[155], Billy Wright, the commander of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade, is believed to have started dealing drugs in 1991[156] as a lucrative sideline to paramilitary murder. [29], On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. 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Spence is regarded as the first terrorist godfather in Northern Ireland but also the man who took the first steps towards ending UVF violence. 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". Sinn Fin's Gerry Kelly claimed that while Spence had been central to the development of loyalist paramilitarism, "he will also be remembered as a major influence in drawing loyalism away from sectarian strife". [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. 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. [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". Paisley had intimated that Kilfedder, a rival for the leadership of dissident unionism, was close to Fine Gael after learning that he had attended party meetings while a student at Trinity College Dublin. [4] He married Isabella "Bella" Hayes, Gusty Spence's mother, in 1919. However, following significant political pressure, the UVF claimed in 2007 that it was decommissioning its weapons. [18] Two days later, the government of Northern Ireland used the Special Powers Act to declare the UVF illegal. 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. [84] The Independent Monitoring Commission stated Moffett was killed by UVF members acting with the sanction of the leadership. DeSantis won't say he's running. A number of friends and family members spoke at the service at St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. 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! [2], In August 2000, Spence was caught up in moves by Johnny Adair's "C" Company of the UDA to take control of the Shankill by forcing out the UVF and other opponents. [5] The family home was 66 Joseph Street in an area of the lower Shankill known colloquially as "the Hammer". After his release December 1984, Spence was a key figure in developing UVF thinking and indirectly its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party. Both pubs were wrecked and a number of people were wounded. He added: "I think it helped to set some of the tone to bring us to where we are now.". Ever Loved makes it easy to compare funeral homes, funeral parlors and mortuaries, so you can find the best fit. [108], The UVF's stated goal was to combat Irish republicanism particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. Spence's biographer Roy Garland said he had formed unlikely relationships and challenged conventional loyalist thinking. The Irish Army set up field hospitals near the border. In 1984, the UVF attempted to kill the northern editor of the Sunday World, Jim Campbell after he had exposed the paramilitary activities of Mid-Ulster brigadier Robin Jackson. An article published by the newspaper fingered Wright as a drug lord and sectarian murderer. Henry McDonald. [76][77][78], In January 2008, the UVF was accused of involvement in vigilante action against alleged criminals in Belfast. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. But despite the statement, the UVF was subsequently involved in sporadic violence, including several murders. [125] Historically, the number of active UVF members in July 1971 was stated by one source to be no more than 20. 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. [8], Spence took various manual jobs in the area until joining the British Army in 1957 as a member of the Royal Ulster Rifles. Until recent years,[12] it was noted for secrecy and a policy of limited, selective membership. His funeral service is taking place at Saint Michael's church off the Shankill Road. This collection contains Gusty Spence's personal and business correspondence from 1959-1998, the bulk of which was written during Spence's time in prison (1966-1984). There are various credible[citation needed] allegations that elements of the British security forces colluded with the UVF in the bombings. [39], The following year, 1972, was the most violent of the Troubles. Adair's men forced their way into Spence's Shankill home but found it empty, as Spence tended to spend much of the summer at a caravan he owned in Groomsport. 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." Former Ulster Volunteer Force leader Gusty Spence has died aged 78. 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 no-warning car bombings had been carried out by units from the Belfast and Mid-Ulster brigades. "FIFTH REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT MONITORING COMMISSION", Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs - Part One: The continuing threat from paramilitary organisations, "Inside story: Why the IRA never attacked Scotland", "Revealed: how Scots loyalists sent gelignite to paramilitaries. He had risen through its ranks to become a sergeant in the military police and the regiments flag was draped across his coffin. [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. 2023 BBC. The arms are thought to have consisted of: The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. [42] Both the UVF and the British Government have denied the claims. [140][141], In contrast to the IRA, overseas support for loyalist paramilitaries including the UVF has been limited. [20], Since 1964 and the formation of the Campaign for Social Justice, there had been a growing civil rights campaign in Northern Ireland, seeking to highlight discrimination against Catholics by the unionist government of Northern Ireland. 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. Gusty Spence (1933-2011) was a Loyalist paramilitary volunteer, a founding member and early leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). [64] Republicans responded to the attacks by assassinating senior UVF members John Bingham, William "Frenchie" Marchant and Trevor King[65] as well as Leslie Dallas, whose purported UVF membership was disputed both by his family and the UVF. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. [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. The biggest of these was the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest terrorist attack of the conflict. [32] He was returned to Crumlin Road gaol soon afterwards, where he shared a cell with William "Plum" Smith, one of the Red Hand Commandos whom he had met upon his initial release and who had since been jailed for attempted murder. 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. [21] In April 1966, Ulster loyalists led by Ian Paisley, a Protestant fundamentalist preacher, founded the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC). In accordance with Spence's wishes, there were no paramilitary trappings at the funeral or reference to his time in the UVF. [citation needed] The arms were divided between the UVF, the UDA (the largest loyalist group) and Ulster Resistance.[61]. He was jailed for life for the murder of a Catholic barman in 1966 and served 18 years in prison. [40] Following Merlyn Rees' decision to legalise the UVF in 1974, Spence encouraged them to enter politics and supported the establishment of the Volunteer Political Party. [17], On 7 May 1966, a group of UVF men led by Spence petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub on the Shankill Road. CAIN also states that republicans killed 15 UVF members, some of whom are suspected to have been set up for assassination by their colleagues. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. During the service, mourners were told there is a campaign to have overturned the conviction for which Gusty Spence served a jail sentence, the killing of 18-year-old Belfast Catholic Peter Ward in 1966. [39], Spence began to move towards a position of using political means to advance one's aims, and he persuaded the UVF leadership to declare a temporary ceasefire in 1973. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. Gusty Spence announced the loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. [25], Spence appealed against his conviction and was the subject of a release petition organised by the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee, although nothing came of either initiative. Read about our approach to external linking. Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said many nationalists would remember Spence as someone "who was central to the sectarianism that gave birth to the modern loyalist paramilitary". 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