David Adams (born c. 1953) is a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

activist and former politician. He was instrumental in bringing about the loyalist ceasefire of 1994 and played a leading role in the early stages of the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political develop ...

Emergence in politics

A native of

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

, Adams was a member of the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

(UDA) although he did not hold any position of importance within the movement and was never imprisoned. From early on, Adams was much more involved in the political side of loyalism rather than the paramilitary side. Unlike many of his contemporaries in the UDA, Adams was

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

educated and gained a reputation as an articulate speaker.McDonald & Cusack, ''UDA'', p. 269 Adams, who lived near the

Maze Prison HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...

and served as a community worker in the area, joined the

Ulster Democratic Party The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) was a small Ulster loyalism, loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), to replace the New Ulst ...

(UDP) after being encouraged to do so by Ray Smallwoods.

Towards ceasefire

Adams was, along with Gary McMichael, involved in negotiations between the UDP and the UDA during the early 1990s in which the possibility of a move towards a peace settlement was discussed. The main figure in these talks however was Ray Smallwoods. Adams became a representative to the Combined Loyalist Political Alliance, a semi-clandestine group established around sometime in late 1992 to early 1993 and made up of leading members of the UDP and the

Progressive Unionist Party The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volunte ...

(PUP), when this initiative was established. This group was central to delivering the loyalist ceasefires. Adams was close to Ray Smallwoods personally and described himself as "really devastated" following Smallwoods' killing by the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

in July 1994. He identified Smallwoods as his mentor in heping to bring him to politics. Nonetheless Adams continued to work towards delivering a ceasefire and was described by Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack as "one of the moderate voices advising the UDA, even in the darkest days".

Ceasefire aftermath

The

Combined Loyalist Military Command The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for Ulster loyalism, loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Commit ...

(CLMC) ceasefire was announced on 13 October 1994 at Fernhill House, Glencairn when

Gusty Spence Augustus Andrew Spence (28 June 1933
. '' John White of the UDP and Jim McDonald and William "Plum" Smith of the PUP. Although the speech had largely been written by Spence, he credits Adams with including a clause stating that they expected the status of Northern Ireland as part of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to be safeguarded as part of any settlement. A few days after the announcement Adams joined Spence, McMichael, Joe English and the PUP's David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson on a tour of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where amongst their engagements was one as guests of honour of the

National Committee on American Foreign Policy The National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan activist organization dedicated to the resolution of conflicts that threaten United States interests. Founded in 1974 by Hans Morgenthau, NCAFP wo ...

. In the late 1990s Adams also represented the UDP on

Lisburn Borough Council Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern I ...

. He had been a candidate in the 1993 elections in the Downshire area but had finished bottom of the poll. However, in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

as candidate in Lisburn Town North Adams was elected.Lisburn City Council Elections 1993 - 2005
/ref> In the meantime, he had been an unsuccessful candidate in the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each List o ...

election in South Belfast.

Departure from politics

On 7 January 1998 Adams travelled with McMichael to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where the two held a hastily arranged meeting with

Northern Ireland Secretary The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The offi ...

Mo Mowlam Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar (UK Parliament constituency), Redcar f ...

. The recent killing of

Loyalist Volunteer Force The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright (loyalist), Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) a ...

leader Billy Wright, who had a lot of support amongst elements of the UDA made the ceasefire shaky. As a result of the meeting Mowlam was convinced to go onto the UDA wings of the

Maze prison HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...

in an attempt to regain support for the peace process. Disarray had set in however and by this point the UDA had two wings, those loyal to the ceasefire and the McMichael-Adams UDP leadership and those such as Stephen McKeag who were continuing to kill despite the ceasefire, with John White falling somewhere between both wings due to his close relationship with

Johnny Adair John Adair (born 27 October 1963), better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is a Northern Irish loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Th ...

. Nonetheless Adams campaigned heavily on behalf of the UDP for the 1998 Assembly elections and described himself as "dejected and rejected" when the party failed to win any seats. Even an unidentified figure known only as "the Craftsman", who was at the time the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...

(UVF)'s second-in-command, stated that "I was gutted for wee Davy. Not only was he a gentleman but he had a good political brain. He could have kept the UDA on the straight and narrow if he had won an Assembly seat". Adams had been the party's sole candidate in the South Belfast constituency. As the UDA ceasefire fell apart and the UDP passed from existence, Adams left politics and instead headed up a number of community projects in his native Lisburn. His last election was the 2001 local government vote in which Adams was unsuccessful in defending his council seat, albeit as 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 ...

. Adams joined the Lisburn District Policing Partnership in 2003 although this decision rankled with some in the local UDA who wanted nothing to do with the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

, which caused him to become a target for attack. Threats were issued against Adams and both his car and house came under attack. By this point Adams, along with Gary McMichael, had disavowed any connection to the UDA and the pair were targeted for intimidation as a consequence, with his car vandalised and hate mail sent to his home. Adams works for GOAL, an international aid agency.Irish Times Columnist biography
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, David 1950s births Living people Ulster Defence Association members Ulster Democratic Party politicians Members of Lisburn City Council People from Lisburn Year of birth missing (living people)