Wikizero - Ulster Volunteer Force . often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. He moved from the SEA power base in the Rathcoole estate to the sleepy backwater of Greenisland as his grip on SEA weakened. match. The expelled Mount Vernon UVF commander was replaced by a close associate of the organisation's overall leader John 'Bunter' Graham. His role in the murder was covered up for years by his father's best friend - the deposed UVF South East Antrim commander. 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. id="addMyFavs"> It's very difficult to deal with the issue of their control, because of the fear that they just instil into people.". One of those was alleged Carrickfergus UDA commander Clifford Irons who was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine. [65], On 25 November 2020 the Belfast Telegraph reported that the South East Antrim UDA had passed on a threat against one of their journalists. Much of this activity was inspired by Greggs personal hatred of Catholics. Senior members of South East Antrim UDA want to take out . [2] Since 2007 the South East Antrim Brigade has operated independently of the UDA following a fall-out. In the later 1980s Snoddy took ill with cancer and many of his duties as brigadier were filled by his ally Joe English. [36] Adair would be removed from his position of power soon afterwards in a show of strength by the mainstream UDA under the command of Jackie McDonald. Such was the ferocity of the attack the victim urinated himself while pleading for his life. [53] Gilmore died the following day, with the incident described as part of an ongoing feud in the town. During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Gregg's eye. Carrickfergus is a town that once inspired a classic Irish folk song about longing. A DEPOSED UVF boss is suspected of stealing more than 250,000 from the terror gang over the past five years. 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. However, some communities in Northern Ireland still live in fear of violent loyalist paramilitary gangs and risk brutal consequences for doing or saying anything that gang members perceive as offensive. Under Fisher, the South East Antrim Brigade became close to the Shoukri brothers, who commanded the neighbouring North Belfast Brigade before being expelled from the UDA in June 2006. South East Antrim terror chief Gary Fisher is caught in a trap. [58], On 11 December 2018 handguns bought on the 'dark net' by two Co Antrim men linked to a loyalist feud may have been destined for use by the South East Antrim UDA. Amongst the Brigade's most notorious attacks during the Troubles was the attempted killing of Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in 1984. [44] In 2010, the Independent Monitoring Commission confirmed that the split between the Fisher faction of the brigade and the wider UDA had not ended. [23] As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. Posted 2 years ago 2 years ago. However, this proved short-lived. Three men were acquitted of his murder. The UDA South East Antrim Brigade was previously one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and are heavily involved in the drug trade. [84] fifty skinheads appeared from nowhere, many of them wearing Chelsea and Rangers football scarves and covered in Loyalist and swastika tattoos. John Gregg (1957 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. [60], On 4 January police investigated SEA UDA graffiti sprayed on eleven properties. Despite his reputation for gangsterism, Gregg's 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. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. Gregg when explaining his family background, revealed that his father, regarded as a quiet man, had trust in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army but joined the loyalist vigilante groups set up around the start of the Troubles ostensibly to protect the Protestant community from attacks by republicans. [63] At least one journalist was warned of a possible under car booby trap. 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[33], Gregg's killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. Snoddy was close to UDA leader Andy Tyrie and was recognised as one of his closest allies amongst the UDA leadership.[7]. Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. [34], Gregg was given a paramilitary funeral which was attended by thousands of mourners, including senior UDA members Jackie McDonald, Jim Gray, Sammy Duddy and Michael Stone. According to a recent MI5/police intelligence assessment shared with Spotlight, the South East Antrim UDA "has access to arms" and is "heavily involved in drugs supply, community coercion, intimidation and other criminality". [37], Following the conclusion of the feud with Adair the UDA reconstituted its ceasefire in what they christened the "Gregg initiative". The main target proved to be Danny O'Connor, a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) representative on initially Larne Borough Council and then the Northern Ireland Assembly, whose home and office were attacked at least 12 times by Gregg's men between 2000 and 2002. Gregg when explaining his family background, revealed that his father, regarded as a quiet man, had trust in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army but joined the loyalist vigilante groups set up around the start of the Troubles ostensibly to protect the Protestant community from attacks by republicans. Under Gregg the South-East Antrim Brigade were prepared to ignore the terms of the loyalist ceasefire, such as on 25 April 1997 when he dispatched a five-man team to Carrickfergus to set fire to a Catholic church in retaliation for a similar attack on a Protestant church in East Belfast (this earlier attack had actually been organised by dissident loyalists seeking to provoke the UDA into returning to violence). Gregg's movements were known to C Company member Alan McCullough who, receiving instruction from Adair (then in HMP Maghaberry), arranged for a hit team to kill Gregg and his associate as the taxi took them from the port of Belfast. 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). [27] On 8 December a bomb was found under Gregg's car, apparently placed there by one of Adair's allies from the Loyalist Volunteer Force. "[11] In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. "He'll take the hit, he's like a deer in the headlights, there's nowhere for him to go. "All you have to do is look at history, there are very few commanders or brigadiers who were simply allowed to leave. A bomb attack on Adairs house on 8 January 2003 was blamed on Gregg by White, although Adair himself was returned to prison two days later after a dossier detailing his drug-dealing and racketeering activities was shown to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy. [17] According to the Workers' Party (Ireland), English was stood down by the UDA after he had expressed willingness to enter into dialogue with them. [3] A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole (the mural's location), Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley and Whitewell, all of which are part of Newtownabbey, as well as Carrickfergus, the Shore Road, Greenisland, Ballymena, Whitehead, Antrim and Larne. [42] The process was confirmed as complete by the IICD and came in the last 24 hours of the commission's existence. It's believed he fears sparking a new intra-loyalist feud, piling even more pressure on the faction which has been facing a police crackdown. The Reaper is coming for you. John Gregg (1957 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. [61], On 16 January 2019 four men were jailed for life for their involvement in the May 2017 UDA loyalist feud killing of 35-year-old father-of-two Colin Horner. 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. A Northern Ireland group, which includes representatives of loyalist paramilitaries, recently withdrew its support for the Good Friday Agreement.
