Niall Rafferty (born Matthew McQueen) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Barry Sloane.

[2] Former Brookside actor Sloane was cast as the "mysterious" hairdresser Niall and was introduced by the series' producer Bryan Kirkwood.

As 2008 progressed, Niall was distracted by his love for Steph Dean (Carley Stenson), but continued to commit a series of violent and manipulative acts against the McQueen family.

"[5] Niall was also inadvertently responsible for the death of one of Hollyoaks most iconic characters, Max Cunningham (Matt Littler).

He also remarked on the irony of Niall attempting to damage the McQueens, but then killing Max completely by accident.

He helps Evissa owner Louise Summers (Roxanne McKee) and attacks her fiancé Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas), who assumes Niall is mugging her.

Niall soon becomes friends with Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane), who is unaware of his identity, and is invited for Christmas.

Niall attempts to become closer to his mother and begins encouraging her to be stricter with her youngest daughter, Michaela McQueen (Hollie-Jay Bowes).

Niall gets Michaela drunk at a party and injects her with heroin, which causes her to overdose and makes the McQueens believe she is addicted.

Niall continues his revenge on the McQueens by ruining their lives in small ways; reporting Myra for benefit fraud, pushing Carmel and boyfriend Calvin Valentine (Ricky Whittle) apart and attacking his grandmother, Nana McQueen (Diane Langton).

Niall grows closer to Steph Dean (Carley Stenson), following her split with boyfriend Max Cunningham (Matt Littler).

Niall reveals an affair between John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) and Kieron Hobbs (Jake Hendriks).

Niall overhears Tina Reilly (Leah Hackett) telling Jacqui over the phone she wants to give her unborn child up for adoption.

Out of anger, Niall pushes Tina down a flight of stairs, which causes her to have to undergo an emergency hysterectomy and give birth to her son Max prematurely.

In the wreckage, the floor collapses and Niall finds Myra caught under rubble and attempts to free her with help from John Paul.

[9] In 2009, Virgin Media named Niall as one of British soap's top ten villain in a feature in which he came ninth.

[10] Adam Beresford from Digital Spy noted that whilst the character only appeared for a short stint, he made a "huge impact by terrorising his entire family, killing his sister Tina and then dying in a proper cliffhanger".