and an insurance salesman. He became involved in local protests against the

Anglo-Irish Agreement The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a 1985 treaty between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Irela ...

soon after it was signed. McMichael joined the Lisburn Club, the local branch of the pan- unionist Ulster Clubs movement that his father had helped to establish, and for a while served as chairman of this branch. John McMichael was killed on 22 December 1987 and Gary McMichael was informed by police when his name was read out over the public address system at the

Ulster Hall The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences. History ...

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 ...

, where he was attending a concert. In 1988 McMichael became involved with the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party (as the UDP was then known). He served as election co-ordinator for the group and helped to ensure the election of Ken Kerr to

Derry City Council Derry City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Dhoire; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local govern ...

in 1989. He was the UDP candidate in the 1990 Upper Bann by-election, when he finished eighth with 600 votes in a contest won by

David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was ...

. Although he regularly gave political advice to the UDA's controlling Inner Council, he was never a member of the paramilitary organisation, concentrating solely on the political wing. McMichael became a close ally of

Ray Smallwoods Raymond "Ray" Smallwoods (c. 1949 – 11 July 1994) was a Northern Ireland politician and sometime leader of the Ulster Democratic Party. A leading member of John McMichael's South Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Smallwo ...

, serving his political apprenticeship under the UDP chairman. Smallwoods was killed in 1994 and McMichael succeeded him as UDP leader. Although McMichael roundly condemned the killing of Smallwoods he later conceded that the shooting of Smallwoods, as well as that of

Joe Bratty Joe Bratty (c. 1961 - 31 July 1994) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast Brigade. The head of UDA activity in the area during one of the organisation's most active p ...

and Raymie Elder soon afterwards, convinced him that a

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

ceasefire was near as all three had been long-standing targets for the republican group.

UDP leader

As leader of the UDP, McMichael became attached to the

Combined Loyalist Military Command The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee. Bringing t ...

, and played a leading role in convincing the CLMC to call a ceasefire in October 1994.Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack, ''UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 274 When the ceasefire was announced from Fernhill House in Glencairn, McMichael was one of the six, along with UDP colleagues John White and

David Adams David Adams Musical Theatre Performer Starlight Express, Avenue Q, Les Miserables, Government officials * David S. Adams (State Department) (born 1961), Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs * David Adams (Labour politician) ( ...

and

Progressive Unionist Party The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volunte ...

leaders

Gusty Spence Augustus Andrew Spence (28 June 1933
. ''

"Plum" Smith and Jim McDonald, who delivered the statement confirming the cessation. A few days later McMichael, along with Adams, Spence, Joe English,

David Ervine David Ervine (21 July 1953 – 8 January 2007) was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belf ...

and

Billy Hutchinson Billy "Hutchie" Hutchinson (born 1955) is an Ulster Loyalist politician serving as the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) since 2011. He was elected to Belfast City Council in the 1997 elections. Hutchinson was a Member of the North ...

, took part in a tour of the United States where they presented the loyalist case publicly to a number of bodies. McMichael in particular received widespread coverage after he said in a speech to the

National Committee on American Foreign Policy The National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan activist organization dedicated to the resolution of conflicts that threaten United States interests. Founded in 1974 by Hans Morgenthau, the orga ...

that if the

ceasefire proved legitimate then it was imperative for unionist leaders to hold talks with

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

, something the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

and

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

were refusing to countenance. He was also part of a loyalist delegation to

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

in June 1996 aimed at avoiding the possibility of the cancellation of the CLMC ceasefire. McMichael became a high-profile figure due to his involvement in the

and he led the UDP into the Forum in 1996 from which the

Belfast Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

emerged. McMichael became an enthusiastic advocate of the Agreement, although his views were not always shared by the UDA membership as a whole and the party failed to win any seats in the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

. McMichael himself stood in

Lagan Valley The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ...

and only failed to capture one of the six seats by a narrow margin. Following the killing of

Loyalist Volunteer Force The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) after breaking its ceasefire. Most of ...

leader Billy Wright in late 1997, McMichael held a personal meeting with

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

Mo Mowlam Dr Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minis ...

in which he convinced her that, to avoid a breach of the ceasefire due to the popularity of Wright, they needed to engage with UDA prisoners. Mowlam herself, as well as McMichael, entered

HMP Maze Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sept ...

to meet with the paramilitary leaders and after extensive negotiations emerged with an undertaking that they would not sanction retaliation. McMichael, whose position was seen as weakened by some more hawkish members due to his own lack of a track record as a paramilitary, was supported in his efforts by

Jackie McDonald John "Jackie" McDonald (born 2 August 1947) is a Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following J ...

, a leading figure within the UDA and close ally of John McMichael. However, the guarantee was ignored by the

UDA West Belfast Brigade The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), based in the western quarter of Belfast, in the Greater Shankill area. Initially a battalion, the West Belfast Brigade emer ...

, with

Stephen McKeag Stephen McKeag (1 April 1970 – 24 September 2000), nicknamed ''Top Gun'', was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a Commander of the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) 'C' Company in the 1990s. He is responsible for many killings of Ca ...

carrying out several retaliatory murders in what proved a blow to McMichael's leadership.

Sammy Duddy Andrew Samuel Duddy (25 August 1945 – 17 October 2007), known as Sammy, was a Northern Irish loyalist, having joined the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) shortly after its formation in 1971. He later became a leading member of the Ulster Poli ...

would later admit that UDA activity in the aftermath of Wright's killing was kept from McMichael and McMichael subsequently claimed that when he went to the Inner Council to appeal to them to respect the ceasefire they told him the UDA was not involved in any of the attacks, even though they were actually being carried out by UDA members.

Leaving politics

Although still a local councillor, McMichael's influence began to wane after the failure of 1998 and with the movement of

Johnny Adair John Adair (born 27 October 1963), better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is an Ulster loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). This was a ...

towards the

and the resulting

loyalist feud A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups during and after the ethno-political conflict known as the Troubles broke out in 1969. The ...

, he became an increasingly peripheral figure along with the UDP as a whole. As elements within the UDA returned to violence in 1999, using the

Red Hand Defenders The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) is an Ulster loyalism#Paramilitary and vigilante groups, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1998 by loyalists who opposed the Belfast Agreement and the loyalist ceasefires.

cover name, McMichael was largely in the dark as to whether or not the UDA were involved. He entered virtual political retirement, concentrating instead on writing a column for ''

Ireland on Sunday ''Ireland on Sunday'' was a national Sunday newspaper published in Ireland from September 1997 until September 2006, when it was renamed the '' Irish Mail on Sunday''. The newspaper was founded in 1996 as a sports-only newspaper called ''The Titl ...

'' and publishing his autobiography, ''An Ulster Voice'', in 1999. He did emerge briefly for negotiations with

aimed at ending the feuds, although these came to nothing. He was appointed to the

Civic Forum for Northern Ireland The Civic Forum for Northern Ireland was a consultative body in Northern Ireland created in 2000 under the Good Friday Agreement and consisting of members of various civil bodies. It had no legislative or governmental powers. It last met in 2002 ...

, but McMichael's career in politics was effectively ended by the collapse of the UDP in 2001. McMichael did not take any role in the

Ulster Political Research Group The Ulster Political Research Group is an advisory body connected to the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), providing advice to them on political matters. The group was permanently founded in January 2002, and is largely a successor to the Ulster ...

, which assumed the UDP's role as political arm of the UDA, albeit without being a political party. He continued to sit on

Lisburn City Council Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern ...

as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

and did not seek re-election in 2005. He is no longer involved in electoral politics. In 1998 McMichael started a Lisburn-based Community Organisation, ASCERT – Action on Substances through Community Education and Related Training, aimed at addressing the drug and alcohol issues in the local communities. Working with communities across the Eastern Health Board area ASCERT built a strong reputation as a leader in the delivery of drug and alcohol training programmes. On retiring from politics McMichael became the full-time Director of ASCERT and has nurtured the organisation into the forefront of drug and alcohol training, education, support and youth treatment work in Northern Ireland today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMichael, Gary 1969 births Living people Members of Lisburn City Council Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Politicians from Northern Ireland Ulster Democratic Party politicians People from Lisburn