Major Robert Alan McFarland (born August 9, 1949) is a Ulster Unionist Party politician and MLA for North Down in Northern Ireland. Born in Plumbridge County Tyrone he attended Rockport Preporaty near Holywood and Campbell College in East Belfast. After a short career in banking he was admitted to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment in 1974. August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland, and was the party of government in Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. ... MLA is a three letter acronym that can stand for a number of different things: Malta International Airport IATA code Modern Language Association Master of Landscape Architecture Martial Law Administration of Bangladesh Medical Library Association Member of Legislative Assembly (India) Member of the Legislative Assembly (Canada and others) Myelosis Leucemica... North Down is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1... This article is about County Tyrone. ... Campbell College is a public school (that is, an independent secondary school that charges tuition) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in legal terminology it is a voluntary grammar school and educates boys from ages 11_18. ... The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (commonly known as Sandhurst) is the British Army officer initial training centre. ... The Royal Tank Regiment is a unit of the British Army (formerly the Tank Corps and Royal Tank Corps). ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ...

He retired from the British army in 1992 and became a Parliamentary Assistant to James Molyneaux MP and Rev Martin Smyth MP. In 1995 he was selected by the Ulster Unionists to contest the North Down by-election over the favourite for the nomination, Reg Empey, but was beaten in the election by Robert McCartney. He was again beaten by McCartney in the 1997 general election by a narrower margin. In 1996 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Diologue for North Down and was involved in the talks process that resulted in the Belfast Agreement of 1998. He was one of three UUP members returned to the Assembly for North Down in the first elections to the body in 1998 and he retained his seat in the November 2003 elections. He is one of the UUP representatives on the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... James Molyneaux Ulster Unionist Party leader from 1979—1995. ... Reverend William Martin Smyth (born June 15, 1931) is a Northern Ireland unionist politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for South Belfast 1982-2005. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Reginald Empey (born October 26, 1947) is a Northern Ireland politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Belfast. ... Robert McCartney (born 1936) is a Northern Ireland unionist politician, and leader of the UK Unionist Party, and the only UKUP member of the currently-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly. ... The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major step in the Northern Ireland peace process. It was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 (Good Friday) by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland... 1998(MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The first elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on June 25, 1998. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Northern Ireland Policing Board is the Police Authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. ...

Following the resignation of David Trimble as UUP leader in 2005 he stood as a candidate in the contest to succeed him and was narrowly beaten by Sir Reg Empey. The Right Honourable David Trimble (born on October 15, 1944 in Belfast) is a Northern Ireland politician, and former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), former First Minister of Northern Ireland. ... The 2005 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election began on May 6, 2005 when David Trimble resigned as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party following his partys poor performance in the 2005 general election when it lost all but one of its seats, including Trimbles own. ... Sir Reginald Empey (born October 26, 1947) is a Northern Ireland politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Belfast. ...