'Dregs of loyalism' behind barrage of bricks | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [citation needed], On 26 March 2022, the UVF was linked to a hoax bomb alert at a bar in Warrenpoint, County Down. Last month, the Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) warned paramilitary groups still pose a "clear and present danger" to Northern Ireland. There are certainly plenty of UVF members around there but the last few times there has been drama at the roundabout it has been South East Antrim lads ordered out by Thier commanders (most of the lads had drug debts or something similar that could be used against them so they were pretty much threatened to attend). [136][137] This activity has been described as its preferred source of funds in the early 1970s,[138] and it continued into the 2000s, with the UVF in County Londonderry being active. There have been threats this year to journalists and politicians following stories about the South East Antrim UDA's . It is believed about 7,500 members are in the UVF and 5,000 in the UDA, The assessment says the IRA "still has access to weapons", The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. But it also says the organisation still has access to weapons. That support the UDA and UVF members were giving involved shutting down their own social clubs and pubs due to complaints from loyalist wives of the striking men. Although Wright had been expelled from the UVF, threatened with execution and an order to leave Northern Ireland, which he defied, the feud was largely contained during his life and the two major eruptions came after his death. Both men were placed under death sentences. Wright was apparently enraged by the nickname and made numerous threats to O'Hagan and Campbell. Abilene Christian University. Birgen, Julia. Blair attempted to shore up his position by recruiting former allies of Bunting to his side, having reportedly been only sixth choice for the role with several more prominent figures turning down the job as a "poisoned chalice". [4] With antagonism growing, another man was killed in a drunken brawl on 21 February 1975, this time the UDA's Robert Thompson. Bloodshed was averted after a leading member of a breakaway faction left NI and others faced arrest [32], In 2013 it was reported in the Belfast Telegraph that the UDA West Belfast Brigade had become so associated with criminality and racketeering that the three other Belfast-based brigadiers, Jackie McDonald (South Belfast), Jimmy Birch (East Belfast) and John Bunting (North Belfast), no longer felt able to deal with the western leadership. The UVF's declared goals were to combat Irish republicanism particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. legolas1892 On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/Territorial Army depot in Lurgan. [39] In December, the UVF detonated a car bomb near the Garda central detective bureau and telephone exchange headquarters in Dublin. The UVF was also clashing with the UDA in the summer of 2000. [58] These men had overthrown the "hawkish" officers, who had called for a "big push", which meant an increase in violent attacks, earlier in the same month. "[22], In November 2013, after a series of shootings and acts of intimidation by the UVF, Police Federation Chairman Terry Spence declared that the UVF ceasefire was no longer active. The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. [26] Spence later wrote "At the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig, he's your last resort". [31], On 26 June, the group shot dead a Catholic civilian and wounded two others as they left a pub on Malvern Street, Belfast. In the brawl that developed Shaw was fatally wounded. Father Of The Protestant Reformation - Extramural Activity The SUU Thunderbirds schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV. Spence claimed that he was approached in 1965 by two men, one of whom was an Ulster Unionist Party MP, who told him that the UVF was to be re-established and that he was to have responsibility for the Shankill. Austin Peay State University. It has also been embroiled in feuds with other paramilitary organisations including the LVF and the UDA. She died of her injuries on 27 June. Our source added: "Everyone knows 'A' and 'B' were involved, and the. A former high-profile leader of the UFF is Johnny Adair, who was released from prison in 2005 after serving two thirds of a 16-year sentence for directing terrorism on behalf of the organisation. [135], Prior to and after the onset of the Troubles the UVF carried out armed robberies. [31], The other five brigadiers in the UDA leadership decided to expel Andre Shoukri, his brother Ihab, and another associate in June 2006. All shut down except for a lone UVF-affiliated pub on the Shankill Road. Also shot up was the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) headquarters which faced the pub. In October, UVF and UPV member Thomas McDowell was killed by the bomb he was planting at Ballyshannon power station. UVF brothers to turn 'supergrass' in 10-year-old murder case The Sunday World's offices were also firebombed. Adair's former ally Mo Courtney, who had returned to the mainstream UDA immediately before the attack, was appointed the new West Belfast brigadier, ending the feud. [43] This came to a climax on 4 December, when the UVF bombed McGurk's Bar, a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast. There are various credible[citation needed] allegations that elements of the British security forces colluded with the UVF in the bombings. 2023 season schedule, scores, stats, and highlights. [25], South Belfast Brigadier John McMichael was killed by the Provisional IRA in December 1987 but it was later admitted that UDA member James Pratt Craig, a rival of McMichael's within the movement, had played a role in planning the murder. A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey On 6 January 2010, the UDA announced that it had put its weapons "verifiably beyond use". He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the Maze Prison. FedEx Office Print & Ship Center. With a few exceptions, such as Mid-Ulster brigadier Billy Hanna (a native of Lurgan), the Brigade Staff members have been from the Shankill Road or the neighbouring Woodvale area to the west. Ulster Volunteer Force - Wikipedia The reason for this was with the men not working and funds being tight, the wives saw what little money they did have being spent at the pubs and social clubs controlled by UDA/UVF; therefore, the wives put pressure on the leaders of both groups to shut them down for the duration of the strike, and after consultation they agreed. Captain Robert Nairac of 14 Intelligence Company was alleged to have been involved in many acts of UVF violence. [54] A political wing was formed in June 1974, the Volunteer Political Party led by UVF Chief of Staff Ken Gibson, which contested West Belfast in the October 1974 general election, polling 2,690 votes (6%). [162] It was around this time that Sunday World journalists Martin O'Hagan and Jim Campbell coined the term "rat pack" for the UVF's murderous mid-Ulster unit and, unable to identify Wright by name for legal reasons, they christened him "King Rat." The LVF was founded by Billy Wright when he, along with the Portadown unit of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade, was stood down by the UVF leadership on 2 August 1996 for breaking the ceasefire[16] This origin underscored frequent battles between the two movements. In another incident the County Londonderry town of Coleraine saw tumult in the form of an attempted expulsion of UVF members by UDA members, which was successfully resisted by the UVF. Adair's time as leader came to an end on 6 February 2003 when south Belfast brigadier Jackie McDonald led a force of around 100 men onto the Shankill to oust Adair, who promptly fled to England. As a result of these attacks on 30 October 2005 the LVF announced that its units had been ordered to cease their activity and that it was disbanding. The Ulster Volunteer Force murdered more than 500 people during the Troubles. In 1971, these ramped up their activity against the British Army and RUC. At that time, the Stormont Executive almost collapsed but was saved by the assessment which said the Provisional IRA was wholly committed to the political process. The arms are thought to have consisted of: The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. Read about our approach to external linking. Set up by the UK and Irish governments, the Commission provides an annual assessment of progress towards ending paramilitarism, and has called for a process to begin to disband the groups. It was formed in 1966 and adopted the names and symbols of the original UVF, the movement founded in 1912 by Sir Edward Carson to fight against Irish home rule. Recently it has emerged from the Police Ombudsman that senior North Belfast UVF member and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch informant Mark Haddock has been involved in drug dealing. [85], In the twentieth IMC report, the group was said to be continuing to put its weapons "beyond reach", (in the group's own words) to downsize, and reduce the criminality of the group. The Ulster Defence Association, formed in 1971, had tens of thousands of members at its peak. On 7 May 1966, loyalists petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub in the loyalist Shankill area of Belfast. News. This page is not available in other languages. On 18 June 1994, UVF members machine-gunned a pub in the Loughinisland massacre in County Down, on the basis that its customers were watching the Republic of Ireland national football team playing in the World Cup on television and were therefore assumed to be Catholics. The UDA's leadership were persuaded to call off their plan by a Protestant clergyman, who convinced them that the IRA were not involved. The UDA's Johnny Adair supported the LVF and used the feud to stoke up the troubles that eventually flared in his feud with the UVF later that year. [73], According to journalist and author Ed Moloney, the UVF campaign in Mid-Ulster in this period "indisputably shattered Republican morale", and put the leadership of the republican movement under intense pressure to "do something",[74] although this has been disputed by others.[who?]. [134] Another estimates that over a 30-year period women accounted for, at most, just 2% of UVF membership. ", "UVF orders removal of Catholic families from Carrickfergus housing estate in '21st century form of ethnic cleansing'. [11] Amidst an atmosphere of increasing tension in the area, Adair decided to host a "Loyalist Day of Culture" on the Shankill on Saturday 19 August 2000, which saw thousands of UDA members from across Northern Ireland descend on his Lower Shankill stronghold, where a series of newly commissioned murals were officially unveiled on a day which also featured a huge UDA/UFF parade and armed UDA/UFF show of strength. Later that year, the then PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said groups like them should "simply go away". They managed to procure a large cache of weapons and ammunition including L1A1 Self-Loading Rifles, Browning pistols, and Sterling submachine guns. Formed in 1965,[7] it first emerged in 1966. [47] John Boreland was shot dead soon after this. Although they had agreed to make compromise candidate Andy Tyrie the leader, each man considered himself the true leader. "[145], Protestants in Canada also supported the loyalist paramilitaries in the conflict. Throughout Northern Ireland's Troubles a number of loyalist paramilitary groups were active and were responsible for hundreds of murders. Security sources have previously said that with more than 2,000. C Company then went on the rampage in the Lower Shankill, attacking the houses of known UVF members and their families, including the home of veteran UVF leader Gusty Spence, and evicting the inhabitants at gunpoint as they wrecked and stole property and set fire to homes. On a November night in 1974, a UVF man named Joe Shaw visited the pub for a drink. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? [15] During the conflict, its deadliest attack in Northern Ireland was the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing, which killed fifteen civilians. Adair by this time had forged close links with the dissident LVF, a breakaway group to which the UVF was ardently opposed. While there, he was "ribbed by the regulars about having allowed his local to be closed". Spotlight is repeated on BBC Two NI on Wednesday and will be available on the BBC iPlayer. [90][91] Fifty-year-old Stockman was stabbed more than 10 times in a supermarket in Belfast; the attack was believed to have been linked to the Moffett killing. It began carrying out gun attacks to kill random Catholic civilians and using car bombs to attack Catholic-owned pubs. UVF demands UDA Rathcoole chief Gary Fisher punishes thug after home After the Troubles began, an Orange-Canadian loyalist organization known as the Canadian Ulster Loyalist Association (CULA) sprang to life to provide the 'besieged' Protestants with the resources to arm themselves. The Irish parliament's Joint Committee on Justice called the bombings an act of "international terrorism" involving the British security forces. Wednesday's house attacks in Newtownards by the South East Antrim UDA centre on a personal dispute and ended up with bricks and broken glass narrowly missing a baby sleeping in a pram. The weapons were Palestine Liberation Organisation arms captured by the Israelis and sold to Armscor, the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of a 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware. [163] Loyalists in Portadown such as Bobby Jameson have stated that the LVF (the Mid-Ulster Brigade that broke away from the main UVF - and led by Billy Wright) was not a 'loyalist organisation but a drugs organisation causing misery in Portadown. The following March they were sentenced to a total of 700 years . It sometimes claimed killings using the cover name the Protestant Action Force. [40] Along with another associate they were charged with attempting to murder Borland and Andre Shoukri and were remanded in custody. Six of the victims were abducted at random, then beaten and tortured before having their throats slashed. [59] The UVF was behind the deaths of seven civilians in a series of attacks on 2 October. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. [21] In February 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission reported that this feud had come to an end. 2023 BBC. [92][93], On the night of 20 June 2011, riots involving 500 people erupted in the Short Strand area of East Belfast. The Shoukri brothers are a pair of Northern Irish loyalist paramilitaries. Both groups have been active in Carrickfergus in recent weeks, with the UVF sending 25 masked men onto the Glenfield estate to intimidate a family following a dispute between teenage girls. The trip had been roundly criticised by the Unionist establishment and raised cries that the UDA was adopting socialism, and so Harding Smith used it re-ignite his attempts to take charge. [34] Unionist support for O'Neill waned, and on 28 April he resigned as Prime Minister. The ferry [between Scotland and Northern Ireland] was pivotal in getting arms into the north and anything like checkpoints, or armed police and Army in Scotland would have b******d that all up.[153] An Irish government memo written by David Donoghue stated: "The commonest contribution of Scots UDA and UVF is to send gelignite. "[102], In June 2017, Gary Haggarty, former UVF commander for north Belfast and south-east Antrim, pleaded guilty to 200 charges, including five murders. Security sources have previously said that with more than 2,000 members, it is one of Northern Ireland's largest paramilitary gangs. [96], In July 2011, a UVF flag flying in Limavady was deemed legal by the PSNI after the police had received complaints about the flag from nationalist politicians. However, the UVF spurned the government efforts and continued killing. In 2017, it applied to the Home Office asking to be taken off the list of proscribed organisations. [108], On 25 March 2022, the UVF was blamed[by whom?] The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out further attacks during this same period. Read about our approach to external linking. The UVF agreed to a ceasefire in October 1994. On the basis of that, we as a federation have called for the respecification of the UVF [stating that its ceasefire is over]. [90][91], On 2526 October 2010, the UVF was involved in rioting and disturbances in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey with UVF gunmen seen on the streets at the time. Unable to find their target, the men drove around the Falls district in search of a Catholic. It has also been embroiled in feuds with other paramilitary organisations. From its beginnings the UDA was wracked by internal problems and in 1972, the movement's first full year of existence, three members, Ingram Beckett, John Brown and Ernest Elliott were killed by other UDA members. The UVF was involved in various atrocities during the Troubles, including the bombing of McGurk's Bar in Belfast, the sectarian killings of the Shankill Butchers, and the Loughinisland massacre. [15] Whenever it claimed responsibility for its attacks, the UVF usually claimed that those targeted were IRA members or were giving help to the IRA. A vicious attack on a leading UVF man by a hated South East Antrim UDA figure has caused serious tension between the rival loyalist groups. Tarleton State University. Find out the latest on your favorite NCAAF teams on CBSSports.com. [31] He died of his wounds on 11 June. Andre Khalef Shoukri was born in 1977, the son of a Coptic Christian Egyptian father and a Northern Irish mother. Loyalist feud: Crime boss Adrian Price orders 50 gang members to The UDA, the largest of the loyalist paramilitary groups, has seen a number of internal struggles within its history. That recommendation is now backed by former Secretary of State Lord Mandelson. The organisation was later involved in various atrocities including the bombing of McGurk's Bar in Belfast, the sectarian killings of the Shankill Butchers and the Loughinisland massacre. It would continue these tactics for the rest of its campaign. It was alleged that Colin Armstrong had links to both drugs and loyalist terrorists. The Red Hand Commando, along with the UDA and UVF, is represented on the Loyalist Communities Council, which was formed in 2015. Although O'Neill was a unionist, they saw him as being too 'soft' on the civil rights movement and too friendly with the Republic of Ireland. [7], The UDA retaliated in East Belfast by attempting to kill UVF leader Ken Gibson, who in turn ordered the UDA's headquarters in the east of the city to be blown up, although this attack also failed. Some of them left much of Belfast without power and water. Alex Kerr (loyalist) - Wikipedia . Both pubs were wrecked and a number of people were wounded. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. The UVF was formed with the express intention of executing known IRA men. [121], Like the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the UVF's modus operandi involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. [51][52] Gilmore died the following day, with the incident described as part of an ongoing feud in the town. According to the media, the UVF did hand over a significant haul, including half a tonne of explosives, detonators, rocket-propelled grenades, heavy and light machineguns, handguns and shotguns, more than 300 pipe bombs, and thousands of . An hour later Adair's unit burned down the PUP's offices close to Agnes Street, the de facto border between the UVF-dominated Middle and Upper Shankill and the UDA-dominated Lower Shankill. In October 1975, after staging a counter-coup, the Brigade Staff acquired a new leadership of moderates with Tommy West serving as the Chief of Staff. However, whilst the statement was signed by McDonald and Birch, no representative of the West Belfast Brigade had added their signature. [68], The UVF also attacked republican paramilitaries and political activists. The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was founded in 1972 in Lurgan by Billy Hanna, a sergeant in the UDR and a member of the Brigade Staff, who served as the brigade's commander, until he was shot dead in July 1975. [41] It also continued its attacks in the Republic of Ireland, bombing the Dublin-Belfast railway line, an electricity substation, a radio mast, and Irish nationalist monuments. [98] Much of the UVF's orchestration was carried out by its senior members in East Belfast, where many attacks on the PSNI and on residents of the Short Strand enclave took place. Shoukri brothers - Wikipedia "[28] It was led by Gusty Spence, formerly a soldier in the British Army. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. Matters had come to a head when Wright's unit killed a Catholic taxi-driver during the Drumcree standoff. [106], In April 2021, riots erupted across Loyalist communities in Northern Ireland.[relevant? [100][101], In October 2013, the policing board announced that the UVF was still heavily involved in gangsterism despite its ceasefire. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. [58] This killing, however, was not part of a feud but instead carried out as a form of internal discipline from within the Mid-Ulster Brigade. Though, for its own purposes, it assumed the same name it has nothing else in common. [86], In June 2009 the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in front of independent witnesses as a formal statement of decommissioning was read by Dawn Purvis and Billy Hutchinson. [34], On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. [65], In the 1980s, the UVF was greatly reduced by a series of police informers. Is climate change killing Australian wine? However, and unknown to the UDA beyond its "C Company", Adair had an LVF flag delivered to the Lower Shankill on the morning of the celebrations. "BBC News Man held over East Belfast police murder bid", "Surge in Belfast violence blamed on resurgent UVF", "The Beast from East Belfast could put an end to flags violence right now but he won't", "East Belfast UVF: Mission Accomplished? [46] In August 2016 the new leader was reported as having fled to Scotland due to the threat of the Mount Vernon UVF. [158], The UVF have been implicated in drug dealing in areas from where they draw their support. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups during and after the ethno-political conflict known as the Troubles broke out in 1969. Loyalist paramilitary groups 'have 12,500 members', Russia launches pre-dawn missile attack on Ukraine, Chaos at port as thousands rush to leave Sudan. On 17 February 1979, the UVF carried out its only major attack in Scotland, when its members bombed two pubs in Glasgow frequented by Irish-Scots Catholics. Loyalist paramilitary groups in NI 'have 12,500 members' In 2018, the then PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said members of the UDA and UVF were still involved in organised crime. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. [13] According to the book Lost Lives (2006 edition), it was responsible for 569 killings. Spence was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Roy Green was killed in retaliation. [8] The group also continue to carry out racist and sectarian attacks against blacks and Eastern Europeans in Northern Ireland with ACC Will Kerr of the Northern Irish Police Service stating the group had contributed to a 70% rise in hate crime and is quoted as stating "It has a deeply unpleasant taste of a bit of ethnic cleansing. That year, a string of tit-for-tat pub bombings began in Belfast. "They are holding local communities to ransom. [43] This followed the rejection of earlier overtures to West Belfast brigadier Matt Kincaid as he opted to back Spence and Courtney. [17][18][19][20][21] The other main loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), which had a much larger membership. Colin Horner was fatally shot in front of his three-year-old son at a busy shopping centre. It was formed in 1966 and adopted the names and symbols of the original UVF,. A controlled explosion was carried out and the bomb was later declared a hoax. The Ulster Volunteer Force murdered more than 500 people during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. South Rim, UT Real Estate & Homes for Sale - Realtor.com Leading South East Antrim UDA man 'thrown off Belfast's Cave Hill by In November 2007, the UDA issued a statement saying "the war is over". In response to events in Derry, nationalists held protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent. The attacks on the PSNI were encouraged by both the South East Antrim UDA and UVF who warned teens involved not to riot in loyalist estates, and to instead take the trouble onto the . [97], During the Belfast City Hall flag protests of 201213, senior UVF members were confirmed to have actively been involved in orchestrating violence and rioting against the PSNI and the Alliance Party throughout Northern Ireland during the weeks of disorder. The vast majority (more than two-thirds)[13][14] of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. . Simmering tensions boiled over in a December 1999 incident involving LVF members and UVF Mid-Ulster brigadier Richard Jameson and his men at the Portadown F.C. of which I have been speaking. During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed. In July 2005 the feud came to a conclusion as the UVF made a final move against its rival organisation. UVF orders removal of Catholic families from Carrickfergus housing [111][112] This uniform, based on those of the original UVF, was introduced in the early 1970s. [26] In April 1966, Ulster loyalists led by Ian Paisley, a Protestant fundamentalist preacher, founded the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC). Provo, UT 84604. Notorious attacks by the UFF included the shooting dead of five Catholics at a Belfast bookmakers in 1992 and the Greysteel massacre the following year. The UDA remained a legal organisation until it was banned in August 1992. we solemnly warn the authorities to make no more speeches of appeasement. [156][157] These shipments were considered enough for the UVF/UDA to wage its campaign, most of which were used to kill its victims. [130] Members were disciplined after they carried out an unsanctioned theft of 8 million of paintings from an estate in Co Wicklow in April 1974. . Many of the paramilitaries are now involved in criminality and drug-dealing, with tensions between and within groups resulting in serious disorder at times as well as shootings and other attacks.
