76-817: William McQuiston , also known as "Twister" , is an Ulster loyalist , who was a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). Leader of the organisation's A Company, Highfield, West Belfast Brigade , McQuiston spent more than 12 years in HM Prison Maze outside Lisburn for possession of weapons. He is now a community activist, often working with former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in West Belfast's troubled interface areas where adjoining loyalist and republican communities occasionally clash. McQuiston
152-630: A series of car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan , in the Republic. This killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest attack of the Troubles. The strike brought down the agreement and power-sharing government. Loyalists were involved in the major protest campaign against the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement . They saw it as a breach of sovereignty, because it gave the Republic an advisory role in some Northern Ireland affairs. The many street protests led to loyalist clashes with
228-672: A "treacherous bastard" for the attempted hit against him. Adair's supporters fled the Shankill a few days later (with Adair himself back in prison), and in a public show of loyalty to the new UDA regime, Courtney was filmed by television cameras defacing a mural Adair had ordered painted extolling the friendship between the UDA and the Loyalist Volunteer Force . This was part of a wider removal of murals, posters and graffiti in support of Adair and C Company. Courtney regained his influence within
304-652: A conditional loyalty to the British state so long as it defends their interests. They see themselves as loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to British governments and institutions, while Garret FitzGerald argued they are loyal to 'Ulster' over 'the Union'. A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, believing they cannot rely on British governments to support them (see Ulster nationalism ). The term 'loyalism'
380-608: A fearsome fighter and took a leading role in the battles with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) during the internecine loyalist feud between Adair's men and the UVF in 2000. On 19 August 2000 when the feud broke out fully during the "loyalist day of culture" held on the Shankill Road, Courtney was identified as one of three UDA gunmen who shot at UVF members who had barricaded themselves in the "Rex Bar". Three people were injured in
456-501: A fish shop below the LPA headquarters where it was believed senior UDA members, including Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) brigadier Johnny Adair , were having a meeting. The IRA's Intelligence was faulty and the meeting had been cancelled; instead of wiping out Adair and his comrades, 10 people were killed in the shop below, including two children, the shop's owner, and his daughter, low-rank UDA member Michael Morrison, and Thomas Begley , one of
532-461: A meeting of the local UDA. One at a time, the teenaged boys were brought into a room by two men wearing hoods. McQuiston faced three men seated at a table on which rested a Bible, gun and an Ulster Banner . After being asked his motive for wishing to join the UDA, he repeated an oath with one hand upon the Bible and the other the gun, and was duly sworn in as a member of the " Ulster Young Militants " (UYM),
608-522: A paramilitary campaign to force a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Loyalist paramilitaries attacked the Catholic community as alleged retaliation for IRA actions, and the vast majority of their victims were random Catholic civilians. During the Troubles there were incidents where British security forces colluded with loyalist paramilitaries , such as the attacks by the Glenanne group . Signed in 1973,
684-490: A possible retaliation. Courtney, along with Ihab Shoukri , was arrested and charged with the murder of McCullough a few days later. He had been discovered in Carrickfergus where he had gone into hiding. However Courtney was acquitted of the murder in 2006. In a Diplock court trial the judge ruled that there were flaws in the evidence provided by McCullough's family and an anonymous "witness A". Following his release,
760-568: A republican front. Loyalist opposition was led primarily by Ian Paisley , a Protestant fundamentalist preacher. They held counter-protests, attacked civil rights marches, and put pressure on moderate unionists. Loyalist militants carried out false flag bombings that were blamed on republicans and civil rights activists. This unrest led to the August 1969 riots . Irish nationalists/republicans clashed with both police and with loyalists, who burned hundreds of Catholic homes and businesses. The riots led to
836-454: A spate of burglaries on the Shankill. However Courtney was taken away from these habits by William "Winkie" Dodds , an old family friend of the Courtneys who was five years older than Mo. Initially recruiting just Courtney, before also adding Adair and others from Oldpark, Dodds trained the youngsters in weapons use to prepare them for active service. Courtney was soon sent out as a gunman and
SECTION 10
#1732854790786912-1018: A total membership of around 30,000, an all-time high. According to the Parades Commission, a total of 1,354 loyalist parades (not counting funerals) were held in Northern Ireland in 2007. The Police Service of Northern Ireland uses different statistics, and recorded a total of 2,863 parades in 2007. Of these, 2,270 (approximately 80%) were held by loyalist marching bands. [REDACTED] Category Does not include organisations focused on Unionism which do not mention British nationalism in their official makeup. Does not include organisations supportive of Unionism or Scottish independence without mentioning nationalism in their official makeup. Does not include organisations supportive of Unionism or Welsh independence without mentioning nationalism in their official makeup. Mo Courtney William Samuel "Mo" Courtney (born 8 July 1963)
988-587: Is a former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) activist. He was a leading figure in Johnny Adair 's C Company, one of the most active sections of the UDA, before later falling out with Adair and serving as West Belfast brigadier. Courtney was born in Belfast in July 1963. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Courtney was part in a gang of teenagers from Belfast 's Shankill Road and nearby districts who spent their days near
1064-590: Is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland (and formerly all of Ireland) within the United Kingdom, and oppose a united Ireland independent of the UK. Unlike other strands of unionism, loyalism has been described as an ethnic nationalism of Ulster Protestants and "a variation of British nationalism ". Loyalists are often said to have
1140-653: Is justified?" In Northern Ireland there are a number of Protestant fraternities and marching bands who hold yearly parades. They include the Orange Order and Apprentice Boys of Derry . These fraternities, often described as the "Loyal Orders", have long been associated with unionism/loyalism. Yearly events such as the Eleventh Night (11 July) bonfires and The Twelfth (12 July) parades are strongly associated with loyalism. A report published in 2013 estimated there were at least 640 marching bands in Northern Ireland with
1216-503: Is the daughter of Jackie Coulter (a close associate of Adair's who was killed in the 2002 feud with the UVF), had her house burnt down in an arson attack soon after Courtney's conviction. She publicly accused the UDA of being behind the attack. In December 2013 Courtney was again brought before the courts, to face charges of harassing Coulter in the aftermath of his previous conviction, as well as threatening to kill campaigner Raymond McCord , who
1292-576: Is usually associated with paramilitarism . Ulster loyalism emerged in the late 19th century, in reaction to the Irish Home Rule movement and the rise of Irish nationalism . Ireland had a Catholic majority who wanted self-government, but the province of Ulster had a Protestant and unionist majority, largely due to the Plantation of Ulster . Although not all unionists were Protestant, loyalists emphasised their British Protestant heritage. During
1368-573: The News Letter , a Belfast-based newspaper with a unionist editorial stance, sought the view of the Protestant community on a recent upsurge in loyalist paramilitary violence . The poll found that 42 per cent of callers responded "Yes" to the question: "Do you support loyalist paramilitary violence?" Over 50 per cent of callers chose "Yes" in response to the question "Do you believe there are any current circumstances in which loyalist paramilitary violence
1444-592: The Battle of the Boyne . This was particularly noted in the summer of 2003 when a relatively calm marching season followed at the interfaces of north and west Belfast as a result of co-operation between McQuiston and his Provisional IRA counterpart Sean "Spike" Murray. He is also a member of the UDA's political advisory group, the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG). Ulster loyalism Ulster loyalism
1520-603: The Belfast Telegraph that Bunting, McDonald and Birch, as well as the head of the Londonderry and North Antrim Brigade had met to discuss the feud as well as the schism with the West Belfast Brigade. According to the report they agreed that West Belfast Brigade members loyal to the wider UDA should establish a new command structure for the brigade which would then take the lead in ousting the three men they identified as
1596-560: The Buffs Club on Century Street in the nearby Oldpark district. This gang included Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair with whom Courtney formed a friendship. The gang as a group had joined C8, one of around eighteen teams of 30 to 60 men that made up C Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Ulster Freedom Fighters , over a period of several months in 1984. Courtney and Adair became closer as the 1980s went on and on 23 November 1985 they attended
SECTION 20
#17328547907861672-535: The Glenanne gang ), giving weapons and intelligence to loyalists, not taking action against them, and hindering official investigations. The modus operandi of loyalist paramilitaries involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. They used sub machine-guns , assault rifles , pistols , grenades (including homemade grenades), incendiary bombs , booby trap bombs and car bombs . Bomb attacks were usually made without warning. However, gun attacks were more common than bombings. In January 1994,
1748-637: The Greysteel massacre by the UDA and Loughinisland massacre by the UVF. The main loyalist paramilitary groups called a ceasefire in 1994, shortly after the Provisional IRA's ceasefire and beginning of the Northern Ireland peace process . This ceasefire came under strain during the Drumcree dispute of the mid-to-late 1990s. The Protestant Orange Order was blocked from marching its traditional route through
1824-618: The Home Rule Crisis (1912–14), loyalists founded the paramilitary Ulster Volunteers to prevent Ulster from becoming part of a self-governing Ireland. This was followed by the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and partition of Ireland : most of Ireland became an independent state, while most of Ulster remained within the UK as the self-governing territory of Northern Ireland. During partition, communal violence raged between loyalists and Irish nationalists in Belfast , and loyalists attacked
1900-565: The Irish Volunteers to ensure home rule was implemented. Home rule was postponed by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Both loyalists and nationalists fought in the war , with many Ulster Volunteers joining the 36th (Ulster) Division . By the end of the war, most Irish nationalists wanted full independence. After winning most Irish seats in the 1918 general election , Irish republicans declared an Irish Republic , leading to
1976-572: The Irish War of Independence between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British forces. Meanwhile, the Fourth Home Rule Bill passed through the British parliament in 1920. It would partition Ireland into two self-governing polities within the UK: a Protestant-majority Northern Ireland , and a Catholic-majority Southern Ireland . During 1920–22, in what became Northern Ireland, partition
2052-624: The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), attacked Catholics over a two-year period before calling a ceasefire. Loyalist representatives had helped negotiate the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and it was backed by the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party and UDA-linked Ulster Democratic Party . However, wider loyalist support for the Agreement was tenuous from the outset, and these parties received many fewer votes than
2128-799: The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), whom loyalists accused of enforcing the Agreement and betraying the Protestant community. This caused a rift between loyalists and the police, and there were numerous loyalist attacks on police officers' homes during the protests. From the late 1980s, there was a rise in loyalist paramilitary violence, partly due to anger over the Anglo-Irish Agreement. It also resulted from loyalist groups being re-armed with weapons smuggled from South Africa, overseen by British Intelligence agent Brian Nelson . From 1992 to 1994, loyalists carried out more killings than republicans. The deadliest attacks during this period were
2204-593: The Sunningdale Agreement sought to end the conflict by establishing power-sharing government between unionists and Irish nationalists, and ensuring greater co-operation with the Republic of Ireland. In protest, loyalists organised the Ulster Workers' Council strike in May 1974. It was enforced by loyalist paramilitaries and brought large parts of Northern Ireland to a standstill. During the strike, loyalists detonated
2280-644: The Third Home Rule Bill in 1912 sparked the Home Rule Crisis . Ulster unionists signed the Ulster Covenant , pledging to oppose Irish home rule by any means. They founded a large paramilitary force, the Ulster Volunteers , threatening to violently resist the authority of any Irish government over Ulster. The Ulster Volunteers smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition into Ulster from Imperial Germany . In response, Irish nationalists founded
2356-465: The deployment of British troops and are often seen as the beginning of the Troubles . The beginning of the Troubles saw a revival of loyalist paramilitaries , notably the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA). Their stated goals were to defend Protestant areas, to fight those they saw as "enemies of Ulster" (namely republicans), and thwart any step towards Irish unification . The Provisional Irish Republican Army waged
Billy McQuiston - Misplaced Pages Continue
2432-468: The "Ulster Says No" rally against the Anglo-Irish Agreement at Belfast City Hall together. According to Courtney the signing of the Agreement saw a surge of recruits to the UDA in general and C Company in particular, leading to an upswing in violent activity. Courtney had a reputation as something of a petty thief and even suffered a punishment beating from more senior members of the UDA for
2508-430: The 1973 Sunningdale Agreement and 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement . The paramilitaries called ceasefires in 1994 and their representatives were involved in negotiating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement . Since then, loyalists have been involved in protests against perceived threats to their cultural identity. Sections of the loyalist paramilitaries have attacked Catholics, taken part in loyalist feuds , and withdrawn support for
2584-448: The 1990s around Johnny Adair. Courtney was jailed in 1991 for robbery, theft and hijacking, and soon became a leading figure within the Maze prison . Along with Adair and Michael Stone , he met Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician and then Lord Mayor of Belfast , Rev Eric Smyth in the prison to discuss the possibility of a future prisoner release scheme. He gained a reputation as
2660-459: The 1990s he was the subject on an interview by British journalist Peter Taylor for his televised documentary and book Loyalists . During the interview he recounted his time as a gunman in the late 1980s when he was "on the go seven days a week" and "couldn't even afford a pint". In late 2002 when Adair and his ally John White were expelled from the UDA Courtney remained loyal to "Mad Dog" and
2736-493: The 1990s, he stated that he had not been overly perturbed by the attempt on his life. He offered the following explanation for his nonchalance It's a war. I'm a soldier in the UDA so I'm entitled to be shot at now and again. I think I was extremely lucky. On 23 October 1993, he was on the Shankill Road conducting business for the Loyalist Prisoners' Association (LPA). He had just gone into a pub when an IRA bomb went off in
2812-556: The 1990s, loyalist paramilitaries have been responsible for numerous racist attacks in loyalist areas. A 2006 report revealed that 90% of racist attacks in the previous two years occurred in mainly loyalist areas. In the 1990s, the main loyalist paramilitaries called ceasefires . Following this, small breakaway groups continued to wage violent campaigns for a number of years, and members of loyalist groups have continued to engage in sporadic violence. A telephone poll conducted in March 1993 by
2888-543: The Agreement, although their campaigns have not resumed. In Northern Ireland there is a tradition of loyalist Protestant marching bands , who hold numerous parades each year. The yearly Eleventh Night (11 July) bonfires and The Twelfth (12 July) parades are associated with loyalism. The term loyalist was first used in Irish politics in the 1790s to refer to Protestants who opposed Catholic Emancipation and Irish independence from Great Britain. Ulster loyalism emerged in
2964-625: The Catholic minority in retaliation for Irish republican activity. Northern Ireland's unionist governments discriminated against Catholics and Irish nationalists. Loyalists opposed the Catholic civil rights movement , accusing it of being a republican front. This unrest led to the Troubles (1969–98). During the conflict, loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA) often attacked Catholics, partly in retaliation for republican paramilitary actions. Loyalists undertook major protest campaigns against
3040-431: The Catholic part of Portadown . Catholic residents held mass protests against the yearly march, seeing it as triumphalist and supremacist , forcing police to halt the march. Loyalists saw this as an assault on Ulster Protestant traditions, and held violent protests throughout Northern Ireland. In Portadown, thousands of loyalists attacked lines of police and soldiers guarding the Catholic district. A new UVF splinter group,
3116-506: The Court of Appeal passed judgement that his acquittal had been unsound and ordered a retrial. Not long after this, in January 2007, Courtney was the victim of a savage attack on the Shankill Road by an old UVF rival. At the retrial Courtney was given an eight-year prison sentence after confessing to manslaughter . His version of events, which was accepted by the court, was that Courtney believed he
Billy McQuiston - Misplaced Pages Continue
3192-449: The IRA drew most of its support from the Catholic community. Such retaliation was seen as both collective punishment and an attempt to weaken the IRA's support; some loyalists argued that terrorising the Catholic community and inflicting a high death toll on it would eventually force the IRA to end its campaign. According to then Prime Minister Tony Blair , "The purpose of loyalist terrorism
3268-443: The Northern Ireland population was Roman Catholic, with 62% belonging to the three major Protestant denominations ( Presbyterian 31%, Church of Ireland 27%, Methodist 4%). The Unionist governments of Northern Ireland discriminated against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. A non-violent campaign to end discrimination began in the late 1960s. This civil rights campaign was opposed by loyalists, who accused it of being
3344-540: The Plantation of the province. Eastern Ulster was also more industrialised and dependent on trade with Britain than most other parts of Ireland. Although not all Unionists were Protestant or from Ulster, loyalism emphasised Ulster Protestant heritage. It began as a self-determination movement of Ulster Protestants who did not want to become part of a self-governing Ireland, believing it would be dominated by Catholic Irish nationalists. The British government's introduction of
3420-417: The Troubles, and were responsible for about 48% of all civilian deaths. Loyalist paramilitaries killed civilians at far higher rates than both Republican paramilitaries and British security forces. Soldiers from the locally-recruited Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) colluded with loyalist paramilitaries, such as taking part in loyalist attacks (e.g.
3496-417: The Troubles, and were the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). They, and most other loyalist paramilitaries, are classified as terrorist organisations . During the Troubles, their stated goals were to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) – and to defend Protestant loyalist areas. However,
3572-586: The UDA and replaced "Fat Jackie" Thompson as brigadier of the West Belfast UDA. As a result, it was he that Alan McCullough , who had fled to England with Adair, phoned in mid-2003 seeking permission to return to the Shankill having grown tired of life in exile in Bolton . McCullough promised Courtney to tell him the whereabouts of a huge haul of drugs stashed by C Company as well as the address of Gina Adair, whose house McCullough even shot at to prove his loyalty to
3648-603: The UDA drew up a 'doomsday plan', to be implemented should British troops be withdrawn from Northern Ireland. It called for ethnic cleansing and re-partition , with the goal of making Northern Ireland wholly Protestant. Some loyalist paramilitaries have had links with far-right and Neo-Nazi groups in Britain, including Combat 18 , the British National Socialist Movement , and the National Front. Since
3724-611: The bombers. McQuiston helped pull the dead and wounded from the devastated building. McQuiston remained a popular and influential figure in Highfield, a loyalist estate located on the Upper Shankill and near the republican Ballymurphy area. In 2003, the UDA's South Belfast brigadier Jackie McDonald contacted McQuiston shortly after the murder of South-East Antrim brigadier John "Grugg" Gregg to secure Twister's aid in avoiding too much bloodshed in an operation to remove Johnny Adair, who
3800-583: The early 20th century. In 1912, the Ulster Volunteers were formed to stop the British Government granting self-rule to Ireland, or to exclude Ulster from it. This led to the Home Rule Crisis , which was defused by the onset of World War I . Loyalist paramilitaries were again active in Ulster during the Irish War of Independence (1919–22), and more prominently during the Troubles (late 1960s–1998). The biggest and most active paramilitary groups existed during
3876-581: The gun attack with others wounded from a series of physical attacks by C Company members. Adair was returned to prison as the feud escalated and there he became close to the Shoukri brothers , leading figures in the North Belfast UDA. Courtney, along with other Adair cohorts such as Gary "Smickers" Smyth , teamed up the Shoukris whilst Adair was imprisoned and ran a lucrative drug dealing operation together. In
SECTION 50
#17328547907863952-407: The junior wing of the UDA. He became the leader of the UDA's A Company, Highfield, West Belfast Brigade. Described by journalist David Lister as "stocky, and impish-faced", the five feet four McQuiston had a reputation among the UDA as a "messer", which is Belfast slang for a practical joker. He was first sent to prison on the evidence of a supergrass. He spent 31 days on hunger strike in 1982. He
4028-484: The killing of popular UDA man John Gregg , the leadership of the UDA under Jackie McDonald offered members of the UDA loyal to Adair the chance to defect back to the mainstream UDA whilst putting the word around that they intended to launch an all-out assault on Adair's Boundary Way stronghold on the lower Shankill. Realising that Adair's time was up, Courtney prepared to defect by visiting the mother of Johnny Adair's wife Gina Crossan and threatening her unless she told him
4104-473: The late 19th century, in response to the Irish Home Rule movement and the rise of Irish nationalism . At the time, all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom . Although the island had a Catholic majority who wanted self-government, the northern province of Ulster had a Protestant majority who wanted to maintain a close union with Britain , a political tradition called Unionism. This was largely due to
4180-658: The main unionist parties: the pro-Agreement UUP and anti-Agreement DUP. Since the Agreement, loyalist paramilitaries have been involved in riots, feuds between loyalist groups , organised crime, vigilantism such as punishment shootings , and racist attacks. Some UDA and LVF brigades broke the ceasefire and attacked Catholics under the name Red Hand Defenders , but the paramilitary campaigns did not resume. The 2001 Holy Cross protests drew world-wide condemnation as loyalists were shown hurling abuse and missiles, some explosive, others containing excrement, at very young Catholic schoolchildren and parents. Loyalist residents picketed
4256-532: The mainstream UDA. Mo Courtney was amongst the leading figures to take this opportunity. Since leaving the UDA, McQuiston has worked as a community activist for the Springfield Intercommunity Development Project. He works alongside former IRA members in troubled interface areas near the west Belfast Peace Line where loyalists and republicans sometimes clash, especially during the annual 12 July Orange Order parades which commemorate
4332-476: The movement in terms of killing republicans as the leaders were too happy to sit back and become rich from extortion and racketeering. Courtney was soon involved in conspiracies to overthrow the UDA leadership. These however came to nothing as the fallout from the Stevens Inquiries saw the existing leadership swept aside. For his part, Courtney would go on to become part of the new leadership that emerged in
4408-510: The new leadership. McCullough was given permission to return although when he did so he was killed by the UDA at Mallusk near Templepatrick in a double cross on 28 May 2003. McCullough's murder caused widespread revulsion on the lower Shankill mainly on account of the treacherous nature of the killing. This resulted in Courtney, who still feared for his position within the UDA because of his long associations with Adair, going into hiding as he feared
4484-481: The offices of the Lower Shankill Community Association. According to court reports Coulter had gone to the offices to speak to Courtney's associates about the death of her cousin, a drug-user, a week earlier. During Coulter's visit she had become embroiled in an argument with an unnamed man when Courtney intervened and head-butted her. Courtney is due to be sentenced in January 2014. Coulter, who
4560-405: The rest of the UDA. Courtney was widely reported as one of the leading figures in the conspiracy and in early 2014 UDA leaders approached Matt Kincaid , offering him the chance to re-integrate the West Belfast Brigade with the wider UDA if he expelled Courtney and Jim Spence. Kincaid rejected the proposal however, opting instead to support Courtney and Spence. In September 2014 it was reported in
4636-514: The school in protest at alleged sectarianism from Catholics in the area. Many other loyalist protests and riots have been sparked by restrictions on Orange marches, such as the 2005 Whiterock riots . The widespread loyalist flag protests and riots of 2012–13 followed Belfast City Council voting to limit the flying of the Union Flag from council buildings. Loyalists saw it as an "attack on their cultural identity". The Loyalist Communities Council
SECTION 60
#17328547907864712-454: The supporters of its leader John Bunting and a dissident tendency based in Tigers Bay who sought to oust Bunting and install Robert Molyneaux as a replacement. From the start Bunting, as well as fellow brigadiers Jackie McDonald and Jimmy Birch , stated that elements within the West Belfast Brigade were closely involved with the dissidents and as a result the West Belfast Brigade split from
4788-484: The vast majority of their victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random in sectarian attacks. Whenever they claimed responsibility for attacks, loyalists usually claimed that those targeted were IRA members or were helping the IRA. M.L.R. Smith wrote that "From the outset, the loyalist paramilitaries tended to regard all Catholics as potential rebels". Other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as "retaliation" for IRA actions, since
4864-427: The whereabouts of Adair's arms cache. Although Adair's mother-in-law was unable to give him the information he sought, Courtney was able to take weapons and money from a nearby C Company arms dump. He subsequently took these to the "Heather Social Club", the headquarters of those on the Shankill loyal to the mainstream UDA, where he affirmed his split from Adair and his new loyalty to McDonald. Courtney denounced Adair as
4940-681: Was accompanied by violence both in defence of and against partition. Belfast saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence , mainly between Protestant loyalist and Catholic nationalist civilians. Loyalists attacked the Catholic minority in reprisal for IRA actions. Thousands of Catholics and "disloyal" Protestants were driven from their jobs, particularly in the shipyards, and there were mass burnings of Catholic homes and businesses in Lisburn and Banbridge . More than 500 were killed in Northern Ireland during partition and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them Catholics. In 1926, about 33–34% of
5016-403: Was allegedly active in killing by around 1987. During the 1980s he headed an Active Service Unit (ASU) of the UDA in West Belfast. He was questioned in regards to the 1989 murder of Pat Finucane in 2002. During the late 1980s, Courtney was part of a movement within the UDA that became frustrated with the directions being taken by the UDA leadership. He argued that too little was being done by
5092-427: Was almost 15 at the time the bomb exploded on a Saturday afternoon in the heart of the Shankill, which was crowded with shoppers. The bomb killed two adult men and two babies. McQuiston was with a friend and they were on their way to the city centre; the boys rushed to the scene and saw the bodies of the infants as they were brought out of the rubble, wrapped in sheets. The following evening he and several friends attended
5168-471: Was born and raised in west Belfast's staunchly loyalist and Protestant Shankill Road area. Billy McQuiston joined the junior wing of the UDA immediately after the 1971 Balmoral Furniture Company bombing , with his decision also influenced by his father having been UDA commander in the area at the time. He recalls: "The area I came from, the family that I came from and the activity that was going on in that area, I don’t think I really had any other choice." He
5244-418: Was held responsible for Gregg's killing. McQuiston helped to ensure that A and B companies of the West Belfast brigade, covering the Highfield and Woodvale areas, agreed not to oppose McDonald's operations in the lower Shankill whilst McQuiston was also put in charge of a scheme at the Shankill's Heather Street Social Club where members of the lower Shankill C Company could attend to break from Adair and return to
5320-541: Was launched in 2015 with the backing of the UVF and UDA. It seeks to reverse what it sees as political and economic neglect of working-class loyalists since the Good Friday Agreement. In 2021, it withdrew its support for the Agreement, due to the creation of a trade border between Northern Ireland and Britain as a result of Brexit . The fall-out over this partly fuelled loyalist rioting that Spring . Loyalist paramilitary and vigilante groups have been active since
5396-474: Was named as one of the two gunmen to kill Finucane in an affidavit filed in a Belfast court by Metropolitan Police officer Detective Chief Inspector Graham Taylor, who was at the time heading the investigation into the killing. Courtney was released from prison and returned to his home in the Glencairn area to the north of the Shankill. However, in 2013 Courtney was convicted of the assault of Tracey Coulter at
5472-635: Was released in the mid-1980s and it was during this period that he became acquainted with the British agent Brian Nelson , who had infiltrated the UDA. McQuiston was soon sent back to the Maze Prison after being caught in Portadown with masks, hoods, and weapons. Upon his release in 1991, he survived an assassination attempt by the IRA who had broken down his door with a sledgehammer and tried to shoot him with an AK-47. He evaded his attackers by escaping through his loft. In an interview with journalist Peter Taylor in
5548-482: Was the main guard at Adair's Shankill Road house, known colloquially as the "Big Brother House" after the setting of the then popular TV series . However Adair had grown suspicious of the new relationship between Courtney and the Shoukris, whom Adair had come to see as rivals, and, believing that they were plotting against him, sent a hit team to kill Courtney. He managed to avoid the attack after being warned about it by his C Company colleague Donald Hodgen. Following
5624-505: Was to be involved only in a knee-capping of McCullough but that another person present had actually done the killing. Following his imprisonment, Barbara McCullough, the deceased's mother, claimed that Courtney had been a police agent and informer. Courtney has continued to be linked to the Finucane murder and in 2007, whilst serving his sentence for his involvement in McCullough's death, he
5700-728: Was to retaliate, to dominate or to clear out Catholics." An editorial in the UVF's official magazine Combat explained in 1993: ...large areas of the Province that were predominately Protestant are now predominately Catholic. The reaction to this has been that the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association have intensified their campaign in order, not just to match the Catholic murders of Protestants, but to stop further enroachment into their areas. Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for 29% of all deaths in
5776-492: Was with Courtney during the alleged incident. Courtney was given a suspended prison sentence of four months and ordered to pay Coulter £500 for the incident. He was subsequently also found guilty of threatening to kill McCord, although a similar charge relating to Coulter was dismissed. Beginning in 2013 and continuing into the following year, a loyalist feud broke out within the UDA North Belfast Brigade between
#785214