 After attending a Sinn Féin conference in November 2011 in Newry he issued an apology for "unionist failings" in the past.Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR) leader and prominent unionist activist Willie Frazer stated that people in the unionist community were "appalled" by McCallister's remarks.In March 2012 he performed an emergency delivery of a baby on his wife when they were unable to reach the hospital on time.