The Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 19 June 2018 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forSouth Antrim | |
| In office 5 May 2005 – 30 March 2015 | |
| Preceded by | David Burnside |
| Succeeded by | Danny Kinahan |
| In office 21 September 2000 – 14 May 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Clifford Forsythe |
| Succeeded by | David Burnside |
| Member of Parliament forMid Ulster | |
| In office 9 June 1983 – 8 April 1997 | |
| Preceded by | John Dunlop |
| Succeeded by | Martin McGuinness |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly forSouth Antrim | |
| In office 7 March 2007 – 1 July 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Girvan |
| Succeeded by | Paul Girvan |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly forMid-Ulster | |
| In office 25 June 1998 – 30 January 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Ian McCrea |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1948-08-06)6 August 1948 (age 76) Stewartstown,County Tyrone,Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Democratic Unionist Party |
| Children | 5 (includingIan McCrea) |
| Residence(s) | Magherafelt,County Londonderry |
| Alma mater | Ravenhill Theological Hall |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Minister |
| Website | William McCrea website |
Robert Thomas William McCrea, Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (born 6 August 1948) is aDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, Christian singer and retiredFree Presbyterian minister fromNorthern Ireland.[1] As a politician, he representedSouth Antrim andMid Ulster as theirMember of Parliament (MP), representing Mid Ulster from 1983 to 1997; then South Antrim between 2000 and 2001, and then again from 2005 to 2015.[2]
McCrea was also aMember of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) forMid Ulster from 1998 to 2007, before moving to representSouth Antrim in the Assembly from 2007 to 2010.
McCrea was the youngest of five children born to Robert Thomas (a farmer inStewartstown,Northern Ireland) and Sarah Jayne in August 1948.[3] He was educated inMagherafelt and spent a short time working in Social Security in theCivil Service of Northern Ireland before beginning training as aFree Presbyterian Church of Ulsterminister. He undertook this training at Ravenhill Theological Hall inBelfast.[citation needed]
McCrea was aDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP) member ofMagherafelt District Council from its creation in 1973 until he stood down to concentrate on Westminster duties in 2010, and topped the poll in every local government election he contested from 1973–2005.[citation needed]
He ran unsuccessfully for theHouse of Commons at the1982 Belfast South by-election. He wasMember of Parliament forMid Ulster from 1983 but lost this seat toSinn Féin chief negotiator anddeputy First MinisterMartin McGuinness at the1997 election. He tookSouth Antrim at aby-election in 2000 caused by the death ofUlster Unionist Party MP,Clifford Forsythe, but failed to retain this seat at the2001 election. In the 2005 election he regained the seat and he held it at the 2010 election. He was subsequently defeated by the Ulster Unionist Party in 2015.[4]
In 1996, he was elected to theNorthern Ireland Forum forMid-Ulster.[5] From1998 to 2007 he was a member of theNorthern Ireland Assembly forMid Ulster. He was therefore a political representative for two separate constituencies (Mid Ulster and South Antrim) from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2007.
At the2007 election, he was elected as an Assembly Member forSouth Antrim. He resigned from the Assembly in 2010, following his return to Westminster at the general election of that year.[6]
He is also the minister of MagherafeltFree Presbyterian Church and has made numerousgospel albums.[citation needed]
McCrea was created alife peer on 19 June 2018, taking the titleBaron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown, ofMagherafelt in theCounty of Londonderry andCookstown in theCounty of Tyrone.[7]
McCrea was convicted in 1971 of riotous behaviour inDungiven and sentenced to six months imprisonment.[8][9][10] In 1972, McCrea issued a press release, saying, "We call on all Loyalists to give their continued support to theUlster Defence Association as it seeks to ensure the safety of all law-abiding citizens against the bombs and bullets of theIRA. As the Catholic population have given their support to the IRA throughout this campaign of terror so must Loyalists grant unswerving support to those engaged in the cause of truth."[11] In September that year McCrea spoke at a rally in the Shankill Road area of Belfast protesting the conduct of theBritish Army'sParachute Regiment stationed locally, telling the crowd: "We never asked for the Army to come in. The loyalist people of Northern Ireland could have finished it themselves with the forces in this community." Uniformed UDA members checked cars entering the Glencairn estate before the protest and a UDALand Rover patrolled in the vicinity.[12] In 1975 he led a prayer service at the funerals of paramilitary membersWesley Somerville andHarris Boyle. The two terrorists were part of theGlenanne gang which carried out theMiami Showband killings and were accidentally blown up when the bomb they were planting in the band's minibus went off prematurely, killing them instantly.[10] McCrea also conducted the funeral service for Benjamin Redfern, a UDA member who died while trying to escape theMaze Prison in a bin lorry in August 1984. Redfern was serving a life sentence for the murder of two Catholics.[13]
At the DUP annual conference of April 1986, McCrea interrupted councillor Ethel Smyth when she said she regretted the death of Sean Downes, a 24-year-old Catholic civilian who had been killed by a plastic bullet fired by theRoyal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) during an anti-internment march inAndersontown in August 1984. McCrea shouted, "No. No. I’ll not condemn the death of John Downes [sic]. No Fenian. Never. No".[14] In Northern Ireland and Scotland, the wordFenian is used as a slur for Roman Catholics.[15]
Speaking in theNorthern Ireland Assembly in March 1984 following an attempt on the life of Sinn Féin presidentGerry Adams by the UDA which left him seriously wounded McCrea stated:
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 withHot Press magazine following a recent threat by the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (the UDA'scover name used to claim responsibility for attacks) to bomb Dublin, he commented that theRepublic of Ireland "must reap what they sow" for its role in theAnglo-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 aparcel bomb to his home on 9 August 1988, when a package sent by theIrish People's Liberation Organisation was disarmed. McCrea had become suspicious when he noticed the package had aDublin 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 aPortadown rally in support of the seniorUlster loyalist paramilitaryBilly Wright, who had been threatened by theUlster Volunteer Force (UVF) leadership, in September 1996.[21][22][23][24] Wright was the founder and leader of theLoyalist 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 SirPeter 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.
ANorthern Ireland Office memo released under thethirty-year rule in December 2014 revealed that McCrea had called for theRoyal Air Force to carry out "strikes againstDundalk,Drogheda,Crossmaglen andCarrickmore" at the DUP's annual conference in April 1986.[28]
McCrea is a supporter ofhomeopathy, having signed severalearly day motions in support of its continued funding on theNational Health Service, sponsored byConservative MPDavid Tredinnick.[29]
| Northern Ireland Assembly (1982) | ||
|---|---|---|
| New assembly | MPA forMid-Ulster 1982–1986 | Assembly abolished |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | MP forMid Ulster 1983 –1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | MP forSouth Antrim 2000 –2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | MP forSouth Antrim 2005 –2015 | Succeeded by |
| Northern Ireland Forum | ||
| New forum | Member forMid-Ulster 1996–1998 | Forum dissolved |
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
| New assembly | MLA forMid-Ulster 1998–2007 | Succeeded by multiplemembers |
| Preceded by multiplemembers | MLA forSouth Antrim 2007–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | Followed by |
