Armed men hijacked a van on the nearby Shankill Road and forced the driver to take a device to a church on the Crumlin Road. [46] Some of the new Brigade Staff members bore nicknames such as "Big Dog" and "Smudger". [51] The couple had three daughters, Elizabeth (born 1954), Sandra (1956) and Catherine (1960). [68], According to journalist and author Ed Moloney, the UVF campaign in Mid-Ulster in this period "indisputably shattered Republican morale", and put the leadership of the republican movement under intense pressure to "do something",[69] although this has been disputed by others.[who?]. The statement also included a warning that activities could "provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance". [85][86], On 2526 October 2010, the UVF was involved in rioting and disturbances in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey with UVF gunmen seen on the streets at the time. Tributes were paid to former leading loyalist paramilitary turned peacemaker Gusty Spence at his funeral in Belfast today. 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. [98], On 23 March 2019, eleven alleged UVF members were arrested during a total of 14 searches conducted in Belfast, Newtownards and Comber and the suspects, aged between 22 and 48, were taken into police custody for questioning. He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the Maze Prison. [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. The UVF's last major attack was the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, in which its members shot dead six Catholic civilians in a rural pub. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. for a proxy bomb attack targeting a "peace-building" event in Belfast where Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was speaking. . Such retaliation was seen as both collective punishment and an attempt to weaken the IRA's support; it was thought that terrorising the Catholic community and inflicting such a death toll on it would force the IRA to end its campaign. [26] Despite the fact that control of the UVF lay (nominally at least) with Spence's closest ally Samuel "Bo" McClelland, from prison Spence was often at odds with the group's leadership, in particular with regards to the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing. He added: "I think it helped to set some of the tone to bring us to where we are now.". It set up a paramilitary-style wing called the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). Save up to 70% with our image packs Pre-pay for multiple images and download on demand. [12] Due to his later involvement in a murder, Spence was expelled from the Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution. [30] Met by two members of the Red Hand Commando upon his release, Spence was informed of the need for a restructuring within the UVF and told not to return to prison. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. The chip shop has since been closed down. The latter had formally asked Spence for his daughter's hand in marriage during a prison visit. DeSantis won't say he's running. Two UVF members, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, were accidentally killed by their own bomb while carrying out this attack. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. His funeral service is taking place at Saint Michael's church off the Shankill Road. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. CAIN also states that republicans killed 15 UVF members, some of whom are suspected to have been set up for assassination by their colleagues. In October 1975, after staging a counter-coup, the Brigade Staff acquired a new leadership of moderates with Tommy West serving as the Chief of Staff. Read about our approach to external linking. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. Slowly. [47] Spence went on to become a leading advocate for the Good Friday Agreement. In the 1960s, he founded the Ulster Volunteer Force, which was responsible for hundreds of murders during the Troubles. 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". 2023 BBC. The biggest of these was the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest terrorist attack of the conflict. It was not in his later life. He later became involved in politics and announced the landmark loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. F". Openly paraded with the UVF and thanked Gusty Spence repeatedly for his services to Ulster. 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. After his release December 1984, Spence was a key figure in developing UVF thinking and indirectly its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party. Augustus (Gusty) Spence Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Protestant paramilitary organization founded in Northern Ireland in 1966. "BBC News Man held over East Belfast police murder bid", "Surge in Belfast violence blamed on resurgent UVF", "The Beast from East Belfast could put an end to flags violence right now but he won't", "East Belfast UVF: Mission Accomplished? [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. [80], In the twentieth IMC report, the group was said to be continuing to put its weapons "beyond reach", (in the group's own words) to downsize, and reduce the criminality of the group. It would attack the Republic again in May 1974, during the two-week Ulster Workers' Council strike. [127] A British Army report released in 2006 estimated a peak membership of 1,000. [5] He was educated at the Riddel School on Malvern Street and the Hemsworth Square school, finishing his education aged fourteen. Although O'Neill was a unionist, they saw him as being too 'soft' on the civil rights movement and too friendly with the Republic of Ireland. [49] A political wing was formed in June 1974, the Volunteer Political Party led by UVF Chief of Staff Ken Gibson, which contested West Belfast in the October 1974 general election, polling 2,690 votes (6%). Less extreme measures will be taken against anyone sheltering or helping them, but if they persist in giving them aid, then more extreme methods will be adopted. The family of the former UVF leader Gusty Spence is planning a funeral with the emphasis on his British army past rather than his time in the paramilitary group. [125] Historically, the number of active UVF members in July 1971 was stated by one source to be no more than 20. [2] He rose to the rank of Provost Sergeant (battalion police). In 1990, the UVF joined the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) and indicated its acceptance of moves towards peace. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. In Belfast, loyalists responded by attacking nationalist districts. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. In February, it began to target critics of militant loyalism the homes of MPs Austin Currie, Sheelagh Murnaghan, Richard Ferguson and Anne Dickson were attacked with improvised bombs. The Irish parliament's Joint Committee on Justice called the bombings an act of "international terrorism" involving the British security forces. "However he did dedicate himself to peace and reconciliation for much of his later life so he will also be remembered as a major influence in drawing loyalism away from sectarian strife," he added. The UVF agreed to a ceasefire in October 1994. Loyalists were successful in importing arms into Northern Ireland. [38] This came to a climax on 4 December, when the UVF bombed McGurk's Bar, a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast. But despite the statement, the UVF was subsequently involved in sporadic violence, including several murders. [113] At other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as "retaliation" for IRA actions, since the IRA drew almost all of its support from the Catholic community. Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. This building had been an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original UVF. [37] As the loyalist Maze commander, Spence initially also had jurisdiction over the imprisoned members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), although this came to an end in 1973 when, following a deterioration in relations between the two groups outside the prison walls, James Craig became the UDA's Maze commander. In keeping with his wishes,. He was born in the Shankill Road area of Belfast. These attacks were stepped up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly in the east Tyrone and north Armagh areas. Explosives for the north were mostly shipped in small boats which set out at night from the Scottish coast and made contact at sea with vessels from Ulster ports." [29], On 12 August 1969, the "Battle of the Bogside" began in Derry. [48] When Spence's wife died three years later, he said that C Company had been responsible for her death, such was the toll that the events had taken on her health. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos [citation needed] The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005. "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. Along with the UDA, it helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads, intimidating workers, and shutting any businesses that opened. Since the ceasefire, the UVF has been involved in rioting, drug dealing, organised crime, loan-sharking and prostitution. Gusty Spence received primary education at Riddell Memorial (1938-43) and Hemsworth Square (1943-7) public elementary schools, both in the Shankill area. "[154], According to Alan McQuillan, the assistant director of the Assets Recovery Agency in 2005, "In the loyalist community, drug dealing is run by the paramilitaries and it is generally run for personal gain by a large number of people." [42], Spence was increasingly disillusioned with the UVF and he imparted these views to fellow inmates at Long Kesh. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. 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. 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