David McCarthy (1925 –14 July 1973) was a unionist

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, McCarthy studied at the Belfast Municipal College of Technology before working as a

quantity surveyor In the construction industry, a quantity surveyor (QS) is a professional with expert knowledge of construction costs and contracting. Qualified professional quantity surveyors can be known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) i ...

. He was elected to

Ballymena Borough Council Ballymena Borough Council was the local authority of Ballymena (borough), Ballymena in Northern Ireland. It merged with Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Irelan ...

for the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

in 1965, serving until 1973. By 1970, he was the manager of a building firm, and became the Chairman of the Ballymena

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

. In 1972, he was elected Chairman of the Mid Antrim Unionist Association, and, the following year, he was appointed as President of Ballymena United F.C. At the

1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1973 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place following the publication of the British government's white paper ''Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals'' which proposed a 78-member Northern Ireland Assembly (1973), Northern ...

, he was elected in North Antrim. He went on holiday immediately after the election, and was killed in a car crash. Four of his five children were in the car at the time it crashed along with his wife Daphne, all sustained injuries but none too serious. The resulting by-election was won by

Clifford Smyth Clifford Smyth (born 1944) is a Northern Irish historian and former unionist politician. Background Smyth stood for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in North Antrim in the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, narrowly missing out on a s ...

of the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

.Ted Nealon, ''Ireland: A Parliamentary Directory, 1973-1974'', p.183

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, David 1925 births 1973 deaths Members of Ballymena Borough Council Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974 Politicians from Belfast Ulster Unionist Party councillors Road incident deaths in Northern Ireland