Jackie McDonald

Jackie McDonald
McDonald in 2014
Born	John McDonald (1947-08-02) 2 August 1947 (age 69) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Occupation	Dispatches manager Community worker organiser
Employer	Balmoral Furniture Company John McMichael Centre
Known for	Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) spokesman
Title	Brigadier UDA South Belfast Brigade
Term	1988-1989 1996-date
Predecessor	John McMichael Alex Kerr
Successor	Alex Kerr incumbent
Movement	Ulster Political Research Group
Criminal charge	Extortion, blackmail and intimidation
Criminal penalty	10 years imprisonment
Criminal status	Released in 1994

John "Jackie" McDonald (born 2 August 1947) is a senior Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following John McMichael's killing by the Provisional IRA in December 1987. He is also a member of the organisation's Inner Council and the spokesman for the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), the UDA's political advisory body.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland into a Protestant family, McDonald attended Larkfield Secondary School in Balmoral. He lives in the south Belfast housing estate of Taughmonagh. His paramilitary activities have attracted considerable publicity from the media, and he was the subject of interviews by journalist Peter Taylor for the latter's book Loyalists. Described by journalist Rosie Cowan as the UDA's most powerful player, he is an outspoken critic of former Ulster Freedom Fighters' notorious brigadier, Johnny Adair.

He joined the UDA in 1972 about a year after it was formed in Belfast as an umbrella organisation for loyalist vigilante groups. These groups, such as the Woodvale Defence Association (WDA) and Shankill Defence Association (SDA), had sprung up in loyalist areas following the outbreak of The Troubles in the late 1960s as a means of protecting their local communities from attacks by nationalists. He was a member of the Taughmonagh C Battalion South Belfast Brigade.