John McMichael

“	I think human beings are basically a violent breed of animals. I personally don't like violence, but there is a war going on in Northern Ireland and I find it very difficult to condemn people. We're a defensive community, always defending the border, always in a state of vigilance against the fear of the Fenian uprising.	„
	~ McMichael speaking to the New York Times in 1986

John "Big John" McMichael (January 9 1948 - December 22 1987) was a Northern Irish politician and Ulster loyalist who rose to prominence as Deputy Commander of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). He was also commander of the group's military wing, the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), which was used when the UDA wished to carry out terrorist attacks while maintaining a legitimate façade to avoid being made illegal. McMichael was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army in 1987.

Biography

McMichael was born in County Antrim in January 1948 into a working-class family. He was brought up into the Protestant Church of Ireland religion. In later life, he married twice and fathered two children.

McMichael was the owner and proprietor of the Admiral Benbow pub in Lisburn. He was also the leader of the UDA's South Belfast Brigade and a member of the Inner Council. As a member of the Council, McMichael was noted for his belief that Ulster Protestants had a separate ethnic identity to the rest of the Irish. He was described by some as being the UDA's most strategic leader, helping to write and publish Beyond the Religious Divide, a document which outlined the UDA's proposed Bill of Rights for the country.

McMichael was one of the founders of the Ulster Political Research Group, a political think tank that advised the UDA on political matters. He served as chairman of the group from 1977.

Emerging in 1979 as the UDA's most charismatic leader, McMichael infamously drew up a so-called "shopping list" of prominent Irish Republicans that he felt the UDA should kill. The UDA agreed to his proposal, allowing him to handpick members of the taskforce that would carry out the murders. This group, known as the Ulster Defence Force, assassinated many of their targets throughout 1979 and 1980. These included Relatives' Action Committee member Miriam Daly and Irish Independence Party leader John Turnley. The attacks ended in 1971 after three members of the taskforce were arrested following a failed murder attempt against Republican MP Bernadette Devlin McAliskey. McMichael was arrested after it transpired that the attacks had been planned in his pub, but the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

Around this time, UDA commander Andy Tyrie allegedly put McMichael in charge of a bombing campaign against the Republic of Ireland. Four incendiary bombs were placed in Dublin city centre, but failed to inflict much damage. The idea was abandoned after this.

As leader of the UFF, McMichael allegedly authorised many terrorist attacks as well as sectarian violence against Catholics. Accusations from journalists of the time that he burned down the homes of Catholics using petrol bombs may or may not be true, but he certainly refused to condemn those who committed the attacks because he claimed that there was a war going on in Northern Ireland.

At 8:20 p.m. on December 22 1987, eighteen days before his fortieth birthday, McMichael was on his way to deliver Christmas turkeys to the families of Loyalist prisoners when a movement-sensitive bomb attached to the underside of his car detonated. McMichael was severely injured in the blast, suffering serious internal injuries and losing both his legs. He was rushed to Lagan Valley Hospital but died shortly afterwards. The Provisional Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility.