[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. [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. 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. Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Martin Quinn is the brother of the murdered Glenn Quinn, who was beaten to . Many of them were innocent - but had to pay up anyway. They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors. (I.R.A) History & Background. His gaunt appearance had people raising questions about his health. He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier. [42] The process was confirmed as complete by the IICD and came in the last 24 hours of the commission's existence. Intense police pressure is forcing South East Antrim UDA mob boss Gary Fisher to gradually withdraw from his leadership role. MEDIA SCRUTINY: Press coverage is heaping pressure on Gary Fisher. UVF chiefs fear that any deal they do with the British government about going out of business in return for funding and an amnesty will be dependent on Lisa's body being returned to her heartbroken family. fifty skinheads appeared from nowhere, many of them wearing Chelsea and Rangers football scarves and covered in Loyalist and swastika tattoos. Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, Statistical breakdown of deaths in the Troubles of Northern Ireland 1969 2001, Irish National Liberation Army ( I.N.L.A ), Irish Republican Army. [32], 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. [48] Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton described the incident as a "power trip" by the brigade, and suggested that it was an attempt by the group to assert their dominance over the local community. Read about our approach to external linking. During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Gregg's eye. He is currently recovering at his mother's home in the Rathcoole estate after last week's beating. [19] In late August 1997, the brigade became involved in simmering tensions with fellow loyalist paramilitaries in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Old tensions resurfaced however, and after Adairs men fought with UVF supporters at the Shankills Rex Bar, Adair launched a pogrom of the lower Shankill, forcing out all UVF members and their families and initiating a loyalist feud.[22]. 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. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. "The vast majority of it comes in from down south, from one of the well-known crime gangs down there. BUSINESS UDA signs strategic cooperation with Mara Inc to expand facilities management business " data-media=""> 21/02/2023 09:14 PM KUALA LUMPUR, 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. Gregg joined the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) at the age of 14. The South East Antrim UDA's tally of violence spanning two decades includes a roll call of unsolved murders. 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 The violence that erupted in the East Antrim town of Carrickfergus on Saturday night 21 July was the latest episode in internecine UDA feuding. He managed to avoid being beaten in return for tricking his ex-UVF 2IC friend into attending the Monkstown meeting during which he was attacked. "But he's only delaying the inevitable and will eventually have to account for the 250,000 that's disappeared.". Masked gunmen immediately opened fire on the occupants with automatic weapons. Gregg, seated in the backseat, was hit at close range and died instantly. [6] However, this proved short-lived. A mortally wounded Carson died later in hospital, and taxi driver William McKnight was seriously hurt. Three men were acquitted of his murder. The gang is a standalone faction of the UDA. [41], In 2009, the brigade claimed to have decommissioned a substantial quantity of guns and explosives in a single day in the presence of the chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). On February 1 2003, Gregg and fellow UDA man Rab Carson had just returned to Northern Ireland after attending an Old Firm match in Glasgow when their taxi drove into . The killing of Mr Horner, gunned down in front of his three-year-old son Oscar in the Bangor carpark of Sainsbury supermarket, was linked at the time to the South East Antrim UDA feud which claimed the life of his friend, Carrickfergus loyalist Geordie Gilmore, two months earlier. 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. Tommy Lyttle inherited 'Bertie Scott' from a man called Alan Snoddy, the UDA commander or Brigadier in South-East Antrim, a figure who kept a very low public profile. [1][2] It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. The secretive mobster looks gaunt and has been described as 'haunted', Fisher is losing his grip on the crime gang. A DEPOSED UVF boss is suspected of stealing more than 250,000 from the terror gang over the past five years. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud. On 6 January 2010, the UDA announced that it had put its weapons "verifiably beyond use". [3] A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole , Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley and Whitewell, all . Sunday World understands the UVF man, based in Rathcoole, is aware he has been fingered as a police tout and has stepped up security as his home in fear of attack. Home. [1], Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. [9] Gregg's fearsome reputation earned him the nickname "the Reaper" and he bore a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his back as a tribute. Fri 14 Jan 2022 at 00:30. [8] Gregg, Colin Gray and Gerry Welsh were immediately arrested by the waiting British Army, who had doctored the bullets to reduce their lethality. [45] As of 2014 Fisher was still identified by the Irish Independent as Brigadier, with the brigade reported as being in the process of rearming. And some of them think the UVF tout should be made to pay with his life but were told they couldn't by already under-fire SEA leader Fisher. Themen: Politische Wochenschau, politische Theorie, Artikel und Berichte zu Themen rund um berwachung, Repression, Wirtschaft, Soziales, Befreiungsnationalismus, Antiimperialismus, Zeitgeschichte und Literaturhinweise 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 we look at what they try and portray themselves to be, defenders of their area, I can't see how that ties in with dealing drugs in a community.". Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. 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. [20] This followed in summer 2002 when a community centre was taken over for this purpose although Gregg's UDA objected and daubed the building with the word "tout". "And the blunder of the Housing Executive staff being threatened did him no favours either in the area.". Watch: Peter Crouch sings the Fields of Athenry with Liverpool fans in Dublin pub, Former minister Nichola Mallon says Windsor Framework receiving positive welcome from businesses, Senior police officer referred to watchdog over alleged rape comments, Over 150 Presbyterian members sign letter criticising incoming moderators comments on ordination of women, Hancock hugely disappointed and sad after WhatsApp messages sent to newspaper. 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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). The gang's boss in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast was another expelled. Wikizero - Ulster Volunteer Force . The 47-year-old had no connections to any paramilitary gang, but was beaten to death in his home in January 2020 after being threatened by the group. These were carried out under the Red Hand Defenders cover name, with some attacks also blamed on the Orange Volunteers who were active in similar attacks at the time. [18] Catholic workman Gary Moore was killed in Monkstown in 2000 in another killing attributed to Gregg's unit. The expelled Mount Vernon UVF commander was replaced by a close associate of the organisation's overall leader John 'Bunter' Graham. A senior police source once described him as a man driven by pure and absolute bigotry. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is the largest Ulster loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It's very difficult to deal with the issue of their control, because of the fear that they just instil into people.". "Some families had no involvement in drugs at all but still had to pay to escape being put out, or even worse. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of senior paramilitary veterans with Fisher forced to toe the line. [4] The attack had been known in advance by security forces due to a tip-off from informants within Rathcoole; Adams and his co-passengers had survived in part because Royal Ulster Constabulary officers, acting on the informants' information, had replaced much of the ammunition in the UDA's Rathcoole weapons dump with low-velocity bullets. There is a belief in the organisation that the Task Force is building a case against Fisher and senior figures in SEA are content to leave him in place. The Reaper is coming for you. [43] Accusations that the brigade has remained active continued, however, and in 2009, the mother of Jason Ballard, a 20-year-old Greenisland native subjected to a vicious beating at his home, claimed that the attack had been carried out by the South East Antrim Brigade, although they denied any involvement in the attack. A mural commemorating Gregg and Carson in Cloughfern. The Reaper is coming for you" as a threat to "Mad Dog" Adair and his ally John White. [1][2] It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. [66], In July 2021, Doug Beattie, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, told the BBC that the South East Antrim UDA had threatened to kill him twice. Nonetheless he was not keen to antagonise Adair and so, along with McFarland, McDonald and Jimbo Simpson, accepted his invitation to attended a Loyalist Day of Culture organised by Adair on the Lower Shankill on 19 August 2000. [57] Fisher was subsequently identified by the Sunday Life as brigadier, with the paper accusing him of ordering the shooting of Horner. UDA members turned out in force yesterday for the funeral of Mr Robert Carson, who was gunned down alongside the east Antrim UDA "brigadier", Mr John Gregg, in Belfast's docks area at the weekend. The South East Antrim UDA's tally of violence spanning two decades includes a roll call of unsolved murders. His 2IC (second-in-command) was also dismissed after being given a sickening baseball bat beating by other masked UVF members. John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. South East Antrim UDA mural in Glengormley, North Belfast. And until he was deposed, he was known for "telling tales" to the UVF's South East Antrim brigadier Den Elliott who was stood down last year for allegedly running unsanctioned rackets. A volley of shots was fired over his coffin by UDA gunmen outside his Rathcoole home. Spotlight made contact with a former senior PSNI officer who was at the forefront of policing efforts against the gang. 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