[11] As leader of the UDP, McMichael became attached to the Combined Loyalist Military Command, and played a leading role in convincing the CLMC to call a ceasefire in October 1994.
[12] When the ceasefire was announced from Fernhill House in Glencairn, McMichael was one of the six, along with UDP colleagues John White and David Adams and Progressive Unionist Party leaders Gusty Spence, "Plum" Smith and Jim McDonald, who delivered the statement confirming the cessation.
[12] A few days later McMichael, along with Adams, Spence, Joe English, David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson, took part in a tour of the United States where they presented the loyalist case publicly to a number of bodies.
[15] McMichael became a high-profile figure due to his involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process and he led the UDP into the Forum in 1996 from which the Belfast Agreement emerged.
[1] McMichael became an enthusiastic advocate of the Agreement, although his views were not always shared by the UDA membership as a whole and the party failed to win any seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Working with communities across the Eastern Health Board area ASCERT built a strong reputation as a leader in the delivery of drug and alcohol training programmes.
On retiring from politics McMichael became the full-time Director of ASCERT and has nurtured the organisation into the forefront of drug and alcohol training, education, support and youth treatment work in Northern Ireland today.