Brief Biography:

Gary McMichael was born in a working-class area of Lisburn and educated locally. His first involvement in political activity came after the killing of his father, John McMichael, then a leading spokesman of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). In 1988 Gary McMichael joined the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party (ULDP), which was associated with the UDA as well as the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), and remained as a member when it changed its name in 1989 to the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP). McMichael quickly rose through the ranks of the UDP to become party leader in and was present when the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) declared its ceasefire in October 1994.

With developments in the 'Peace Process' he became associated with the attempts of the UDP to portray itself as a new and more constructive form of unionism. As such he was prepared to meet with republicans and to urge for the restoration of some form of devolved government back to Northern Ireland. Initially this brought the UDP some rewards and the party managed to secure representation in May 1996 to the Northern Ireland Forum which then allowed it to take part in the ensuing multi-party talks. During these McMichael led the UDP's delegation, remaining in the negotiations even after Sinn Féin joined them in September 1997. His increasing profile was also to see him returned at the local government elections of May 1997 as a UDP councillor in Lisburn (1997-2001).

The UDP then signed up to the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in April 1998 and campaigned for a 'Yes' vote in the subsequent referendum campaign in May 1998. However in the elections that followed in June 1998, the UDP suffered a major setback when it failed to win a seat in the new Northern Ireland Assembly. Although McMichael remained committed to supporting the GFA his party now faced a difficult situation. Not only had it lost its political influence but those elements within the loyalist paramilitary groups who had once supported the party began to withdraw their support from the GFA. If anything the UDP became increasingly sidelined and matters got worse when it became embroiled in an internal loyalist feud in 2000. As a result the party was unable to field any candidates at either the Westminster or local government elections of June 2001. This led to McMichael severing his connections with the UDP and completely withdrawing from politics.

Book References:

Elliott, Sydney. and Flackes, W.D. (1999), Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-1999. Belfast: Blackstaff Press.
McMichael, Gary. (1999), Ulster Voice: In Search of Common Ground in Northern Ireland. Colorado: Roberts Rinehart.

Web Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/northern_ireland/understanding/profiles/gary_mcmichael.stm

[Entry written by B.Lynn - 20 December 2002]