uvf gusty spence funeral

While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. [150] The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee noted in its report that "in 1992 it was estimated that Scottish support for the UDA and UVF might amount to 100,000 a year. [38] By this time Spence polarised opinion within the UVF, with some members fiercely loyal to a man they saw as a folk hero and others resenting his draconian leadership and increasing emphasis on politics, with one anonymous member even labelling him "a cunt in a cravat". 2023 BBC. [25], On 27 May, Spence sent four UVF members to kill IRA volunteer Leo Martin, who lived in Belfast. The crowds included a leader of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association Jackie McDonald. He will be buried in Bangor after a funeral service on the Shankill Road. Spence joined the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), becoming a leading figure in the group. [17], He was entrusted by the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) to read out their 13 October 1994 statement that announced the loyalist ceasefire. The Shankill loyalists supported Kilfedder and following his election as MP sent a letter to Paisley accusing him of treachery during the entire affair. The community centre hosting the event and 25 nearby homes were evacuated and a funeral was disrupted. Gusty was a man of war, he was also a man of peace, she said. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. [125], The UVF has killed more people than any other loyalist paramilitary group. Tributes were paid to former leading loyalist paramilitary turned peacemaker Gusty Spence at his funeral in Belfast today. Cludach leabhair do "The Shankill Butchers" le Martin Dillon. Formed in 1965,[7] it first emerged in 1966. [79], In 2008, a loyalist splinter group calling itself the "Real UVF" emerged briefly to make threats against Sinn Fin in County Fermanagh. The Sunday World's offices were also firebombed. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. A number of friends and family members spoke at the service at St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. Spence now argued that UVF members were soldiers and soldiers should not kill civilians, as had been the case at McGurk's Bar. [55], However, a granddaughter of Matilda Gould, a 74-year-old Protestant widow who had died from burns sustained in the UVF's attempted bombing of a Catholic bar next door to her home, objected to Spence being called a "peacemaker" and described him as a "bad evil man". Entdecke Gareth Mulvenna - Mein Leben in Loyalitt - Neues Taschenbuch - C245A in groer Auswahl Vergleichen Angebote und Preise Online kaufen bei eBay Kostenlose Lieferung fr viele Artikel! The vast majority (more than two-thirds)[9][10] of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. [63], The UVF also attacked republican paramilitaries and political activists. Birgen, Julia. Video, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, Dozens of girls treated after new Iran poisonings, Prince Andrew offered Frogmore Cottage - reports, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Beer and wine sales in Canada fall to all-time low, Man survives 31 days in jungle by eating worms, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US. Referring to its activity in the early and mid-1970s, journalist Ed Moloney described no-warning pub bombings as the UVF's "forte". . Assistant chief constable Drew Harris in a statement said "The UVF are subject to an organised crime investigation as an organised crime group. However, the year leading up to the loyalist ceasefire, which took place shortly after the Provisional IRA ceasefire, saw some of the worst sectarian killings carried out by loyalists during the Troubles. [41] Furthermore, the VPP suffered a heavy defeat in West Belfast in the October 1974 general election, when the DUP candidate John McQuade captured six times as many votes as the VPP's Ken Gibson. [19] Spence later wrote "at the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig, he's your last resort". This was in retaliation for attacks on Loyalist homes the previous weekend and after a young girl was hit in the face with a brick by Republicans. The new Brigade Staff's aim was to carry out attacks against known republicans rather than Catholic civilians. In the 1960s, he founded the Ulster Volunteer Force, which was responsible for hundreds of murders during the Troubles. The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out further attacks during this same period. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. [131] The UVF has also been involved in the extortion of legitimate businesses, although to a lesser extent than the UDA,[138] and was described in the fifth IMC report as being involved in organised crime. [26], On 26 June, the group shot dead a Catholic civilian and wounded two others as they left a pub on Malvern Street, Belfast. [2] He ran his part of the Maze along military lines, drilling inmates and training them in weapons use while also expecting a maintenance of discipline. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. [117] Members were trained in bomb-making, and the organisation developed home-made explosives. [37], The IRA had split into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA in December 1969. He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the Maze Prison. [2] He initially worked solely for the PUP but after a spell also set up the Shankill Activity Centre, a government-supported scheme to provide training and leisure opportunities for unemployed youths. The feud with the UDA ended in December following seven deaths. 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. This was a general strike in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement, which meant sharing political power with Irish nationalists and the Republic having more involvement in Northern Ireland. [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 men were tried, and in March 1977 were sentenced to an average of twenty-five years each.[51][52]. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. [21] This occurred despite Spence having been officially expelled from the Orange Order following his conviction. [18] Two days later, the government of Northern Ireland used the Special Powers Act to declare the UVF illegal. "He also sent a letter of condolence to the widow of Joe McCann, an IRA man, praising him as a soldier of Ireland.". Read about our approach to external linking. The arms are thought to have consisted of: The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. Ontario is to Ulster Protestants what Boston is to Irish Catholics." [99][100], On 4 March 2021, the UVF, Red Hand Commando and UDA renounced their current participation in the Good Friday Agreement. [29], On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. In 1972, the UVF's imprisoned leader Gusty Spence was at liberty for four months following a staged kidnapping by UVF volunteers. [89][90] A dissident Republican was arrested for "the attempted murder of police officers in east Belfast" after shots were fired upon the police. F". Reverend Chris Hudson, who helped broker contacts between loyalist paramilitaries and the Irish government, said that aspect of the statement was significant. During the riot, UVF members shot dead RUC officer Victor Arbuckle. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. [21] The shootings led to Spence's being sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum sentence of twenty years. [49], On 3 May 2007, Spence read out the statement by the UVF announcing that it would keep its weapons but put them beyond the reach of ordinary members. 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. [140][141], In contrast to the IRA, overseas support for loyalist paramilitaries including the UVF has been limited. She is committed to explaining your options. Bistir na Seanchille. 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. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. 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. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. [38] This came to a climax on 4 December, when the UVF bombed McGurk's Bar, a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast. [18][19] Some members have also been found responsible for orchestrating a series of racist attacks. "They are holding local communities to ransom. RT.ie is the website of Raidi Teilifs ireann, Ireland's National Public Service Media. [36], Spence soon became the UVF commander within the Maze Prison. Independentie. [2] He had been stationed in Cyprus and saw action fighting against the forces of Colonel Georgios Grivas. My experience of Gusty was as the whole man. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland.The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles.It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have . The largest death toll in a single attack was in the 3 March 1991 Cappagh killings, when the UVF killed IRA members John Quinn, Dwayne O'Donnell and Malcolm Nugent, and civilian Thomas Armstrong in the small village of Cappagh. The UVF's leadership is based in Belfast and known as the Brigade Staff. 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,. [46] A few days after the announcement, Spence made a trip to the United States along with the PUP's David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson and the UDP's McMichael, Adams and Joe English. "The untouchable informers facing exposure at last". Nicholas Vella, a 14-year veteran of the Huntington Beach Police . Read about our approach to external linking. [5] He was educated at the Riddel School on Malvern Street and the Hemsworth Square school, finishing his education aged fourteen. Find the perfect gusty spence funeral stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Along with the newly formed Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the UVF started an armed campaign against the Catholic population of Northern Ireland. The charges were dropped but later in 1966 he was given life for the murder of Peter Ward, who had called in to a Shankill Road bar with Catholic workmates and was shot dead as he left. His hearse bore a floral tribute that spelt out the word Granda, while relatives who spoke at the funeral recalled personal memories of a family man. Sun 25 Sep 2011 13.46 EDT. [125] Historically, the number of active UVF members in July 1971 was stated by one source to be no more than 20. Also, why did the author not probe the close relationship between Gusty Spence and the RHC? [44] In 1977, he publicly condemned the use of violence for political gain, on the grounds that it was counter-productive. [145], Scotland was a source of funding and aid, supplying explosives and guns. He later became involved in politics and announced the landmark loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. Another former PUP leader, Dawn Purvis, said Spence's opinions began to shift sooner than is generally perceived. of which I have been speaking. [34] Spence was arrested along with around thirty other men at a UVF drinking club in Brennan Street; but after giving a false name, he was released. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade. [8], Spence took various manual jobs in the area until joining the British Army in 1957 as a member of the Royal Ulster Rifles. Mark Davenport from the BBC has stated that he spoke to a drug dealer who told him that he paid Billy Wright protection money. More militant members of the UVF who disagreed with the ceasefire, broke away to form the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), led by Billy Wright. [58][59][105] Graham has held the position since he assumed office in 1976. "He was an Irishman and looked upon himself as an Ulster Irishman as well as being British. The UVF launched further attacks in the Republic of Ireland during December 1972 and January 1973, when it detonated three car bombs in Dublin and one in Belturbet, County Cavan, killing a total of five civilians. Although Mr Lynch was from a different tradition, he had "welcomed his friendship," and he recalled the conversations they had about peace in Ireland. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. [72], On 12 February 2006, The Observer reported that the UVF was to disband by the end of 2006. In keeping with his wishes,. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [81], In June 2009 the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in front of independent witnesses as a formal statement of decommissioning was read by Dawn Purvis and Billy Hutchinson. Gusty Spence Funeral RIP 21,778 views Nov 15, 2013 95 Dislike Share Save Elmwoodgrove 14 subscribers The Funeral at Craven Street Gusty said Some day The PUP will grow a set of Jaws And BITE. 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". Contrast to the IRA, overseas support for loyalist paramilitaries including the UVF has killed more people than other! Ulster Protestants what Boston is to Ulster Protestants what Boston is to Irish.! Racist attacks broker contacts between loyalist paramilitaries and the organisation for over a decade people were shot dead and were! 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