John McQuade (9 August 1911 – 19 November 1984) was a Northern Irish unionist politician. He was a professional boxer under the name of Jack Higgins.

Career

After serving with the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, he was 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) member of

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council () is the Local government in Northern Ireland, local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district c ...

from 1955 to 1972. He was a UUP Member of the

House of Commons of Northern Ireland The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished with the ...

for Belfast Woodvale ( Greater Shankill) from

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

to October 1971, when he resigned from the UUP and joined 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 ...

. On 28 March 1972 (the last day the Parliament sat), he resigned his parliamentary seat in protest at the prorogation of the Parliament. In February 1972, in response to the escalating violence in Northern Ireland, he called for the British security forces to take over the town of

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

and for the border with the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

to be closed, stating his belief that the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

controlled the

government of the Republic of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

. He contested the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''. February is the third a ...

and October 1974 Westminster elections unsuccessfully for Belfast West. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Belfast North in 1979, aged 67, and served until 1983, when he retired. He died on 19 November 1984, aged 73.

References

Bibliography

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1979 *

External links

* 1911 births 1984 deaths Democratic Unionist Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (since 1922) UK MPs 1979–1983 Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1965–1969 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974 Ulster Protestant Action members British Army personnel of World War II {{Parliament-of-Northern-Ireland-member-stub