Major Robert Alan McFarland, MLA (born 9 August 1949 in Plumbridge, County Tyrone) was an Independent Unionist politician and MLA for UK Parliament constituency in Northern Ireland. He lost his Assembly seat in the 2011 election. He attended Rockport School 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. He is also a member of Mensa.[citation needed]