[58] These men had overthrown the "hawkish" officers, who had called for a "big push", which meant an increase in violent attacks, earlier in the same month. 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. The Sunday World's offices were also firebombed. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. 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. While there, he was "ribbed by the regulars about having allowed his local to be closed". In January 2000 UVF Mid-Ulster brigadier Richard Jameson was shot dead by a LVF gunman which led to an escalation of the UVF/LVF feud. [71] The UVF also killed senior IRA paramilitary members Liam Ryan, John 'Skipper' Burns and Larry Marley. [19] The LVF then linked up with Johnny Adair's C Company for a time as their feud with the UVF took centre stage. [4] With antagonism growing, another man was killed in a drunken brawl on 21 February 1975, this time the UDA's Robert Thompson. Security sources have previously said that with more than 2,000. Sep 30 // football. [15] During the conflict, its deadliest attack in Northern Ireland was the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing, which killed fifteen civilians. In 2018, the then PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said members of the UDA and UVF were still involved in organised crime. [45] These were all subordinate to the Brigade Staff. It claimed the pubs were used for republican fundraising. [57] Several months prior to these killings, Mid-Ulster Brigadier Billy Hanna was shot dead outside his Lurgan home on 27 July 1975, allegedly by his successor, Robin Jackson. [59] This was endorsed by Gusty Spence, who issued a statement asking all UVF volunteers to support the new regime. [35] Bunting's opponents criticised his alleged heavy-handed approach, particularly towards Tiger's Bay residents, whilst his supporters claimed that Bunting's attempts to tackle the drugs trade in the area were the real reason behind the attempts to remove him. But its first victims, a Protestant woman and two Catholic men, had no connections with the IRA. [84], In 2008, a loyalist splinter group calling itself the "Real UVF" emerged briefly to make threats against Sinn Fin in County Fermanagh. [11] Amidst an atmosphere of increasing tension in the area, Adair decided to host a "Loyalist Day of Culture" on the Shankill on Saturday 19 August 2000, which saw thousands of UDA members from across Northern Ireland descend on his Lower Shankill stronghold, where a series of newly commissioned murals were officially unveiled on a day which also featured a huge UDA/UFF parade and armed UDA/UFF show of strength. More militant members of the UVF who disagreed with the ceasefire, broke away to form the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), led by Billy Wright. Adair waited until the bulk of the parade of UDA men had made its way up into the heart of the Shankill before initiating the provocative gesture. The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is a standalone faction of the UDA and was once part of its inner council. During this time he restructured the organisation into brigades, battalions, companies, platoons and sections. All were widely blamed on the IRA, and British soldiers were sent to guard installations. The incumbent Chief of Staff, is alleged to be John "Bunter" Graham, referred to by Martin Dillon as "Mr. Earlier this week, the West Belfast UDA were reported to have made threats against two journalists working for the Sunday World newspaper in NI. Thu 6 Oct 2022 at 23:00 The South-East Antrim UDA has carried out seven brutal murders in Carrickfergus since 1995, but no one has ever been convicted in connection with them.
