He also directed a significant restocking of the group's arsenal, with guns mostly taken from the security forces. [140][141], In contrast to the IRA, overseas support for loyalist paramilitaries including the UVF has been limited. [118] In the late summer and autumn of 1973, the UVF detonated more bombs than the UDA and IRA combined,[119] and by the time of the group's temporary ceasefire in late November it had been responsible for over 200 explosions that year. Mark Davenport from the BBC has stated that he spoke to a drug dealer who told him that he paid Billy Wright protection money. 2023 BBC. Instead his coffin was adorned with the beret and regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles, his former regiment. An article published by the newspaper fingered Wright as a drug lord and sectarian murderer. [32][33] There were further attacks in the Republic between October and December 1969. [153], The UVF have been implicated in drug dealing in areas from where they draw their support. [30] As arranged, the car in which Spence was a passenger was stopped in Springmartin and Spence was taken away by UVF members. [32] Spence gave his permission for UVF brigadier Billy Hanna to establish the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade in Lurgan. [71], On 14 September 2005, following serious loyalist rioting during which dozens of shots were fired at riot police and the British Army the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain announced that the British government no longer recognised the UVF ceasefire. [116], Like the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the UVF's modus operandi involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. A number. Among their engagements was one as guests of honour of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. In March and April that year, UVF and UPV members bombed water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland, blaming them on the dormant IRA and elements of the civil rights movement. [44], 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. 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. When the Assets Recovery Agency won a High Court order to seize luxury homes belonging to ex-policeman Colin Robert Armstrong and his partner Geraldine Mallon in 2005, Alan McQuillan said "We have further alleged Armstrong has had links with the UVF and then the LVF following the split between those organisations." "[140], Protestants in Canada also supported the loyalist paramilitaries in the conflict. A man committed to social and economic justice and equality and a man absolutely devoted and committed to his wife and family.. Gusty was a man of war, he was also a man of peace, she said. [27][28] Spence respected some Irish republican paramilitaries, who he felt also lived as soldiers, and to this end he wrote a sympathetic letter to the widow of Official IRA leader Joe McCann after he was killed in 1972. THE self described "old UVF man", Mr Gusty Spence (64), gave a brief oration at the funeral of Mr Jim Lynch (72), a former officer commanding (OC) of the IRA, at Cootehill, Co Cavan, yesterday. LocationLa Habra, CA 90631 EmailGet a free estimate Call(562) 579-5980. Some of them left much of Belfast without power and water. The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out further attacks during this same period. In keeping with his wishes, there will be no UVF trappings and his coffin will be draped in the regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles in which he served. The Irish parliament's Joint Committee on Justice called the bombings an act of "international terrorism" involving the British security forces. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was founded in 1972 in Lurgan by Billy Hanna, a sergeant in the UDR and a member of the Brigade Staff, who served as the brigade's commander, until he was shot dead in July 1975. 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. Eleven years ago he was forced out of his home on the Shankill Road by Johnny Adair's gang during one of the many loyalist paramilitary feuds. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. At the same time, he distanced himself from any policy of random murders of Catholics. The Shankill loyalists supported Kilfedder and following his election as MP sent a letter to Paisley accusing him of treachery during the entire affair. [29], On 12 August 1969, the "Battle of the Bogside" began in Derry. [26] Despite the fact that control of the UVF lay (nominally at least) with Spence's closest ally Samuel "Bo" McClelland, from prison Spence was often at odds with the group's leadership, in particular with regards to the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing. [19] On 26 June, the same gang shot dead Catholic civilian Peter Ward (18) and wounded two others as they left a pub on Malvern Street in the lower Shankill. Slowly. [68], 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",[69] although this has been disputed by others.[who?]. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. Fifteen Catholic civilians were killed and seventeen wounded. The UVF carried out dozens of sectarian murderers and it was while he was serving a sentence in Long Kesh prison for his role in the murder of a Catholic that Mr Spence began to change his views about the use of violence. [36] Catholic churches were also attacked. Mr Spence was brought up in the Shankill, but was forced out in later years by loyalists opposed to his defence of the peace process and his opposition to continued paramilitary activity. In February, it began to target critics of militant loyalism the homes of MPs Austin Currie, Sheelagh Murnaghan, Richard Ferguson and Anne Dickson were attacked with improvised bombs. Brian Ervine said: "His contribution to the peace is incalculable and without him, probably the paramilitaries would still be at war. Progress is being made, inch by inch. [106][107] This uniform, based on those of the original UVF, was introduced in the early 1970s. [38] This came to a climax on 4 December, when the UVF bombed McGurk's Bar, a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast. This development came soon after the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast had stood down Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, on 2 August 1996, for the killing of a Catholic taxi driver near Lurgan during Drumcree disturbances. [149] It is estimated that the UVF nevertheless received hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations to its Loyalist Prisoners Welfare Association. [46] Some of the new Brigade Staff members bore nicknames such as "Big Dog" and "Smudger". VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Spence claimed that he was approached in 1965 by two men, one of whom was an Ulster Unionist Party MP, who told him that the UVF was to be re-established and that he was to have responsibility for the Shankill. Whether you need additional information, document your wishes without paying or to arrange and pre-fund your funeral, Berenice is ready to listen and provide assistance. It began carrying out gun attacks to kill random Catholic civilians and using car bombs to attack Catholic-owned pubs. "[18], In November 2013, after a series of shootings and acts of intimidation by the UVF, Police Federation Chairman Terry Spence declared that the UVF ceasefire was no longer active. [9] He was also associated loosely with prominent loyalists such as Ian Paisley and Desmond Boal and was advised by both men in 1959 when he launched a protest against Gerry Fitt at Belfast City Hall after Fitt had described Spence's regiment as "murderers" over allegations that they had killed civilians in Cyprus. In keeping with his wishes,. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. [21] The 'Paisleyites' set out to stymie the civil rights movement and oust Terence O'Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. [50], Spence married Louie Donaldson, a native of the city's Grosvenor Road, on 20 June 1953 at Wellwood Street Mission, Sandy Row. Along with the UDA, it helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads, intimidating workers, and shutting any businesses that opened. The unnamed woman stated, "When you go out and throw a petrol bomb through a widow's window, you're no peacemaker. During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed. [89][90] A dissident Republican was arrested for "the attempted murder of police officers in east Belfast" after shots were fired upon the police. At his funeral yesterday, Mr Spence said he was not there to deify Mr Lynch, whom he described as "a simple man but a wealthy one in terms of his friends and his love for his country". VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Why Covid lab-leak theory is now being taken seriously, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. [2] He was sent to Crumlin Road Prison. The community centre hosting the event and 25 nearby homes were evacuated and a funeral was disrupted. Openly paraded with the UVF and thanked Gusty Spence repeatedly for his services to Ulster. Six of the victims were abducted at random, then beaten and tortured before having their throats slashed. [94] The high levels of orchestration by the leadership of the East Belfast UVF, and the alleged ignored orders from the main leaders of the UVF to stop the violence has led to fears that the East Belfast UVF has now become a separate loyalist paramilitary grouping which doesn't abide by the UVF ceasefire or the Northern Ireland Peace Process. [104] The Brigade Staff's former headquarters were situated in rooms above "The Eagle" chip shop located on the Shankill Road at its junction with Spier's Place. Another former PUP leader, Dawn Purvis, said Spence's opinions began to shift sooner than is generally perceived. In 1984, Gusty was released from prison, and became a leading figure in the Progressive Unionist Party and . [103], On 25 March 2022, the UVF was blamed[by whom?] However, RUC Special Branch believed that his brother Billy, who kept a much lower public profile, was the real leader of the group. [34] In December, the UVF detonated a car bomb near the Garda central detective bureau and telephone exchange headquarters in Dublin. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. [37] As the loyalist Maze commander, Spence initially also had jurisdiction over the imprisoned members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), although this came to an end in 1973 when, following a deterioration in relations between the two groups outside the prison walls, James Craig became the UDA's Maze commander. Referring to its activity in the early and mid-1970s, journalist Ed Moloney described no-warning pub bombings as the UVF's "forte". Spence was initially held over the murder of the first victim of the Troubles, John Scullion, who was shot by the UVF in the Falls Road area of Belfast. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. Wednesday, 15 February 2023 | 10.2 . [12] Due to his later involvement in a murder, Spence was expelled from the Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution. She died of her injuries on 27 June. [citation needed] There were also reports that UVF members fired shots at police lines during a protest. Ms Purvis encouraged young loyalists at the funeral to read the political doctrines encouraged by Mr Spence. 2023 BBC. [56] The UVF's activities in the last years of the decade were increasingly being curtailed by the number of UVF members who were sent to prison. In 1971, these ramped up their activity against the British Army and RUC. [82] The IICD confirmed that "substantial quantities of firearms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices" had been decommissioned and that for the UVF and RHC, decommissioning had been completed. But despite the statement, the UVF was subsequently involved in sporadic violence, including several murders. [50] The UVF was banned again on 3 October 1975 and two days later twenty-six suspected UVF members were arrested in a series of raids. [127] A British Army report released in 2006 estimated a peak membership of 1,000. Almost 10 years later in October 1994, he was chosen to announce to the world that the main loyalist paramilitary groups, the UVF and the UDA, were declaring ceasefires in response to an IRA cessation. Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence (28 June 1933 [2] - 25 September 2011) was a leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and a leading loyalist politician in Northern Ireland. This was a large, three-day riot between Irish nationalists and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). 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.[148] An Irish government memo written by David Donoghue stated: "The commonest contribution of Scots UDA and UVF is to send gelignite. "They are holding local communities to ransom. [76][77][78], In January 2008, the UVF was accused of involvement in vigilante action against alleged criminals in Belfast. Also, why did the author not probe the close relationship between Gusty Spence and the RHC? [35], Spence's time on the outside came to an end on 4 November when he was captured by Colonel Derek Wilford of the Parachute Regiment, who identified Spence by tattoos on his hands. [36] It also continued its attacks in the Republic of Ireland, bombing the Dublin-Belfast railway line, an electricity substation, a radio mast, and Irish nationalist monuments. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. "He was really a role model for many young men who would follow.". [18] On 27 May, Spence ordered four UVF men to kill an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member, Leo Martin, who lived on the Falls Road. Read about our approach to external linking. [92], 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. "The Dublin and Monaghan bombings: Cover-up and incompetence". During this time he restructured the organisation into brigades, battalions, companies, platoons and sections. [98], On 23 March 2019, eleven alleged UVF members were arrested during a total of 14 searches conducted in Belfast, Newtownards and Comber and the suspects, aged between 22 and 48, were taken into police custody for questioning. [21] This occurred despite Spence having been officially expelled from the Orange Order following his conviction. "[23] It was led by Gusty Spence, formerly a soldier in the British Army. Others who attended included Jeanette Irvine, the widow of the former PUP Assembly member, David Ervine, Dawn Purvis, the former PUP Assembly member who resigned from the party over the UVF's activities and the former Assembly member and former Human Rights Commissioner, Monica Mc Williams. In the 1960s, he founded the Ulster Volunteer Force, which was responsible for hundreds of murders during the Troubles. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. Until recent years,[12] it was noted for secrecy and a policy of limited, selective membership. Gusty Spence was a significant figure in loyalist Belfast for most of . Assistant chief constable Drew Harris in a statement said "The UVF are subject to an organised crime investigation as an organised crime group. It used submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, grenades (including homemade grenades), incendiary bombs, booby trap bombs and car bombs. The Irish Army set up field hospitals near the border. This era also saw a more widespread targeting on the UVF's part of IRA and Sinn Fin members, beginning with the killing of senior IRA member Larry Marley[62] and a failed attempt on the life of a leading republican which left three Catholic civilians dead. [21] Some unionists feared Irish nationalism and launched an opposing response in Northern Ireland. The UVF's last major attack was the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, in which its members shot dead six Catholic civilians in a rural pub. With Moore now deceased, the only senior figure still alive is "Mr A". . [29] The loyalists "intended to force a crisis which would so undermine confidence in O'Neill's ability to maintain law and order that he would be obliged to resign". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. But despite the statement, the UVF was subsequently involved in sporadic violence, including several murders. [123][124], The strength of the UVF is uncertain. [60], In the 1980s, the UVF was greatly reduced by a series of police informers. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. The gang comprised, in addition to the UVF, rogue elements of the UDR, RUC, SPG, and the regular Army, all acting allegedly under the direction of the British Intelligence Corps and/or RUC Special Branch. He died on 17 May 2009, from a suspected heart attack at his home and was given a paramilitary funeral by the UVF. DeSantis won't say he's running. After several years away from the spotlight, Spence was again asked to read the statement, a role which senior loyalists said was indicative of his significance within Northern Ireland loyalism. He was born in the Shankill Road area of Belfast. [20], In October 1966, Spence was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Ward, although Spence has always claimed he was innocent. However, following significant political pressure, the UVF claimed in 2007 that it was decommissioning its weapons. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. Mr Spence was convicted for the murder of one of the victims, 18-year-old Peter Ward, who was shot dead after being identified as a Catholic while he drank in a mainly Protestant pub. [126] Later, in September 1972, Gusty Spence said in an interview that the organisation had a strength of 1,500. Notable mourners included Unionist politicians Dawn Purvis, Mike Nesbitt, Michael McGimpsey, Hugh Smyth and Brian Ervine, UVF chief John "Bunter" Graham and UDA South Belfast brigadier Jackie McDonald. According to the Belfast Telegraph, "70 separate police intelligence reports implicating the north Belfast UVF man in dealing cannabis, Ecstasy, amphetamines and cocaine. During its 12 July 1967 march, the Orange lodge to which he belonged stopped outside the prison in tribute to him. F". The UVF agreed to a ceasefire in October 1994. It was the UVF's deadliest attack in Northern Ireland, and the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. View discounts Available for editorial and personal use only. [43] Jackson was allegedly the hitman who shot Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan. While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. [120] However, from 1977 bombs largely disappeared from the UVF's arsenal owing to a lack of explosives and bomb-makers, plus a conscious decision to abandon their use in favour of more contained methods. He added: "He formed a relationship with Cardinal O'Fiach and that was in some of our ways of thinking in those days a big step because the Catholic church in particular were the enemy. In her address to the church congregation, Ms Purvis recalled how Mr Spence had been frank about his UVF role, but that he had often shocked loyalist contemporaries by his willingness to bring an end to conflict and build bridges between working class Protestants and Catholics. [63], The UVF also attacked republican paramilitaries and political activists. [89] The UVF leader in East Belfast, who is popularly known as the "Beast of the East" and "Ugly Doris" also known as by real name Stephen Matthews, ordered the attack on Catholic homes and a church in the Catholic enclave of the Short Strand. A former leader of the UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, described him as "one of the pivots on which a page of Irish history turned". It comprises high-ranking officers under a Chief of Staff or Brigadier-General. He was sworn in soon afterwards in a ceremony held in secret near Pomeroy, County Tyrone. "The untouchable informers facing exposure at last". [125] Members were disciplined after they carried out an unsanctioned theft of 8 million of paintings from an estate in Co Wicklow in April 1974. Gusty Spence was a significant figure in loyalist Belfast for most of his life. [23] Tim Pat Coogan has described Spence as a "loyalist folk hero". In response to events in Derry, nationalists held protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent. [1] Spence, along with other Shankill Road loyalists, broke from Paisley in 1965 when they sided with Jim Kilfedder in a row that followed the latter's campaigns in Belfast West. CAIN also states that republicans killed 15 UVF members, some of whom are suspected to have been set up for assassination by their colleagues. More militant members of the UVF who disagreed with the ceasefire, broke away to form the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), led by Billy Wright. 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. [44] In 1977, he publicly condemned the use of violence for political gain, on the grounds that it was counter-productive. He then became involved in politics and announced the landmark loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. Spence is regarded as the first terrorist godfather in Northern Ireland but also the man who took the first steps towards ending UVF violence. [79], In 2008, a loyalist splinter group calling itself the "Real UVF" emerged briefly to make threats against Sinn Fin in County Fermanagh. [84] The Progressive Unionist Party's condemnation, and Dawn Purvis and other leaders' resignations as a response to the Moffett shooting, were also noted. A man once involved in conflict. Correspondence includes Spence's correspondence with leaders and imprisoned members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and letters concerning his imprisonment originally . "On behalf of Sinn Fein I would wish to extend my condolences to his family at this time.". [54] The number of killings in Northern Ireland had decreased from around 300 per year between 1973 and 1976 to just under 100 in the years 19771981. In incidents carried out within days of each other in June 1966, Mr Spences gang killed two Catholic men, plus a Protestant pensioner who was murdered in a failed attempt to burn a neighbouring Catholic-owned bar. Malcolm Sutton's Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland, part of the Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), states that the UVF and RHC was responsible for at least 485 killings during the Troubles, and lists a further 256 loyalist killings that have not yet been attributed to a particular group. Although Mr Lynch was from a different tradition, he had "welcomed his friendship," and he recalled the conversations they had about peace in Ireland. ", This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 06:47. The coffin, covered with the flag of the Ulster Rifles and his beret, of former UVF leader Gusty Spence passes a UVF mural along the Shankill Road in Belfast after his funeral at St Michael's Church. Gusty Spence is regarded as one of the founders of loyalist paramilitarism, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Two Ulster Unionist Assembly members, Michael McGimpsey and Mike Neabitt, were among the mourners at the funeral. ][102] On 11 April, the UVF reportedly ordered the removal of Catholic families from a housing estate in Carrickfergus. Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of the former loyalist leader Gusty Spence. [151][152] Between 1979 to 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. [4] He married Isabella "Bella" Hayes, Gusty Spence's mother, in 1919. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. Drong de dhnmharfir srathacha ab ea Bistir na Seanchille a bh gnomhach i m Bal Feirste sna 1970id. [17], On 7 May 1966, a group of UVF men led by Spence petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub on the Shankill Road. [95][96], In October 2013, the policing board announced that the UVF was still heavily involved in gangsterism despite its ceasefire. They were blamed by the PSNI on members of the UVF, who also said UVF guns had been used to try to kill police officers. Thirty-three people were killed and almost 300 injured. RT is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. [51] The couple had three daughters, Elizabeth (born 1954), Sandra (1956) and Catherine (1960). She said: "Some people have said that in his later life, he changed to become committed to peace. This building had been an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original UVF. [54] This was endorsed by Gusty Spence, who issued a statement asking all UVF volunteers to support the new regime. [26] He died of his wounds on 11 June. The men were tried, and in March 1977 were sentenced to an average of twenty-five years each.[51][52]. Gusty Spence announced the loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. The weapons were Palestine Liberation Organisation arms captured by the Israelis and sold to Armscor, the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of a 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware. The loyalist leader always denied responsibility and his family are now challenging the conviction. page 1. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. In keeping with his wishes, there will be no UVF trappings and his coffin will be draped in the regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles in which he served. [58][59] West died in 1980. Afterwards a plot was concocted where his nephew Frankie Curry, also a UVF member, would drive Spence back to jail but the car would be stopped and Spence "kidnapped". Read about our approach to external linking. [55] The hawks had been ousted by those in the UVF who were unhappy with their political and military strategy. A piper leads a procession for Huntington Beach Police Officer Nicholas Vella in La Habra, CA on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. He was OC of the IRA in the Cavan area during the Border campaign in the late 1950s and early 1960s. [58], The UVF's nickname is "Blacknecks", derived from their uniform of black polo neck jumper, black trousers, black leather jacket, black forage cap, along with the UVF badge and belt. In keeping with his wishes,. But he was also credited with being a driving force in delivering the loyalist ceasefires of the mid-1990s that helped bring an end to the decades of conflict. The group had been proscribed in July 1966, but this ban was lifted on 4 April 1974 by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in an effort to bring the UVF into the democratic process. Veteran anti-UVF campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son, Raymond Jr., a Protestant, was beaten to death by UVF men in 1997, estimates the UVF has killed more than thirty people since its 1994 ceasefire, most of them Protestants. 2023 BBC. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths crosstabulations", "UVF disbands unit linked to taxi murder", Law and order Belfast-style as two men are forced on a 'walk of shame', 'Report of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning', Twenty-Fourth Report of the Independent Monitoring Commission, "David Madine admits trying to kill loyalist Harry Stockman", "Police say UVF gunman seen in Rathcoole during trouble". [114] Many retaliatory attacks on Catholics were claimed using the covername "Protestant Action Force" (PAF), which first appeared in autumn 1974. The crowds included a leader of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association Jackie McDonald. Catholic families from a suspected heart attack at his home and was given paramilitary. Ira in the conflict died on 17 May 2009, from a estate. The group 's arsenal, with guns mostly taken from the BBC has stated that he spoke to a lord! Soldier in the UVF 's deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles platoons and.... 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