John McMichael (9 January 1948 – 22 December 1987) was a Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent and charismatic figure within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade.

He was also commander of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF), a cover name for the UDA, overseeing an assassination campaign against prominent republican figures whose details were included in a notorious "shopping list" derived from leaked security forces documents.

The UDA used the UFF name when it wished to claim responsibility for attacks, thus allowing it to remain a legal paramilitary organisation until August 1992 when it was proscribed by the British Government.

[3] McMichael, who owned and operated the "Admiral Benbow" pub in his native Lisburn,[4] initially rose to prominence in the UDA in the 1970s as the commander of the South Belfast Brigade and a member of its Inner Council, where he became known for his belief in the unique identity of Ulster Protestants, as well as his talent as an organiser.

[8] He was a supporter of the ideas of Ian Adamson a paediatrician, and subsequently a Unionist politician, who self-funded a series of books and pamphlets about the alleged ancient origins of Ulster people as a separate ethnic group to the rest of the Irish.

[14] Raymond Murray in his book SAS in Ireland claimed that the McAliskey shootings were planned in a room above McMichael's "Admiral Benbow"pub.

[16] McMichael's "shopping list" was published in the press soon after the failed assassination attempt on McAliskey, apparently leaked by his internal opponents within the UDA.

[17] The IRA responded to the revelations by killing two prominent Unionist figures, James Stronge and his father Norman at their Tynan Abbey home.

[17] McMichael would return to the idea at later times and during the mid to late 1980s had Michael Stone working directly under him as a lone gunman with a remit to kill alleged republicans.

[18] McMichael came to support the ideas of republican Danny Morrison regarding the Armalite and ballot box strategy and felt that the UDA should also build up a political wing to this end.

McMichael's failure to make any inroads into the popular vote led to the UDA largely abandoning electoral politics outside of the occasional local foray for over a decade.

[20] Under the guidance of David Trimble, at the time a law lecturer in Queen's University Belfast, the document attempted to set out a legal framework for a power-sharing system under British rule.

[21] The paper was viewed positively by some politicians including Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King.

[26] In June 1985, he instructed UDA Intelligence chief Brian Nelson to travel to South Africa to investigate the possibility of obtaining weapons by proposing an exchange of arms.

[30] At 8.20 p.m. after he had turned on the ignition of his car and the vehicle slowly reversed down the driveway, the movement-sensitive switch in the detonating mechanism of the 5-pound (2.3 kg) booby-trap bomb attached to its underside was activated, and the device exploded.

During the performance, a note was passed to the band's lead singer, Jake Burns, who then made an announcement that Gary McMichael was to phone his home.

[30] In the hours proceeding McMichael's funeral on Boxing Day 1987, the UDA sealed off Dromore to enable a volley of shots to be fired into the air in the town square.

[10] The attack was claimed by the Provisional IRA, and carried out by a unit led by Seán Savage, who would himself be shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar three months later in "Operation Flavius".

[39] Another suspect was West Belfast brigadier Tommy Lyttle, who it was alleged helped set him up under orders by the security forces after it was rumoured McMichael was planning to carry out a bombing campaign against the Irish Republic.

McMichael's close friend and second-in-command, Jackie McDonald, who was appointed leader of the South Belfast Brigade following his death, opined that it was possible Lyttle had a hand in the killing rather than Craig.

[40] In response to a question put to him at a press conference held after McMichael's killing, Chief Constable of the RUC, Sir John Hermon gave the following statement: The murder of John McMichael, whoever caused it, or whoever orchestrated it regardless of who may have committed it, was designed to cause grievous dissention and disruption and to eliminate a threat to whosoever that threat may have existed.

[41]Andy Tyrie was not convinced of Craig's complicity in McMichael's killing; he instead put the blame on John Hanna,[42] a prison officer in the Maze Prison, who obtained information about McMichael when the latter visited loyalist inmates and then supplied the IRA with the gathered information through Belfast Catholic actress, Rosena Brown with whom Hanna (a Protestant) was reportedly infatuated.

In an interview with Peter Taylor, Tyrie explained the IRA's possible motive for assassinating McMichael: John was killed because he was the best person we had and the Republican Movement didn't like him.

[49] As part of a series of events organised to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his death, a John McMichael memorial debate was held in Lisburn on 25 October 2012.