Desmond Boal

Desmond Norman Orr Boal (8 August 1928 – 23 April 2015) was a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister.^[2]

Desmond Boal QC
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(2015-04-23) (aged 86) Holywood, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Party	Independent Unionist (from 1973)
Other political affiliations	DUP (1971 - 1973) Ulster Unionist Party (before 1971)
Spouse	Annette Boal
Children	3
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Barrister

Background

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]