Desmond Boal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party | |
| In office 1971–1973 | |
| Leader | Ian Paisley |
| Preceded by | Office Created |
| Succeeded by | William Beattie |
| Member of Parliament for Belfast Shankill | |
| In office 1960–1972 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Holmes |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 August 1928[1] Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 23 April 2015 (aged 86) Holywood, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Independent Unionist |
| Other political affiliations | DUP Ulster Unionist Party |
| Spouse | Annette Boal |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Barrister |
Desmond Norman Orr Boal (8 August 1928 – 23 April 2015) was a unionist politician and barrister from Northern Ireland.[2]
Boal had a legal career before he entered politics in 1960. He was the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the Shankill constituency between 1960 and 1972. He was very critical of the leadership under Captain Terence O'Neill, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Boal opposed the manner, if not the substance, of O'Neill's attempts at improving relations with both the Irish government and the Roman Catholic/Irish nationalist minority in Northern Ireland, along with many backbenchers.[3]
Discontented with James Chichester-Clark and Brian Faulkner who came to government after O'Neill's 1969 fall from power, Boal resigned from the UUP in 1971 and joined Ian Paisley in establishing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in order to provide dissident unionist opinion with a viable political alternative. He worked as the first chairman and one of the first public representatives of the DUP and continued to sit in Stormont during the years of 1971–1972. He later resumed his practice as a barrister.
Boal died in April 2015, aged 86.[4][5]
- ^ Mr Desmond Boal; Birth Date: 6 Aug 1928 Death Date: 23 Apr 2015. Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2015
- ^ "New alliance starts in Ulster". Leader-Post. AP. 18 August 1971. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ Northern Ireland – A Political Directory, 1968–1999, Sydney Elliott and W.D. Flackes (eds); Belfast: The Blackstaff Press; ISBN 0-85640-628-7
- ^ "Desmond Boal, barrister - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- ^ Ryder, Chris (7 May 2015). "Desmond Boal obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2017.