McConnell, Robert William Brian (1922–2000), barrister, politician and Baron McConnell , was born in Belfast, the only son of Alfred E. McConnell, former registrar of the king's bench division (probate and matrimonial). He was educated at Sedbergh School and QUB, where he was a member of the Literary and Scientific Society and later helped to form with others the QUB Young Unionist Association. He graduated BA (1945) and LLB (1947) and was called to the bar of Northern Ireland in 1948.
In December 1951, following the death of Sir John Milne Barbour (qv), unionist MP for Antrim South in the NI parliament, McConnell was nominated and won the seat without a contest. He was following in a family tradition of involvement in politics: his grandfather, Sir Robert J. McConnell (1853–1927), had been lord mayor of Belfast, and his uncle, Sir Joseph McConnell, MP for Antrim at Westminster (1929–42). In 1962–3 he served as deputy chairman of the ways and means committee at Stormont before being appointed parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Health and Local Government (1963–4). This was followed by promotion to the cabinet as minister of home affairs (1964–6).
In many ways McConnell was a prime example of the changes that Capt. Terence O'Neill (qv), who had become prime minster in 1963 after the retirement of Lord Brookeborough (qv), attempted to introduce in order to modernise and reform unionism and Northern Ireland society. He was relatively young, intelligent, and widely seen as a minister with a promising career in front of him, supporting O'Neill in his campaign. The problem for unionism and McConnell, however, was that Northern Ireland was about to enter a period of instability that was to have major consequences for both. To begin with, as minister of home affairs he had to deal with riots and disturbances on the Falls Road (October 1964). Their immediate cause was the flying of a tricolour and starry plough from the offices in Divis St. of the republican candidate for the Belfast West constituency in the 1964 Westminster general election. Under pressure from the unionist candidate, James Kilfedder (qv), who demanded the flags be removed, and with elements of militant unionism under the leadership of the Rev. Ian Paisley (qv) threatening to march on the offices to confiscate them, McConnell was forced to act. While banning the proposed march by Paisley and his supporters, he ordered the RUC to seize the flags. Although this was done, a tricolour was soon replaced in the office window, and when it was removed rioting broke out on a scale not seen in Belfast since 1935. The next challenge for McConnell came with government concerns over proposed celebrations in Northern Ireland to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Easter rising (April 1966). As part of a cabinet security committee he explored the possible implications of these, as there were fears both of a renewed IRA campaign and of a violent response from loyalist militants, leading to serious sectarian confrontation. Much consideration was therefore given as to how clashes could be avoided, particularly in Belfast, where the largest event was planned. Stringent security measures were introduced; on the whole these were successful and the events passed off with no major disturbances.
A few weeks later, however, McConnell was less fortunate; he had to face the controversy produced by disturbances outside the annual meeting of the presbyterian general assembly in Belfast. Opposed to O'Neill's political programme of reform and rapprochement, Ian Paisley had by now sought to give leadership to this opposition and combined it with religious overtones, also voicing concerns over the growing ecumenical movement. This culminated in a march by his supporters to picket the general assembly in order to publicise their opposition to these developments. Delegates and visitors, including the governor, Lord Erskine, and his wife, were jostled and verbally abused as they entered the meeting. It was left to McConnell, under direct instruction from O'Neill, to go before the gathering and apologise for what had happened.
For the first time opposition to O'Neill within the unionist party began to emerge, and among the criticisms were those aimed at McConnell's performance as minister of home affairs. In response O'Neill was forced to act, and in a cabinet reshuffle in October 1966 McConnell was demoted to minister of state in the Department of Development (1966–7). Although his stature recovered slightly in 1967 when he was made leader of the NI house of commons (1967–8), in reality his political career was now at an end, and in August 1968 he chose to resign from parliament to accept the position of a national insurance commissioner and president of the industrial court (1968–81).
After his retirement from both these roles he became involved in the European Movement in Northern Ireland, becoming its vice-chairman (1987–92) and president (1992–5). At this juncture, having been out of mainstream politics for a considerable period, he made an unexpected return in 1995 when the then Ulster unionist leader, James Molyneaux (qv), nominated him for a life peerage and a seat in the house of lords as Baron McConnell.
He died suddenly in London on 25 October 2000 and was survived by his wife, Sylvia Elizabeth Joyce McConnell (née Agnew), two sons, and one daughter.