[151][152] Former MI5 agent Willie Carlin said: There were safe houses in Glasgow and Stirling. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. The new Brigade Staff's aim was to carry out attacks against known republicans rather than Catholic civilians. In February, it began to target critics of militant loyalism the homes of MPs Austin Currie, Sheelagh Murnaghan, Richard Ferguson and Anne Dickson were attacked with improvised bombs. [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. [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." 2023 BBC. The following March they were sentenced to a total of 700 years . [89] The Independent Monitoring Commission stated Moffett was killed by UVF members acting with the sanction of the leadership. It would attack the Republic again in May 1974, during the two-week Ulster Workers' Council strike. The feud between the UVF and the LVF began as an internal feud but quickly changed when Billy Wright established the LVF as a separate organisation. Bunting had been visiting the home of one of his internal critics at the time of the incident. However, the year leading up to the loyalist ceasefire, which took place shortly after the Provisional IRA ceasefire, saw some of the worst sectarian killings carried out by loyalists during the Troubles. [122] Members were trained in bomb-making, and the organisation developed home-made explosives. 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. Spence told Radio Ulster that the UVF had been "engaged in murder, attempted murder of civilians, attempted murder of police officers. legolas1892 All were widely blamed on the IRA, and British soldiers were sent to guard installations. The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. 1774 N University Pkwy. @caolan-mclaughlin-844507501 this is a UDA song ya muppet why u put f the uvf know yer history kid. The chip shop has since been closed down. 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. [60] The decommissioning was completed five weeks before a government amnesty deadline beyond which any weapons found could have been used as evidence for a prosecution. The internal clean-up of the UVF's South East Antrim unit came after its leaders promised to morph into an old boys organisation during a meeting with senior government officials. To Adair's indignation even the "A" and "B" Companies of his West Belfast Brigade of the UDA declined to get involved in C Company's war with the UVF. Matters had come to a head when Wright's unit killed a Catholic taxi-driver during the Drumcree standoff. Some of them left much of Belfast without power and water. Uniquely among loyalist paramilitaries it uses an Irish language motto. Both pubs were wrecked and a number of people were wounded. Although the two organisations had worked together under the umbrella of the Combined Loyalist Military Command, the body crumbled in 1997 and tensions simmered between West Belfast UDA Brigadier[10] Johnny Adair, who had grown weary of the Northern Ireland peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, and the UVF leadership. 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. Andre Khalef Shoukri was born in 1977, the son of a Coptic Christian Egyptian father and a Northern Irish mother. That year, a string of tit-for-tat pub bombings began in Belfast. '[164], The UVF's satellite organisation, the Red Hand Commando, was described by the IMC in 2004 as "heavily involved" in drug dealing. Tarleton State University. Explosives for the north were mostly shipped in small boats which set out at night from the Scottish coast and made contact at sea with vessels from Ulster ports." He had been expelled by the UDA in 2002 and later left NI following a loyalist feud, after his Shankill Road power base crumbled. [55] This was a general strike in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement, which meant sharing political power with Irish nationalists and the Republic having more involvement in Northern Ireland. The UVF was formed with the express intention of executing known IRA men. The UVF killed four men in Belfast and trouble ended only when the LVF announced that it was disbanding in October of that year. 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. [158], The UVF have been implicated in drug dealing in areas from where they draw their support. This was in retaliation for attacks on Loyalist homes the previous weekend and after a young girl was hit in the face with a brick by Republicans. [60] The hawks had been ousted by those in the UVF who were unhappy with their political and military strategy. In Newtownabbey and nearby Carrickfergus, the motivation is criminal. Referring to its activity in the early and mid-1970s, journalist Ed Moloney described no-warning pub bombings as the UVF's "forte". [29], A second internal feud arose in 2002 when Johnny Adair and former politician John White were expelled from the UDA. 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. Former PSNI superintendent Ken Pennington said he. UVF bosses in the Rathcoole estate in. [156] On 10 February 1976, following the sudden uptick of violence against Catholic civilians by loyalist militants, Irish cardinal William Conway and nine other Catholic bishops met with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and his cabinet, asking them as to where the loyalist militants had acquired guns, to which Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees replied "Canada". The UVF also shot up the Ulster Democratic Party headquarters on the Middle Shankill. Security sources have previously said that with more than 2,000. [26] The group called itself the "Ulster Volunteer Force" (UVF), after the Ulster Volunteers of the early 20th century, although in the words of a member of the previous organisation "the present para-military organisation has no connection with the U.V.F. This development came soon after the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast had stood down Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, on 2 August 1996, for the killing of a Catholic taxi driver near Lurgan during Drumcree disturbances. [34] The north Belfast rebels subsequently named Robert Molyneaux, a convicted killer and former friend of Bunting's closest ally John Howcroft, as their preferred choice for Brigadier. 2017date: South East Antrim Brigade feud, The UDA divides its membership into six vaguely geographic areas which it labels "brigades" with the six commanders styled "Brigadiers". [46] On 17 May, two UVF units from the Belfast and Mid-Ulster brigades detonated four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan. The Shoukri brothers are a pair of Northern Irish loyalist paramilitaries. The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. Formed in 1965,[7] it first emerged in 1966. They also stated that they would retain their weaponry but put them beyond reach of normal volunteers. [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. (Thesis 2017). [21] In February 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission reported that this feud had come to an end. The no-warning car bombings had been carried out by units from the Belfast and Mid-Ulster brigades. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during The Troubles. [50], In 1974, hardliners staged a coup and took over the Brigade Staff. [37] In August 2014 as Bunting drove along Duncairn Gardens, a street separating Tiger's Bay from the republican New Lodge area his car was damaged by a pipe bomb thrown at it. [31] He died of his wounds on 11 June. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. "[145], Protestants in Canada also supported the loyalist paramilitaries in the conflict. 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. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. It killed hundreds of people during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and often claimed responsibility for sectarian murders using the cover name the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Security sources have previously said that with more than 2,000. Violence broke out between UVF men who had been standing outside the Rex watching the procession and the group involved in unfurling the contentious flag, which had been discreetly concealed near the tail end of the parade. A controlled explosion was carried out and the bomb was later declared a hoax. In 2018, the then PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said members of the UDA and UVF were still involved in organised crime. [1] [2] He was alleged to have taken over the north Belfast Ulster Defence Association (UDA) leadership. After Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume revealed he had been informed of the aborted attacks, UDA chairman Andy Tyrie conceded that had been the UDA's intention but denied the group had planned shoot one hostage a day until the two missing UDA men were released. An article published by the newspaper fingered Wright as a drug lord and sectarian murderer. [23], However, with Tyrie confirmed in overall control of the UDA, Harding Smith initially remained silent until, in 1974, he declared that the West Belfast brigade of the movement was splitting from the mainstream UDA on the pretext of a visit to Libya organised by Tyrie in a failed attempt to procure arms from Colonel Qadaffi. [citation needed] The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005. US. [136] The UVF has also been involved in the extortion of legitimate businesses, although to a lesser extent than the UDA,[143] and was described in the fifth IMC report as being involved in organised crime. 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. [35] There were bombings on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 April and 26 April. Tensions had been further stoked by a graffiti campaign against Bunting's leadership on the York Road, in which expelled members of the North Belfast Brigade, who had come under the wing of their counterparts in the west, called for Bunting's removal as brigadier. 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. Hanna and Jackson have both been implicated by journalist Joe Tiernan and RUC Special Patrol Group (SPG) officer John Weir as having led one of the units that bombed Dublin. Thousands of families, mostly Catholics, were forced to flee their homes and refugee camps were set up in the Republic of Ireland. 'Impossible to get out' of paramilitaries, Loyalists on 1969: 'Better to die on your feet', Russia launches pre-dawn missile attack on Ukraine, Chaos at port as thousands rush to leave Sudan. In Belfast, loyalists responded by attacking nationalist districts. [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. The Ulster Volunteer Force murdered more than 500 people during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. [28], Tyrie was forced to resign in March 1988 and the new men, most of whom had been trained up by McMichael, turned on some of the veterans whom Tyrie had protected. [103], On 23 March 2019, eleven alleged UVF members were arrested during a total of 14 searches conducted in Belfast, Newtownards and Comber and the suspects, aged between 22 and 48, were taken into police custody for questioning. [30], On 27 May, Spence sent four UVF members to kill IRA volunteer Leo Martin, who lived in Belfast. He has spoken to Spotlight about talks he was involved in with the UVF leadership, earlier this year. Loyalist paramilitary groups 'have 12,500 members', Russia launches pre-dawn missile attack on Ukraine, Chaos at port as thousands rush to leave Sudan. The UVF's leadership is based in Belfast and known as the Brigade Staff. [48] Jackson was allegedly the hitman who shot Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan. Read about our approach to external linking. Posted 2 years ago 2 years ago. 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. 5 for $40 Sale 5 for $40: Snacks and Drinks Special Orders for Any Occasion Scores of houses and businesses were burnt out, most of them owned by Catholics. The LVF members swore revenge and on 10 January 2000 they took it by shooting Jameson dead on the outskirts of Portadown. The incumbent Chief of Staff, is alleged to be John "Bunter" Graham, referred to by Martin Dillon as "Mr. [34], On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. This was a large, three-day riot between Irish nationalists and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). 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. In May 2014 Bunting was attacked in Tiger's Bay by a group of opponents. All shut down except for a lone UVF-affiliated pub on the Shankill Road. [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. . Latest News. [156][157] Between 1979 and 1986, Canadian supporters supplied the UVF/UDA with 100 machine guns and thousands of rifles, grenade launchers, magnum revolvers, and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition. 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. [22][23][24] Some members have also been found responsible for orchestrating a series of racist attacks. UDA men patrolling the area had seen the pubs lights on and ordered Shaw and his friends to close the place down and go home. In November 2007, the UDA issued a statement saying "the war is over". Following the attack both Bunting and Howcroft were arrested on suspicion of involvement. [84], In 2008, a loyalist splinter group calling itself the "Real UVF" emerged briefly to make threats against Sinn Fin in County Fermanagh. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. [167], There were also 66 UVF/RHC members and four former members killed in the conflict.[169]. [121], Like the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the UVF's modus operandi involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. Two of those later convicted (James McDowell and Thomas Crozier) were also serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), a part-time, locally recruited regiment of the British Army. There are an estimated 12,500 members of loyalist paramilitary groups in NI, a leaked security assessment has shown. 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. The Ulster Defence Association, formed in 1971, had tens of thousands of members at its peak. [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. Suite 30. Read about our approach to external linking. The vast majority (more than two-thirds)[13][14] of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. [133] Information regarding the role of women in the UVF is limited. Both men were placed under death sentences. Malcolm Sutton's Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland, part of the Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), states that the UVF and RHC was responsible for at least 485 killings during the Troubles, and lists a further 256 loyalist killings that have not yet been attributed to a particular group. (2006) "Neglected Intelligence: How the British Government Failed to Quell the Ulster Volunteer Force, 19121914. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. During the brawl Bunting was knocked unconscious and had his mobile phone stolen. [45] These were all subordinate to the Brigade Staff. Birgen, Julia. [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. [26] The shootings led to Spence's being sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum sentence of twenty years. In October, UVF and UPV member Thomas McDowell was killed by the bomb he was planting at Ballyshannon power station. Two members of the group survived the attack and later testified against those responsible. [26][27] A new generation of leaders emerged at this time and decided that the woes facing the UDA, including a lack of arms and perceived poor leadership by ageing brigadiers, were being caused by the continuing leadership of Andy Tyrie. [89] Eleven months later, a man was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of the UVF's alleged second-in-command Harry Stockman, described by the Belfast Telegraph as a "senior Loyalist figure". Last month, the Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) warned paramilitary groups still pose a "clear and present danger" to Northern Ireland. 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. The South East Antrim UVF is being linked to a 100,000 cash and drugs haul seized in Carrickfergus. The South-east Antrim brigadier, who was not named in reports, stated that any brigade members attending Gilmore's funeral would be expelled. The feuds have frequently involved problems between and within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) as well as, later, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). 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. Throughout Northern Ireland's Troubles a number of loyalist paramilitary groups were active and were responsible for hundreds of murders. This era also saw a more widespread targeting on the UVF's part of IRA and Sinn Fin members, beginning with the killing of senior IRA member Larry Marley[67] and a failed attempt on the life of a leading republican which left three Catholic civilians dead. Security sources say that with more than 2,000 members, the South East Antrim UDA is one of Northern Ireland's largest paramilitary gangs. Since the ceasefire, the UVF has been involved in rioting, drug dealing, organised crime, loan-sharking and prostitution. [135], Prior to and after the onset of the Troubles the UVF carried out armed robberies. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, the shooting dead of five Catholics at a Belfast bookmakers, According to an MI5/police intelligence assessment in 2021, asking to be taken off the list of proscribed organisations, said groups like them should "simply go away", MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, Banana artwork in Seoul museum eaten by visitor, Trevelyan relative 'would consider' famine payment, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, Four dead after suspected pigeon racer dispute, Ding becomes China's first male world chess champion, Indian 'killer' elephant relocated to tiger reserve. This was followed by another pub fight in North Belfast in March and this time the UVF members returned armed and shot and killed both Goatley and Fulton, who had been involved in the earlier fight. The UDA, the largest of the loyalist paramilitary groups, has seen a number of internal struggles within its history. [1] The bad blood originated from an incident in the Ulster Workers' Council strike of May 1974 when the two groups were co-operating in support of the Ulster Workers' Council. [1] Contents 1 Early life 2 Ulster Defence Association 3 Assassination attempt on Gerry Adams 4 Brigadier On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/Territorial Army depot in Lurgan. She died of her injuries on 27 June. The biggest of these was the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest terrorist attack of the conflict. "[9][10][11] Furthermore, Loyalists are linked to over 90% of race crimes in Northern Ireland.[12]. [44], The following year, 1972, was the most violent of the Troubles. Ontario is to Ulster Protestants what Boston is to Irish Catholics." Read about our approach to external linking. By the end of the day nearly all those with UVF associations had been driven from the Lower Shankill. [59] This was endorsed by Gusty Spence, who issued a statement asking all UVF volunteers to support the new regime. [57] Several months prior to these killings, Mid-Ulster Brigadier Billy Hanna was shot dead outside his Lurgan home on 27 July 1975, allegedly by his successor, Robin Jackson. "[102], In June 2017, Gary Haggarty, former UVF commander for north Belfast and south-east Antrim, pleaded guilty to 200 charges, including five murders. "Overstating and Misjudging the Prospects of Civil War: The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers in the Home Rule Crisis, 19121914." [156][157] These shipments were considered enough for the UVF/UDA to wage its campaign, most of which were used to kill its victims. [126][127] The UVF did not return to regular bombings until the early 1990s when it obtained a quantity of the mining explosive Powergel. There are various credible[citation needed] allegations that elements of the British security forces colluded with the UVF in the bombings. [59] The UVF was behind the deaths of seven civilians in a series of attacks on 2 October. A man released by police following a South East Antrim UDA investigation has been targeted by loyalist paramilitaries. It comprises high-ranking officers under a Chief of Staff or Brigadier-General. 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". [69] Republicans responded to the attacks by assassinating senior UVF members John Bingham, William "Frenchie" Marchant and Trevor King[70] as well as Leslie Dallas, whose purported UVF membership was disputed both by his family and the UVF. [16] Jackie McDonald replaced Kerr, becoming, for the second time, leader of the South Belfast Brigade. Fire engulfed the house next door, badly burning the elderly Protestant widow who lived there. It was involved in a feud with the UVF in the early 2000s. The gang comprised, in addition to the UVF, rogue elements of the UDR, RUC, SPG, and the regular Army, all acting allegedly under the direction of the British Intelligence Corps and/or RUC Special Branch. They shot John Scullion, a Catholic civilian, as he walked home. The UVF shot dead the first police officer to be murdered during the Troubles. [150], Scotland was a source of funding and aid, supplying explosives and guns. These included the Miami Showband killings of 31 July 1975 when three members of the popular showband were killed, having been stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint outside Newry in County Down. 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.
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