David McClarty (23 February 1951 – 18 April 2014) was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as an

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 ...

(UUP), later an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for East Londonderry from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, until his death in 2014.

Background

McClarty was from

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

and was educated at

Coleraine Academical Institution Coleraine Academical Institution (CAI and styled locally as Coleraine Inst) was a voluntary grammar school for boys in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Coleraine Academical Institution occupied a site on the Castlerock Road, ...

and

Magee College The Ulster University Derry~Londonderry campus, better known as Magee College, is one of the four campuses of Ulster University. It is located in Derry, Northern Ireland, and was opened in 1865 as a Presbyterian Christian arts and theological ...

. McClarty was first elected to

Coleraine Borough Council Coleraine Borough Council was a local council mainly in County Londonderry and partly in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymoney Borough Council, Limavady Borough Council and Moyle District Council in May 2015 under local g ...

in 1989, and held the post of

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

from 1993 to 1995.

Assembly career

Until 1 January 2011 he was an

member of the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

(1998–present) for East Londonderry and was the Ulster Unionist Party’s chief whip at the Assembly but since then, vowed to fight future elections as an independent. On 8 May 2007, he was elected as one of the three Deputy Speakers of the Assembly. McClarty served on the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee and the Environment Committee in the Assembly from 1998 to 2002.

Party allegiance

He was one of a number of high-profile Ulster Unionist moderates who left the party along with Harry Hamilton and

Paula Bradshaw Paula Jane Bradshaw (born 1 November 1972) is an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician. She has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast since the 2016 election and in 2024 was appointed Alliance Party ...

, both of whom joined the

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland ...

, and

Trevor Ringland Trevor Maxwell Ringland, (born 13 November 1959) is a Northern Irish solicitor, former rugby union player and unionist politician. From June 2013 to July 2014, he served as co-chairman of the NI Conservatives. After attending Larne Grammar Sch ...

, who joined the NI Conservatives. McClarty appeared to dismiss speculation about switching to the Alliance by saying, "It has been suggested that, with my moderate views, I should go Alliance like Harry Hamilton in Upper Bann. But Alliance are lukewarm on the union, and I will be fighting as an Independent Unionist." He retained his seat in the Assembly in the 2011 election. There was speculation that McClarty would rejoin the UUP after

Mike Nesbitt Michael Nesbitt, Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland), MLA (born 11 May 1957) is a Northern Irish politician and former broadcaster

was elected leader in March 2012. Following

Tom Elliott Thomas or Tom Elliott may refer to: * Thomas Elliott (footballer) (1890–?), English footballer * Thomas Elliott (Australian cricketer) (1879–1939), Australian cricketer * Thomas Elliott (New Zealand cricketer) (1867–?), New Zealand cricketer ...

's departure and Nesbitt's subsequent election, McClarty said "I still have an interest in the wellbeing of the party." He went on to indicate that, as a sign of respect for those who voted for him as an independent candidate, he would not rejoin the UUP before the next election. In early 2013, McClarty was in talks with

John McCallister John McCallister (born 20 February 1972) is a former Northern Irish Unionist politician who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 2007 to 2016. He was initially an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) representative, lat ...

and

Basil McCrea Basil McCrea (born 13 November 1959) is a former Northern Irish politician. He was the party leader of NI21 from 2013 until it disbanded in 2016. He was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 2007 to 2016. P ...

, who were both elected as MLAs for the UUP but left the party in February 2013. The three were considering registering as an informal grouping within the Assembly. (McCallister and McCrea went on to form

NI21 NI21 was a short-lived political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 2013 by former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MLAs, Basil McCrea and John McCallister. Although it explicitly supported Northern Ireland staying part of the United Kin ...

later in the year.)

Personal life

He was made a

Freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

in 1994. He was married to Norma. He was a well known fixture for local theatre lovers with a long history of performing in various musicals fo
Ballywillan Drama Group

Death

McClarty died on 18 April 2014 following an illness. He had been suffering from cancer for some time beforehand.

References

External links

Stratagem profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClarty, David 1951 births 2014 deaths Mayors of Coleraine Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Independent members of the Northern Ireland Assembly People educated at Coleraine Academical Institution