On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/Territorial Army depot in Lurgan. Thousands of families, mostly Catholics, were forced to flee their homes and refugee camps were set up in the Republic of Ireland. An article published by the newspaper fingered Wright as a drug lord and sectarian murderer. Beyond this the UVF has largely avoided violent internal strife, with only two killings that can be described as being part of an internal feud taking place on Belfast's Shankill Road in late November 1975, with Archibald Waller and Noel Shaw being the two men killed. [155] The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee noted in its report that "in 1992 it was estimated that Scottish support for the UDA and UVF might amount to 100,000 a year. [55] Though, for its own purposes, it assumed the same name it has nothing else in common. The LVF became the first paramilitary group to decommission any weapons late in 1998. Armed men hijacked a van on the nearby Shankill Road and forced the driver to take a device to a church on the Crumlin Road. The first British soldier to be killed by the Provisional IRA died in February 1971. 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. But vicious fighting ensued, with a roughly three hundred-strong C Company (the name given to the Lower Shankill unit of the UDA's West Belfast Brigade, which contained Adair's most loyal men) mob attacking the patrons of the Rex, initially with hand weapons such as bats and iron bars, before they shot up the bar as its patrons barricaded themselves inside. Abilene Christian University. A controlled explosion was carried out and the bomb was later declared a hoax. 2022 Southern Utah Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com Loyalist paramilitary groups have their origins in Northern Ireland's Troubles, The UDA 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), The UVF was involved in many atrocities during the Troubles, Billy Wright was the founder of the LVF and was shot dead in the Maze prison in 1997, Between 1966 and 1999 the UVF and the Red Hand Commando killed more than 500 people, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. 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. It is understood a mob of up to 40 of Simpson's supporters attempted to oust the current leadership. Who are the UVF? - BBC News House of Commons: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Cusack & McDonald, p.3435, 105, 199, 205, The Lost Lives, David McKittrick, Page 1475, Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent, Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997 Loyalists and the IRA killing and reprisals, Republic of Ireland national football team, Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, "Report drawn up on behalf of the Political Affairs Committee on the situation in Northern Ireland", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfGe4WO8yok, "More Polish homes targeted by racist thugs in fresh bout of 'ethnic cleansing' by UVF", "UVF 'behind racist attacks in south and east Belfast': Loyalist paramilitary group behind attacks says PSNI", "Loyalists linked to 90 per cent of race crime", "Sutton Index of Deaths: Organisation responsible for the death", "Sutton Index of Deaths: Crosstabulations", "Inside the UVF: Money, murders and mayhem - the loyalist gang's secrets unveiled", "UVF mural on Shankill Road being investigated by police", 'UVF behind all the drug dealing in East Belfast, says PSNI', "UVF 'behind racist attacks in south and east Belfast'", Chronology of Key Events in Irish History, 1800 to 1967, "Irish tighten security after Dublin bombing", "Call for probe of British link to 1974 bombs", "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's". The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. 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. [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. According to an MI5/police intelligence assessment in 2021, the South East Antrim UDA"has access to arms and is heavily involved in drugs supply, community coercion, intimidation and other criminality". . It was formed in 1966 and adopted the names and symbols of the original UVF,. ", This page was last edited on 23 April 2023, at 12:08. He has spoken to Spotlight about talks he was involved in with the UVF leadership, earlier this year. legolas1892 The UVF was also clashing with the UDA in the summer of 2000. [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. Carrickfergus. 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. [53] Two men were subsequently charged with the murder. Along with the UDA, it helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads, intimidating workers, and shutting any businesses that opened. Following the attack both Bunting and Howcroft were arrested on suspicion of involvement. A Northern Perspective on Drug Gangs in Ireland The East Belfast UVF is one of the major crime-dealing loyalist paramilitary organisations currently in operation and is among four loyalist factions being targeted by the Paramilitary Crime Task Force - the others being the South East Antrim UDA, the West Belfast UDA and North Antrim UDA. The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. Anderson, Malcolm & Bort, Eberhard (1999). In 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission confirmed the feud was over, but said the LVF's involvement with organised crime and drugs continued. [13] Violence also spread to North Belfast, where members of the UVF's Mount Vernon unit shot and killed a UDA member, David Greer, in the Tiger's Bay area, sparking a series of killings in that part of the city. 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. [131] Later, in September 1972, Gusty Spence said in an interview that the organisation had a strength of 1,500. The UVF very clearly have involvement in drug dealing, all forms of gangsterism, serious assaults, intimidation of the community. He planned to have it unfurled as the procession passed the Rex Bar, a UVF haunt, in order to antagonise the UVF and try and drag it into conflict with as much of the UDA as possible. Loyalist paramilitaries: Who are the groups in Northern Ireland? This gang was led by Lenny Murphy. 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. [51][52] Gilmore died the following day, with the incident described as part of an ongoing feud in the town. [49], The brigade formed part of the Glenanne gang, a loose alliance of loyalist assassins which the Pat Finucane Centre has linked to 87 killings in the 1970s. St Patrick's Day . SoundCloud . VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. 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. [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. The murder of Peter Ward, the third victim, brought the UVF and its then leader Gusty Spence to public attention. Ulster Defence Association | Military Wiki | Fandom [12] Later that night, C Company gunmen shot up the Rex again, this time from a passing car. Oct 07 // football. Read about our approach to external linking. Colin Wallace, part of the intelligence apparatus of the British Army, asserted in an internal memo in 1975 that MI6 and RUC Special Branch formed a pseudo-gang within the UVF, designed to engage in violence and to subvert the tentative moves of some in the UVF towards the political process. W County Londonderry, podzia w tych wyborach bya 56,2% Unionistw / 43,8% Nacjonalistyczna. From that time until the early 1990s the Mid-Ulster Brigade was led by Robin "the Jackal" Jackson, who then passed the leadership to Billy Wright. "We know that has been the situation for decades. 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. He had been a prominent UVF member and was thought to have ordered or participated in about 20 killings. Spence was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Southern Utah Thunderbirds News, Scores, Status, Schedule - College In 1972, the UVF's imprisoned leader Gusty Spence was at liberty for four months following a staged kidnapping by UVF volunteers. Western Illinois University. [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. John Gregg (UDA) | Military Wiki | Fandom She died of her injuries on 27 June. The report added that individuals, some current and some former members, in the group have, without the orders from above, continued to "localised recruitment", and although some continued to try and acquire weapons, including a senior member, most forms of crime had fallen, including shootings and assaults. 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). There are an estimated 12,500 members of loyalist paramilitary groups in NI, a leaked security assessment has shown. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. "[9][10][11] Furthermore, Loyalists are linked to over 90% of race crimes in Northern Ireland.[12]. See pricing and listing details of South Rim real estate for sale. [156][157] These shipments were considered enough for the UVF/UDA to wage its campaign, most of which were used to kill its victims. Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks; it used the covername Ulster Freedom Fighters ( UFF) so that the UDA would not be outlawed. [88], The UVF was blamed for the shotgun killing of expelled RHC member Bobby Moffett on the Shankill Road on the afternoon of 28 May 2010, in front of passers-by including children. In 1971, these ramped up their activity against the British Army and RUC. 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. Adair, however, convinced the LVF that the latter killing was the work of one of his rivals in the UDA, Jim Gray, who the LVF then unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate.[20]. '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. 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. Earlier this week, the West Belfast UDA were reported to have made threats against two journalists working for the Sunday World newspaper in NI. [126][127] The UVF did not return to regular bombings until the early 1990s when it obtained a quantity of the mining explosive Powergel. [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. [80] This was to take effect from midnight. In 1972, five Toronto businessmen shipped weapons in grain container ships out of Halifax, bound for ports in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland which were destined for loyalist militants. The newspaper also claimed the South-East Antrim UVF had moved their weaponry to avoid decommissioning. During this time he restructured the organisation into brigades, battalions, companies, platoons and sections. 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. [63][64][110] Graham has held the position since he assumed office in 1976. Twenty tons of ammonium nitrate was also stolen from the Belfast docks.[45]. It issued a statement vowing to "remove republican elements from loyalist areas" and stop them "reaping financial benefit therefrom". It later said it had stood down the UFF and all UFF weapons were being put "beyond use", but that did not mean they would be decommissioned. 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.
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