William McCrea, Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

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For years he has played with the sword and today he was on the verge of dying by the same sword. As one who believes in the death penalty, I do believe that the removal of Gerry Adams from this country would be a great bonus for law-abiding people. [16]

In December 1986, McCrea aroused controversy when in an interview with Hot Press magazine following a recent threat by the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (the UDA's cover name used to claim responsibility for attacks) to bomb Dublin, he commented that the Republic of Ireland "must reap what they sow" for its role in the Anglo-Irish Agreement. McCrea also claimed that the Agreement had come about because of IRA violence, and so people living in the Republic "must expect if they live by the sword they must die by the sword." [17]

McCrea was the target of a parcel bomb to his home on 9 August 1988, when a package sent by the Irish People's Liberation Organisation was disarmed. McCrea had become suspicious when he noticed the package had a Dublin postmark. [18] In September 1991, following the murder of Sinn Féin councillor Bernard O'Hagan by the UDA (who claimed the shooting under its outlawed "Ulster Freedom Fighters" cover name) in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, McCrea said "He who lives by the sword often dies by the sword" and "[O'Hagan] without apology stood for the policy of the Armalite in one hand and the ballot box in the other". [19]

In February 1992 McCrea sent a message of sympathy to the family of RUC Constable Alan Moore, who had committed suicide after shooting dead three people and injuring two others at a Sinn Féin advice centre on the Falls Road, Belfast. Moore's family lived in Ballymena, outside McCrea's constituency; McCrea did not send any message of condolence to the families of the three Catholic men who died in Moore's attack. [20]

McCrea was criticised when he appeared on a platform at a Portadown rally in support of the senior Ulster loyalist paramilitary Billy Wright, who had been threatened by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) leadership, in September 1996. [21] [22] [23] [24] Wright was the founder and leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (which had broken away from the UVF), and had been threatened after he broke the UVF ceasefire by ordering the death of Catholic civilian Michael McGoldrick. [25] [26]

In 2000, McCrea was the subject of an early day motion by two MPs, Harry Barnes and Sir Peter Bottomley. The motion referenced a claim that McCrea had visited Wright's successor as LVF leader in order to persuade the LVF not to decommission any of its weapons. [27] This claim has yet to be substantiated.

Call for British airstrikes against Irish towns

A Northern Ireland Office memo released under the thirty-year rule in December 2014 revealed that McCrea had called for the Royal Air Force to carry out "strikes against Dundalk, Drogheda, Crossmaglen and Carrickmore" at the DUP's annual conference in April 1986. [28]

Alternative medicine

McCrea is a supporter of homeopathy, having signed several early day motions in support of its continued funding on the National Health Service, sponsored by Conservative MP David Tredinnick. [29]

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References

  1. ↑ Walker, Stephen (20 June 2012). "MPs call on government to secure NI air routes". BBC News. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Profile: William McCrea MP". Mydup.com. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Porter, David; McCrea, William (December 1980). In His Pathway: Story of William McCrea. Lakeland Publishing.
  4. ↑ "The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland". Eoni.org.uk.
  5. ↑ "1996 Candidates – Mid Ulster". Ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  6. ↑ Girvan makes Stormont return, Newtownabbey Times, 8 July 2010
  7. ↑ "No. 62333". The London Gazette . 25 June 2018. p. 11196.
  8. ↑ Belfast Telegraph, 23 August 1971.
  9. ↑ Moloney, Ed (2008). Paisley. Poolbeg Press. p. 185. ISBN   978-1-84223-324-5.
  10. 1 2 Newton Emerson (12 August 2006). "Reg warns of violence". Irish News. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  11. ↑ Steve Bruce, Paisley: Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 222
  12. ↑ "UDA On Duty at Glencairn Protest Rally", Dundee Courier, 9 September 1972.
  13. ↑ Steve Bruce, Paisley: Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 221
  14. ↑ Feargal Cochrane, Unionist Politics and the Politics of Unionism since the Anglo-Irish Agreement (Cork: Cork University Press, 2001), p. 155
  15. ↑ "Fenian". TheFreeDictionary.com.
  16. ↑ Belfast News Letter, 15 March 1984.
  17. ↑ "Bomb blitz justified: McCrea", Irish Independent, 4 December 1986.
  18. ↑ Jack Holland & Henry McDonald, INLA – Deadly Divisions, 1994, p. 310
  19. ↑ "Loyalist guns down Sinn Fein councillor", Dundee Courier, 17 September 1991.
  20. ↑ Irish Press, 6 February 1992.
  21. ↑ Nicholas Watt (14 September 2010). "Why does Ian Paisley's party show such interest in a mass murderer? | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  22. ↑ Gerry Moriarty (8 April 2016). "McCrea defends show of support for Wright". Irishtimes.com. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "McCrea challenged to clarify relationship with loyalist murderer". An Phoblacht. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  24. ↑ Martin Dillon (23 June 2014). God and the Gun: The Church and Irish Terrorism. ISBN   9781136680601 . Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  25. ↑ "The Billy Wright Inquiry Oral Hearings". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. 10 December 2010. Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  26. ↑ Neil Root & Ian Hitchings (4 April 2011). Who Killed Rosemary Nelson?: At last, the full story of the conspiracy. ISBN   9781843584698 . Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  27. ↑ "Private Eye | Post-Brexit trade: Boris's US health cheque".
  28. ↑ Adrian Rutherford (29 December 2014). "State papers: DUP MP William McCrea wanted air strikes launched on the Republic in the 1980s". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  29. ↑ Tredinnick, David (29 June 2010). "Early Day Motion #284 British Medical Association Motions on Homeopathy".
The Reverend and Right Honourable
The Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
Official portrait of Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown crop 2, 2022.jpg
Official portrait, 2022
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 June 2018
Life peerage
Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
New assembly MPA for Mid-Ulster
1982–1986		Assembly abolished
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by MP for Mid Ulster
1983 – 1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by MP for South Antrim
2000 – 2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by MP for South Antrim
2005 – 2015 		Succeeded by
Northern Ireland Forum
New forum Member for Mid-Ulster
1996–1998		Forum dissolved
Northern Ireland Assembly
New assembly MLA for Mid-Ulster
1998–2007		Succeeded by
multiple members
Preceded by
multiple members
MLA for South Antrim
2007–2010		Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown		Followed by


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