south east antrim uda brigadier

[2] Since 2007 the South East Antrim Brigade has operated independently of the UDA following a fall-out. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles". [17] Protestant Trevor Lowry (aged 49) was beaten to death in Glengormley by UDA members under Gregg's command on 11 April 2001 after he was mistaken for a Catholic. [4] The attack had been known in advance by security forces due to a tip-off from informants within Rathcoole; Adams and his co-passengers had survived in part because Royal Ulster Constabulary officers, acting on the informants information, had replaced much of the ammunition in the UDAs Rathcoole weapons dump with low-velocity bullets. The A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey. Nonetheless he was not keen to antagonise Adair and so, along with McFarland, McDonald and Jimbo Simpson, accepted his invitation to attended a Loyalist Day of Culture organised by Adair on the Lower Shankill on 19 August 2000. "The UDA in Rathcoole couldn't figure out why all the UVF dealers were being left alone while their guys were getting caught left, right and centre. Despite the continuing activity of his brigade, and his own earlier maiming, Gregg shared the reluctance of other brigadiers about what he saw as a coming war between the UVF and West Belfast brigadier Johnny Adair. [40] As of 2014, the South East Antrim Brigade is no longer considered part of the wider UDA and their brigadier does not attend meetings of the organisation's ruling Inner Council. Members of the loyalist flute band, Cloughfern Young Conquerors dressed in uniform accompanied the coffin. [31], On 1 February 2003, along with another UDA member, Robert "Rab" Carson, Gregg was shot dead on Nelson Street, in the old Sailortown district near the Belfast docks, while travelling in a taxi after returning from Glasgow where he regularly went to Rangers F.C. Fisher associates subjected Simms to a punishment shooting after he was found with his hands in the till. [15] A senior police source once described him as a man driven by "pure and absolute bigotry". In a move that was not universally popular in the region, Fisher allowed the Shoukris and their ally Alan McClean to live under South East Antrim Brigade protection and even attend meetings of the brigade's commanders. Gregg, at the time the head of the UDA commando in Rathcoole, was in charge of a three-man hit team that pulled up alongside Adams car near Belfast City Hall and opened fire injuring Adams and his three fellow passengers, who nonetheless escaped to seek treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. [41], In 2009, the brigade claimed to have decommissioned a substantial quantity of guns and explosives in a single day in the presence of the chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). South East Antrim brigade Den' Allo Allo' Elliott. South East Antrim UDA mural in Glengormley, North Belfast. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. Snoddy was close to UDA leader Andy Tyrie and was recognised as one of his closest allies amongst the UDA leadership.[7]. Read about our approach to external linking. DCI John Caldwell: The New IRA threat after Omagh shooting, The Firm: Inside Lurgan and Portadowns cross-community crime gang. Gregg initially remained aloof from the struggle and instead concentrated on his anti-Catholic campaign. 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Following the conclusion of the feud with Adair the UDA reconstituted its ceasefire in what they christened the Gregg initiative. A taxi driver by trade, he was lured to a meeting in the Monkstown estate in Newtownabbey by his supposed best friend - the former UVF commander in Mount Vernon - who was also expelled. [22] Around this time Gregg spearheaded an initiative to significantly increase recruitment into the South East Antrim Brigade. Tensions in South East Antrim between the UDA and the UVF were already high after a summer of incidents and disagreements. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of senior paramilitary veterans with Fisher forced to toe the line. As the band prepared to take the train home that evening they met members of the Shankill Protestant Boys, another band in town for the parade that was affiliated to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The move, some say, does not signal a return to violence. In return for ending criminality they have been promised 5m of funding for projects in loyalist areas from the 50m Fresh Start package to end paramilitarism. Carrick's drug trade is now a mish-mash of conflicting independent criminal gangs. Both men, who lived on Ferris Avenue, had their houses burnt out during the attack. UDA Brigadier for South East Antrim, Gregg - who became a loyalist icon when he shot Sinn Fin chief Gerry Adams - was gunned down in Belfast's docklands area nearly 20 years ago. Charlie Strain, Hugh Cameron, Tommy Hollran and Mark Gourley, who is missing presumed . "He's already under enough heat from the cops. [20] On 4 September Langhammer's car was blown up outside his Whiteabbey home by Gregg's men, although Langhammer himself was asleep at the time and no one was injured. The veteran loyalist, who was 'brigadier' of its South East Antrim unit, was kicked out of the organisation last week. [18] Catholic workman Gary Moore was killed in Monkstown in 2000 in another killing attributed to Gregg's unit. Gregg was the most senior UDA member killed since South Belfast brigadier John McMichael was blown up by the IRA in 1987. These were carried out under the Red Hand Defenders cover name, with some attacks also blamed on the Orange Volunteers who were active in similar attacks at the time. The Sunday World also understands Fisher has become increasingly paranoid, believing there is an informant who is passing information about his movements to the PSNI. [20], Although the UDA was officially on ceasefire, the South East Antrim Brigade remained active in late 1998 and early 1999, undertaking a series of pipe bomb attacks on Catholic properties. Old tensions resurfaced however, and after Adairs men fought with UVF supporters at the Shankills Rex Bar, Adair launched a pogrom of the lower Shankill, forcing out all UVF members and their families and initiating a loyalist feud.[22]. Gregg had been a regular visitor to Ibrox Park for a number of years. [53] Gilmore died the following day, with the incident described as part of an ongoing feud in the town. He was interviewed on the basis of anonymity. Ann Ogilbys brutal murder: Forgotten victims of the Troubles, Kriss Donald The Brutal Racist Killing of an Innocent Schoolboy. A volley of shots was fired over his coffin by UDA gunmen outside his Rathcoole home. His own earliest memory of the Troubles was the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marches in Derry, a movement to which Gregg and his family were strongly opposed. Simms' demise was the catalyst for the disintegration of Fisher's power base. The views and opinions expressed in this documentary/ies and page are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. Brawls between the two had been frequent and tensions had been growing between the UDA and UVF leading to a drink-fuelled pitched battle between the two groups at the train station. He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. John Gregg. [63], The threats were condemned by Peter Vandermeersch of Independent News & Media and Seamus Dooley, assistant General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, and by Amnesty International UK. [11] Each geographical area was commanded by a UDA 'Brigadier' and sometimes also had a designated 'Military Commander', 'Intelligence Officer' and 'Quartermaster'. 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Despite his reputation for gangsterism, Greggs failed attack on Gerry Adams had afforded him legendary status and, under the direction of Jackie McDonald, the remaining UDA brigadiers concluded that Adair had to be removed. In November 2011, Stuart Gregg received 400,000 compensation for psychological trauma due to having witnessed his fathers murder. [36] In May of that same year, Alan McCullough was himself killed by the UDA. [29] In response, graffiti appeared around the walls of Rathcoole in December, stating: "Daft Dog and White beware. All four were arrested earlier this week during a police and . Following his release from prison, Gregg returned to Rathcoole where he again became an important figure, taking a central role in the illegal drug trade, with his Rathcoole stronghold a centre of narcotics.Sometime after the Combined Loyalist Military Command of 1994 he succeeded Joe English, who had emerged as a leading figure in the Ulster Democratic Party, as brigadier of the South-East Antrim UDA. In the later 1980s Snoddy took ill with cancer and many of his duties as brigadier were filled by his ally Joe English. "The UDA is the biggest paramilitary group in Rathcoole, much bigger than the UVF, and there are some UDA men in the estate who would gladly do the job. "[11] In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. In late August 1997 this band was one of a number of similar flute bands to travel to Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march through the city centre. On 8 December a bomb was found under Greggs car, apparently placed there by one of Adairs allies from the Loyalist Volunteer Force. [31] Gregg was back in command by October, at which point he was one of the brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair from the UDA for his involvement in the attempted murder of Jim Gray.[32]. Adams was hit five times in the attack but the taxi rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he received treatment and survived. This has trigged UDA fury - the terror group has been facing an onslaught from crimebusters in South East Antrim while the UVF in the same area have been left relatively untouched. [10] The attack is commemorated in the song South East Antrim Brigade by loyalist singer Rab C, many of whose compositions were about the brigade and its leading members. From the 1990s until he was shot dead in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. 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