John McMichael

John McMichael (known as 'Big John') was a leading Northern Ireland loyalist who rose to become the most prominent figure within the Ulster Defence Association.

McMichael initially rose to prominence in the UDA in the 1970s, where he became known for his belief in the unique identity of Ulster Protestants, as well as his talent as both an organiser and a hit-man. By 1979 he had emerged as the leading figure within the UDA and drew up a ‘shopping list’ of targets (mostly members of Sinn Féin and other Republican groups) that he felt the UDA should kill. McMichael hand-picked his own squad for this task and throughout 1980 a number of the targets were assassinated. However the attacks came to an end in 1981, following an ambush by the Parachute Regiment after a failed attack on the home of Bernadette McAliskey, during which the entire gang (including Ray Smallwoods) were captured and later imprisoned.

McMichael came to support the ideas of Danny Morrison regarding the Armalite and ballot box strategy and felt that the UDA should also build up a political wing to this end. As a result, following the murder of Robert Bradford, he stood as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party candidate in the by-election for Bradford’s South Belfast seat and ran the most high profile ULDP campaign ever seen, calling for a long term strategy of negotiated independence for Northern Ireland. Despite fears from mainstream Unionists that McMichael might split their vote, he ultimately only captured 576 votes, which was a huge blow both personally and to his strategy for the political development of Loyalism.

After the failure of his political strategy, McMichael returned to his work with the UDA and, after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, was put in charge of a bombing campaign that was to be waged against the Republic of Ireland. Ultimately the proposed campaign was a disaster, with little real damage inflicted. McMichael himself put the failure down to the lack of bombing expertise in the UDA, although others within the movement felt that his heart was not really in it, due to his bitter disappointment at the failure to build a strong political wing.

McMichael was killed by a car bomb at his home in Lisburn on the 22 December 1987. The attack was claimed by the Provisional IRA, although at the time the RUC hinted that some within the UDA may at least have had knowledge that it was about to happen. Eventually the UDA admitted this themselves when they backed the killing of activist Jim Craig by the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1988, claiming that he had been involved in planning the murder of his rival McMichael.

McMichael's son Gary McMichael followed in his father's footsteps of trying to build up the Ulster Democratic Party as a strong political wing for the UDA, but following the collapse of the party he dropped out of politics.

Bibliography

*H. McDonald & J. Cusack, "UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror", Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004