south east antrim uda brigadier

That same night Jackie McDonalds forces invaded the lower Shankill and ran those members of C Company that had remained loyal to Adair, who was still in prison, out of the city. 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. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of . Four men were convicted of his murder. Will the Windsor Framework be enough for the DUP? The UDA was only proscribed - or declared illegal - in 1992 and, as the Troubles ended, the group began to fracture. "This isn't the end of it I wouldn't have thought. Gregg, seated in the backseat, was hit at close range and died instantly. [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. [63][64] Patsy McGlone, Stephen Farry, Steve Aiken and Doug Beattie also condemned the attacks and were subsequently warned by the PSNI of threats from the South East Antrim UDA. UDA. Senior members of the UDA group want to take out the UVF member who they think is a 'tout'. DCI John Caldwell: The New IRA threat after Omagh shooting, The Firm: Inside Lurgan and Portadowns cross-community crime gang. Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. [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]. When asked by the BBC in prison if he regretted anything about the shooting, his reply was: UDA mural in Greggs Rathcoole stronghold. Rev Philip McAlister officiated at his funeral. "Over the last 12 months the paramilitary cops (Paramilitary Crime Task Force) have been hitting the South East Antrim over and over again," said a source. [35] Afterward, a lone piper led the cortege to Carnmoney Cemetery where he was buried. It is unclear when South East Antrim was first designated as a brigade area although its first recognised leader was Alan Snoddy and he held title of Brigadier by at least 1979. Tipperary Tim astounding 1928 Grand National winner at 100/1 & a proud resident of Glencairn ! [63] At least one journalist was warned of a possible under car booby trap. Senior members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando also attended. He was interviewed on the basis of anonymity. [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. "Some families had no involvement in drugs at all but still had to pay to escape being put out, or even worse. A failure by the paramilitary group's south-east Antrim faction to back the move resulted in a . Sources in South East Antrim have told us Fisher has been trying to engineer an exit strategy with enough money to sustain a life away from the UDA. Greggs 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. Carrickfergus is a town that once inspired a classic Irish folk song about longing. 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). The violence, on the Castlemara estate in the town, saw up to 150 loyalists confront each other as members of the 'mainstream' UDA flooded the area in a show of strength against the . [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. [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. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is the largest Ulster loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. The juxtaposition of this initiative with the name of Gregg was condemned by the mother of a Catholic who had been killed by members of the South-East Antrim Brigade in 2000 as she argued "it's sickening to call it the Gregg initiative when he was a ruthless terrorist.Everyone goes on about Johnny Adair but they're all as bad as each other". Greggs killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. 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. Senior members of South East Antrim UDA want to take out the UVF man who they believe gave up their drug dealers. Browns_right_foot 3 mo. The expelled Mount Vernon UVF commander was replaced by a close associate of the organisation's overall leader John 'Bunter' Graham. [59], On 3 January 2019 police reported a baby in a pram narrowly escaped injury after homes were attacked in Co Down by South East Antrim UDA members. Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, UN to ignore remarks of India guru's fictional country, India court panel to probe Adani fraud allegations. [1][2] It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. [2] Since 2007 the South East Antrim Brigade has operated independently of the UDA following a fall-out. South East Antrim Brigade mural in Ballymena honouring Gregg. [4] A newer mural in the Cloughfern area of Newtownabbey and flags have updated the areas to include Ballycarry, Ballyclare, the rural hinterland of Ballymena called 'Braidside' and despite not being in County Antrim, the town of Newtownards. Central role played at UFF parade by veteran crime lord's two underbosses hints at changing of the guard. Adams was in a taxi near Belfast City Hall with some associates when another car containing John 'Grug' Gregg and two fellow Rathcoole UDA members pulled up alongside and opened fire on Adams. His 2IC (second-in-command) was also dismissed after being given a sickening baseball bat beating by other masked UVF members. 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. Gregg's 18-year-old son Stuart and another man were also in the vehicle but neither sustained injuries in the shooting attack. games. Masked gunmen immediately opened fire on the occupants with automatic weapons. Such was the ferocity of the attack the victim urinated himself while pleading for his life. [57] Fisher was subsequently identified by the Sunday Life as brigadier, with the paper accusing him of ordering the shooting of Horner. However, in the second half of 2002 he was dragged into the conflict after Adair made him a target in his own attempts to take full control of the UDA. He was aware that (another UDA Brigadier) had arranged a trip to London for us to speak to people in England, where we would attempt to reorganise and motivate units in . Senior members of South East Antrim UDA want to take out . "Putting it bluntly they were either stood down, expelled or shot - that's the only way to get out.". But Johnny kept trying to justify it. [1], Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. 25.043611 121.5625. Old tensions resurfaced however, and after Adair's men fought with UVF supporters at the Shankill's Rex Bar, Adair launched a pogrom of the lower Shankill, forcing out all UVF members and their families and initiating a loyalist feud. To the rest of us, an attack on a UDA brigadier is an attack on the whole organisation. This came within a few days of a 1m allocation to a conflict transformation project in loyalist areas. 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[28] In response, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack in a move Gregg saw as a threat. The South East Antrim UDA's tally of violence spanning two decades includes a roll call of unsolved murders. The UVF man who is accused of touting - who we can't identify for legal reasons - went around the Rathcoole estate and other loyalist areas close by demanding cash payments from alleged drug dealers recently. The shootings raised some anger on the Shankill, where the three were well-liked figures, and Adair sought to exploit this as a method of getting rid of Gregg. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of senior paramilitary veterans with Fisher forced to toe the line. Having witnessed demographic shifts in Glengormley and Crumlin, traditionally loyalist majority towns that had come to have nationalist majorities on account of loyalists moving out of Belfast, he determined that the same thing would not happen in Carrickfergus and Larne and so launched a campaign of pipe bomb and arson attacks on Catholic homes there (despite these towns having very small Catholic populations). [33], Gregg's killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. 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. Now, the UDA has imploded to such an extent that its west Belfast brigade, run by the re-imprisoned renegade Adair, is accused of murdering south-east Antrim brigadier, John "Grug" Gregg, while . During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Gregg's eye. His assassination attempt had made him a loyalist hero and he quickly took over from English as brigadier. 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. In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. 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. When the taxi stopped at traffic lights close to the motorway, it was rammed by another taxi which had been hijacked earlier on the Shankill Road. The Reaper is coming for you. [18] In 2000, he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. 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. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. 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He told author Ian S. Wood that he had only supported the Combined Loyalist Military Command ceasefire in an effort to ensure the release of imprisoned friends. They have a number of supply lines. Since his release, Shoukri had resumed his position as 'brigadier' of the north Belfast UDA while his brother Andre was in prison. Adams was hit five times in the attack but the taxi rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he received treatment and survived. [3] He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. "Some had to take out loans to buy their safety from this thug and then it turns out he's touting on the UDA's dealers to the cops at the same time.". 2 Discover Center Of Taipei ( ), 1 Shifu Rd ( Taipei City Hall Stn ), +886 2 2757-4547. In late 2001, Greggs reign of terror in Rathcoole, where drug dealing, knee-capping and savage beatings were the norm, was challenged by local British Labour Party Councillor Mark Langhammer, who also objected to Greggs close links to neo-Nazi groups in Great Britain. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. Tu-Su 09:00-17:00, closed M. Located just inside the main entrance of Taipei City Hall, this is a good place to know the history and culture of Taipei City. Greggs 18-year-old son Stuart and another man were also in the vehicle but neither sustained injuries in the shooting attack. [38], Gregg was married with one son and two stepdaughters. 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. [3], Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, "BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama | John "Grug" Gregg", "Loyalists on brink of war as UDA chief is shot dead | UK news", "Assassin is kicked out of top UDA post | UK news", "Retaliation inevitable - Just a matter of when", "UDA leaders son gets record payout UTV News", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gregg_(loyalist)&oldid=1118219468, This page was last edited on 25 October 2022, at 19:42. Each were accused of taxing drug dealers and stealing tens of thousands of pounds from UVF coffers. [84] "Several UDA men told their bosses they wanted him shot dead while others wanted his knees done but they've been ordered by Fisher to leave him alone, for now. A volley of shots was fired over his coffin by UDA gunmen outside his Rathcoole home. He will have run the crime gang . 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[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. "But Gary Fisher doesn't want the hassle of sanctioning something against him. A UDA member originally from the Woodvale Road had moved to Rathcoole where he had been beaten up after it emerged that he was a friend of Joe English, the former brigadier who had been exiled from the estate by Gregg for his anti-drugs stance. Similarly, South East Antrim UDA which broke away from the Inner Council in 2007, is wholly independent of any other UDA faction. 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. Gregg took this as a threat and, after complaining to senior figures in the West Belfast UDA, ordered the three men to be kneecapped. 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. 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. A senior police source once described him as a man driven by pure and absolute bigotry. "He's already under enough heat from the cops. 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. By September 2002, Adair had even circulated stories to contacts in the media that Gregg was under death threat from the UDA. Snoddy died from the illness in September 1988 and English . Fisher associates subjected Simms to a punishment shooting after he was found with his hands in the till. 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. [5], Gregg was sentenced to 18 years in prison; however, he only served nine years before he was released in 1993. Charlie Strain, Hugh Cameron, Tommy Hollran and Mark Gourley, who is missing presumed . 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. 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