94-675: UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan , County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna . The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the brigade were Robin Jackson , known as "The Jackal", and Billy Wright . The Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out many attacks, mainly in Northern Ireland, especially in
188-616: A flag or banner . This right was exercised for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. From 1953 until 1972 (when the government last sat), the flag was used officially by the Government of Northern Ireland and also as a de facto civic flag for Northern Ireland . In 1973, the Government and Parliament of Northern Ireland were abolished by the Parliament of the United Kingdom under
282-630: 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
376-652: 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'
470-519: A country road outside Tandragee , County Armagh after one of them had made disparaging comments about Jameson's killing earlier on at a drinking party. Neither of the boys was a member of the LVF or any other loyalist paramilitary organisation. The brigade was a centre of opposition to leadership plans to decommission weapons in 2007, leading to sixty members being stood down by the Belfast leadership. Subsequently,
564-614: A ditch by the roadside. As one of the gunmen took down their names and addresses, two members of the brigade, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, planted a bomb under the driver's seat of the bus. Martin Dillon suggested that the plan was for the device to explode across the border, wiping out the band as well as making it appear as if the Miami Showband was smuggling bombs on behalf of the Provisional IRA . The bomb, however, went off just as
658-670: A documentary about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre . The narrator named Billy Hanna and Robin Jackson as two of the Dublin bomb team. The two men were also alleged to have had links with the Intelligence Corps and Captain Robert Nairac . Weir stated in his affidavit that Robin Jackson was an RUC Special Branch agent and therefore "untouchable". Former British soldier and psychological warfare operative Major Colin Wallace confirmed this, stating in
752-563: A drug dealer who told him that he paid Wright protection money. Loyalists in Portadown such as Bobby Jameson stated that the LVF was not a "loyalist organisation but a drugs organisation causing misery in Portadown". The Brigade was also prominent in the Drumcree conflict . According to the Northern Ireland security forces , Wright directed up to 20 sectarian killings, although he was never convicted in connection with any of them. Wright, along with
846-685: A group in the area calling itself the "Real UVF" issued a series of threats against Sinn Féin members in 2008 and against dissident republicans in 2010. What connection, if any, exists between the Mid-Ulster Brigade and the Real UVF is not known. The Mid-Ulster UVF was blamed for a series of attacks and disturbances in Portadown during the Orange Order 's " marching season " in July 2011. [REDACTED] Category Ulster loyalism Ulster loyalism
940-698: A letter he had written to a friend in 1975 that he had been told the previous year that Jackson worked as an agent for the RUC's Special Branch. Journalist Joe Tiernan claimed in his book The Dublin Bombings and the Murder Triangle that Hanna was an Intelligence Corps agent and that middle-ranking officers of the corps based at the British Army Headquarters in Lisburn were frequent visitors to his Houston Park home in
1034-522: 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,
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#17328547985631128-492: A position outside Boyle's Bar, the gunmen waited for a car to pull up containing republicans and opened fire on them as they exited the vehicle. The UVF men succeeded in killing IRA volunteers John Quinn, Dwayne O'Donnell and Malcolm Nugent before entering the bar and opening fire. One more man, Thomas Armstrong, was killed in the pub but he was not a member of the IRA, while their intended target, Brian Arthurs, survived by crouching behind
1222-568: 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
1316-959: 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. Ulster banner The Ulster Banner , also unofficially known as
1410-533: 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
1504-599: 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
1598-576: 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
1692-573: 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
1786-535: 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,
1880-679: 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
1974-667: 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
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#17328547985632068-688: The Intelligence Corps and the RUC Special Branch . It was allegedly directed by the Intelligence Corps and the RUC Special Branch. Its name derived from a farm in Glenanne, County Armagh which was owned by RUC reservist James Mitchell . It was Hanna who first approached Mitchell and obtained permission to use the farm as a UVF arms dump and bomb-making site. The UVF was a proscribed paramilitary organisation since its formation in 1966; however
2162-565: 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
2256-572: 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
2350-690: 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
2444-789: The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 . Since the Government of Northern Ireland was abolished in 1973, the flag (and variations thereof) has continued to be used by unionists . In 2004, Belfast City Council commissioned a study on the flying of flags that noted that the Ulster Banner continued to be flown, alongside the Union flag , by three unionist-controlled local authorities in Northern Ireland: Ards Borough Council , Carrickfergus Borough Council , and Castlereagh Borough Council . The Ulster Banner
2538-477: The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army as the defenders of choice in the eyes of local unionists to the degree they did elsewhere. The UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade was part of the Glenanne gang , a collaboration between loyalist paramilitaries, the police, and members of the security forces. This group carried out a series of terrorist attacks and murders targeting Catholic civilians, mainly in
2632-732: 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
2726-774: The Shankill Road in Belfast . Hanna served as a sergeant and permanent staff instructor (PSI) in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), and was a decorated war hero who won the Military Medal for gallantry in the Korean War when he served in the Royal Ulster Rifles . Hanna started the UVF brigade in his home town of Lurgan in 1972 with the full endorsement of imprisoned UVF leader Gusty Spence . Spence had spent four months out of prison in 1972 when his false kidnapping
2820-593: 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
2914-644: 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
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-460: The Ulster Flag or Flag of Northern Ireland , is a heraldic banner taken from the former coat of arms of Northern Ireland , consisting of a red cross on a white field, upon which is a crowned six-pointed star with a red hand in the centre. It was the flag of the former Government of Northern Ireland and common flag of Northern Ireland from 1953 until that government was abolished in 1973 with
3102-553: The Ulster flag , the Northern Ireland flag , the ( old ) Stormont flag , or the Red Hand of Ulster flag . Loyalists often use " Ulster " as another name for Northern Ireland, and Stormont was the seat of the former Government of Northern Ireland . In 1924, the Government of Northern Ireland was granted its own coat of arms by Royal Warrant and had the right to display these arms on
3196-529: 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
3290-401: The 1970s. The brigade has been active since 1972. The Portadown unit along with the brigade's leader Billy Wright was officially stood down on 2 August 1996 by the UVF's Brigade Staff (its Belfast leadership) following the brigade's killing of a Catholic taxi driver during a UVF ceasefire. The brigade, however, continued to function in the mid-Ulster area. In 2000–2001 the Mid-Ulster Brigade
3384-430: 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
3478-556: 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
3572-543: 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
3666-449: The Belfast leadership. He publicly denounced the Brigade staff as "communists", and went on to form the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), taking a significant number of Mid-Ulster Brigade members with him including his deputy Mark "Swinger" Fulton . Authors such as Martin Dillon argue that the Mid-Ulster Brigade had long established a reputation as a being a 'rogue' unit within the UVF that
3760-614: The Brigade in front of her children in August 1994 in Creggan, County Tyrone . In July 1997, another teenage girl, Bernadette Martin, was shot in the head four times as she slept next to her Protestant boyfriend, Gordon Greene, in Aghalee . The killing was thought to have been ordered by Wright after having been expelled from the UVF. Wright was killed on 27 December 1997 inside the Maze Prison , where he
3854-625: 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
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-431: 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,
4042-468: The IRA "was never broken" by the actions of the UVF, and instead managed to successfully engage both the police and military as well as the paramilitaries. Although senior UVF figures consistently claimed he was not involved in the Cappagh attack, the media blamed the killings on the leader of the Portadown unit, Billy Wright , known as "King Rat". Wright became a figure widely covered in the press. However, it
4136-403: 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
4230-631: The Mid-Ulster UVF. Hanna was eventually expelled from the UDR on account of his UVF activity. The Mid-Ulster UVF had always operated as a semi-autonomous, self-contained group maintaining its distance from the Belfast leadership, even if Hanna did have a seat on the Brigade Staff. Journalist Brendan O'Brien stated that the UVF had derived its greatest strength as well as the organisation's most ruthless members from its Mid-Ulster Brigade. Author Don Mullan described
4324-530: The Monaghan attack. Nobody was ever charged in relation to any of the four bombings. RUC Special Patrol Group officer, John Weir , who worked with the Mid-Ulster UVF, stated in an affidavit that Hanna and Jackson had led one of the Dublin bombing teams. Weir's statement was published in the 2003 Barron Report, which was the findings of a judicial inquiry into the 1974 bombings commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron In 1993 Yorkshire Television aired
4418-450: The Mourneville estate in Lurgan. They supplied him with weapons and petrol for his car. Hanna also regularly invited British soldiers to his house for "cups of tea". On 27 July 1975, Billy Hanna was shot dead outside his home in Lurgan, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who assumed command of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. Four days later, under the auspices of Robin Jackson, the Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out an attack against The Miami Showband , one of
4512-443: 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
4606-487: 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
4700-404: The Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, was officially stood down by the UVF's Brigade Staff on 2 August 1996. This came about after members of the group had killed Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick outside Lurgan during the Drumcree disturbances, while the UVF were on ceasefire. Wright, who was expelled from the UVF, ordered to leave Northern Ireland, and threatened with execution, defied
4794-440: The South Armagh area, but it also extended its operational reach into the Republic of Ireland . Two of the most notorious attacks in the history of the Troubles were carried out by the Mid-Ulster Brigade: the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the Miami Showband killings in 1975. Members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were part of the Glenanne gang which the Pat Finucane Centre has since linked to at least 87 lethal attacks in
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#17328547985634888-444: The South Armagh area, in the 1970s. Composed of members of the UVF, UDR , RUC , Ulster Defence Association (UDA), and covert agents, the Pat Finucane Centre attributes at least 87 violent attacks to this . According to Lethal Allies, permutations of the group killed about 120 people – almost all of whom were Catholic civilians with no links to Irish republican paramilitaries. The Cassel Report investigated 76 killings attributed to
4982-417: 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.
5076-417: 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,
5170-419: 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
5264-407: The UVF Mid-Ulster brigade included the killing of high-ranking Provisional IRA member John Francis Green in 1975, and the double shooting of the Reavey and O'Dowd families in 1976. Robin Jackson was arrested in October 1979 for possession of weapons, ammunition and hoods. On 20 January 1981, he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment after being convicted of possession of guns and ammunition. He
5358-458: The UVF" and denounced Wright for breaking the UVF's code. The feud re-ignited in 2000 and 2001 when the Mid-Ulster Brigade effectively eliminated the LVF. It was during this feud that brigadier Richard Jameson , leader of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, was shot dead by the LVF outside his home near Portadown on 10 January 2000. A month later, members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade beat and stabbed Protestant teenagers, Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine to death on
5452-413: The addition of a crown to represent the monarchy of the United Kingdom . Rather than a shield, the Red Hand is inside a six-pointed star, representing the six counties that make up Northern Ireland . It is blazoned : "Argent a cross gules, overall on a six-pointed star of the field ensigned by an Imperial crown proper a Dexter hand couped at the wrist of the second" . The flag is also sometimes called
5546-461: The attack, Michael Devlin, a civilian and Liam Ryan, an important figure in the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade . A series of tit-for-tat shootings began between the Mid-Ulster Brigade and the Provisional IRA, with Catholic civilian Martin Byrne and ex-IRA man Sam Marshall killed in two separate attacks in Lurgan in early 1990. Three more killings followed, including one Protestant shot in a case of mistaken identity, before 19-year-old Denis Carville
5640-487: The ban was lifted on 4 April 1974 by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , Merlyn Rees in an effort to bring the group into the democratic process. The UVF was once more outlawed by the British government in October 1975, though this had minimal effect as many members were also working for the RUC or British security forces charged with enforcing such laws. Furthermore, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) remained legal as well. The Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out two of
5734-434: The bar. A member of the Mid-Ulster Brigade staff would later claim that the Cappagh attack was "one of the best things we did militarily in thirty years" as it proved they could strike directly at the Provisional IRA in an area which was a republican stronghold. Because of the lack of a security force presence in an area where it was usually heavy, republicans and journalist Peter Taylor have alleged security force collusion in
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#17328547985635828-456: The brigade as one of the most ruthless battalions operating in the 1970s. A 2011 RTÉ documentary Bombings called it an "efficient sectarian killing machine". It covered a wide area of operations, drawing membership from Portadown, southern County Londonderry , Dungannon , Armagh , Lurgan, Cookstown , and rural settlements near these towns, although it had little or no membership in County Fermanagh , where loyalist paramilitaries never joined
5922-447: The brigade's commander, and personally recruited and trained young men from the Portadown and Lurgan areas who were "prepared to defend Ulster at any cost". These included Robin "the Jackal" Jackson , Harris Boyle , Wesley Somerville , David Alexander Mulholland , and William Fulton, among others. When a new member was sworn into the UVF, he was brought before a table, which was flanked by two masked men and presided over by another; on
6016-471: The car bombs in Parnell Street , Talbot Street , and South Leinster Street. Ninety minutes after the three Dublin blasts, a fourth car bomb went off in Monaghan , killing another seven people, bringing the total of deaths to 33. No warnings were given for these attacks which brought about the greatest loss of life in a single day in the history of the Troubles. Another Mid-Ulster unit from Portadown, allegedly led by local commander Stewart Young, had carried out
6110-473: 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
6204-453: The entire Portadown UVF defected to the LVF, other important Mid-Ulster Brigade units based in Lurgan, Donaghcloney, Richill and Banbridge instead swore loyalty to the Belfast leadership. A balaclava -wearing Mid-Ulster Brigade member appeared at a rally on Belfast's Shankill Road on 2 September 1996 to read out a statement in which the remnants of the Mid-Ulster Brigade described the Wright-LVF issue as being "about internal discipline within
6298-400: The group and found evidence that UDR soldiers and RUC officers were involved in 74 of those. John Weir said his superiors knew he was working with loyalist paramilitaries but allowed it to continue. The Cassel Report also said that some senior officers knew of the crimes but did nothing to prevent, investigate or punish. It has been established that some key members were double agents working for
6392-456: The killings, with Taylor suggesting the UDR. 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". However, according to Tony Geraghty's The Irish War , the IRA managed to get revenge against the Mid-Ulster Brigade by killing five of their top members. According to Geraghty,
6486-417: 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
6580-658: 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
6674-408: The mastermind behind the building and planning of the bombings, and Jackson had transported the bombs across the Republic of Ireland border in his poultry lorry accompanied by Hanna, who then primed them at the Coachman's Inn pub carpark on the Swords Road . Hanna and Jackson subsequently loaded the devices inside the boots of the three allocated cars, and the former instructed the three drivers to park
6768-602: The most notorious attacks in the history of the Troubles. The first took place on 17 May 1974. Organised and led by Billy Hanna, with Robin Jackson of the Lurgan unit playing a key role, the Mid-Ulster Brigade, along with a team from Belfast, planted three car bombs in Dublin . The devices exploded minutes apart in the city centre during evening rush hour causing the deaths of 26 people – mostly young women – and almost 300 injuries. The bombs had been so well constructed that 100 per cent of each bomb had exploded upon detonation. Hanna had been
6862-510: The most popular cabaret bands in Ireland at the time. As the showband was returning to Dublin on 31 July at about 2.30 a.m. after a performance in Banbridge , they were flagged down at a bogus vehicle checkpoint on the main road at Buskill outside Newry by armed members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade wearing British Army uniforms. The band members were ordered out of their minibus and told to line up facing
6956-510: The passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 . The arms and flag were designed in Dublin Castle by Major Sir Nevile Wilkinson , Ulster King of Arms , in 1923–1924. The flag is based on the flag of the traditional province of Ulster , including a Red Hand of Ulster in the centre, and the red de Burgh cross (though some claim this is the Saint George's Cross ). It has
7050-514: 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
7144-403: The security forces in a series of sectarian attacks and killings in the 1970s. This panel concluded that there was "credible evidence that the principal perpetrator [of the Miami Showband attack] was a man who was not prosecuted – alleged RUC Special Branch agent Robin Jackson" The Pat Finucane Centre and John Weir have both implicated Jackson in at least 100 killings. Other attacks carried out by
7238-480: The table rested the Ulster banner and a gun. Under Hanna's leadership the Mid-Ulster Brigade became the deadliest loyalist paramilitary group outside Belfast. According to journalist Joe Tiernan, at least 100 Catholics and a number of Protestants, almost exclusively civilians, were all murdered by this nominally illegal terror cell. Tiernan also suggested that Hanna carried out bank and post office robberies and intimidated local businessmen into paying protection money to
7332-402: The two men closed the door. They were blown to pieces, and the remaining UVF gunmen opened fire on the dazed band members, killing three (trumpeter Brian McCoy, lead singer Fran O'Toole, and guitarist Tony Geraghty) and wounding two (bassist Stephen Travers and saxophonist Des McAlea). The UVF's Brigade Staff issued a statement twelve hours after the killings in an attempt to justify the attack. It
7426-484: 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
7520-632: 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
7614-509: Was around this time that Sunday World journalists Martin O'Hagan and Jim Campbell coined the term "Rat Pack" for the Brigade. Unable at first to identify Wright by name for legal reasons, they christened him "King Rat". Eventually the newspaper named Wright as a drug lord and sectarian murderer. Wright was apparently enraged by the nickname and made numerous threats against O'Hagan and Campbell. The Sunday World' s offices were also firebombed. The BBC's Mark Davenport stated that he spoke to
7708-403: Was being made to lessen such attacks in favour of targeting known and active republicans. At some point during the early 1990s, Wright took over command of the brigade from Jackson and as a result, another spate of violent attacks by the Mid-Ulster Brigade erupted. Wright's UVF gang called themselves "The Brat Pack". Wright is believed to have started dealing drugs in 1991, mainly in ecstasy . It
7802-463: Was called a " fenian slut" by one of the gunmen before being dragged by the hair and thrown out of the shop. The Sunday World published an article on 18 September 2011 in which the paper stated that the attack was "planned by Billy Wright and fellow UVF murderer, Mark Swinger Fulton, in a flat in Portadown's loyalist Corcrain Estate." A seven-month-pregnant Catholic woman, Kathleen O'Hagan, was shot dead by
7896-552: Was certain that Wright's unit became the most active in Mid-Ulster with the killing of two teenage girls and an adult civilian at a mobile shop on a Catholic housing estate in Craigavon on 28 March 1991, one of their more ferocious acts. At this stage the Mid-Ulster Brigade's continuation of the UVF policy of random sectarian attacks meant that it had diverged from the policies being undertaken by their Belfast counterparts, where an attempt
7990-505: Was imprisoned for having made threats, once more against a woman. Three members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) shot Wright dead inside a prison van in the forecourt outside H Block 6 as it was transporting him and fellow LVF prisoner Norman Green to the visitors' complex. Five months after Wright's assassination, Robin Jackson died of lung cancer at his home in the village of Donaghcloney , near Lurgan. Whilst
8084-425: Was involved in an acrimonious feud with the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the group set up by Billy Wright. It was during this feud that Mid-Ulster brigade commander Richard Jameson was shot dead by the LVF. The Mid-Ulster Brigade was established by senior Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member William Henry Wilson Hanna , known as "Billy", who sat on its Brigade Staff, which was the UVF's ruling council based on
8178-402: Was killed in Portadown on 6 October. In each case the IRA responded by killing members of the security forces or people working for them, as the killings on both sides spiralled. The 1991 Cappagh killings took place on 3 March, when a unit from the Mid-Ulster Brigade went to the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone , intent on killing an entire Provisional IRA unit based in the village. Taking up
8272-541: 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
8366-543: Was published in the August 1975 edition of Combat , the UVF's journal. Three men out of the ten-man UVF unit were later convicted of the murders;Thomas Crozier and James McDowell were serving soldiers of the 11th Battalion UDR , and John James Somerville (brother of Wesley) was a former member of the regiment. An international panel headed by Professor Douglass Cassel was commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre to investigate collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and
8460-722: Was recaptured by the British Army and sent back to prison in November. By 1972 the Provisional IRA 's bombing campaign had escalated in its intensity, which triggered a violent response from loyalist paramilitary groups such as the UVF and Ulster Defence Association (UDA). When the religious and political conflict that came to be known as " the Troubles " had broken out in the late 1960s, unionists had immediately formed vigilante groups, ostensibly to protect loyalist areas from nationalist attacks. These had gone on to merge into larger umbrella paramilitary organisations. Hanna appointed himself
8554-527: Was released a little over two years later in May 1983. This was his only conviction. During the 1980s the Mid-Ulster Brigade became somewhat less prominent as Belfast became the centre of UVF activity. The brigade remained active and continued to launch attacks. One such attack occurred in Coagh on 29 November 1989, when a unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade entered the Battery Bar and opened fire. Two men were killed in
8648-506: Was responsible for some of the most savage sectarian attacks of the Troubles. Under Wright, the Mid-Ulster Brigade became notorious for attacks that involved shooting female Catholic civilians at close range. These included the shooting of Eileen Duffy (19) and Katrina Rennie (17) in Lurgan in 1991 as the teenage girls bought sweets in a mobile van. The girls were targeted because the killers believed they were Catholic. Both girls were shot at close range while another 14-year-old girl, Jamie Smith,
8742-457: Was staged by the UVF in July after he had been given leave by prison authorities to attend his daughter's wedding. During his period of freedom he had restructured the UVF on its original 1913 lines by adding brigades, battalions, companies, platoons, and sections. He also managed to procure weaponry. On 23 October 1972 an armed UVF gang raided a UDR/ Territorial Army depot in Lurgan and stole a large cache of sophisticated guns and ammunition. Spence
8836-728: 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
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