The business has expanded rapidly in recent years and is used to launder criminal cash. [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". MEDIA SCRUTINY: Press coverage is heaping pressure on Gary Fisher. Following the conclusion of the feud with Adair the UDA reconstituted its ceasefire in what they christened the Gregg initiative. [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. 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. However, one major obstacle to overcome before any deal can be agreed is the recovery of the body of missing murder victim Lisa Dorrian. Under Gregg, drug-dealing became a major problem in brigade areas, particularly Rathcoole, with Gregg himself said to have a leading role in the illicit trade. UDA boss Gary Fisher plots his exit strategy. "But then what happened was that the UDA began to splinter into criminal gangs, criminal fiefdoms.". id="addMyFavs"> The move, some say, does not signal a return to violence. [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. To the rest of us, an attack on a UDA brigadier is an attack on the whole organisation. 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 . [52], On 29 May 2017 Colin Horner, a friend of Gilmore and former UDA member, was fatally shot in front of his three-year-old son at a busy shopping centre in Bangor, County Down. A large portion of the cash was taken from a UVF-controlled taxi firm in which he holds a silent 25 per cent share. Soon after two pipe bombs were thrown at Greggs house, and his friend Tommy Kirkhams house was shot at. New IRA powerbase just 20 miles away so why didnt intelligence flag possible attack? A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole (the mural's location), Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley . Rev Philip McAlister officiated at his funeral. Since his release, Shoukri had resumed his position as 'brigadier' of the north Belfast UDA while his brother Andre was in prison. The South East Antrim UDA's tally of violence spanning two decades includes a roll call of unsolved murders. [16], 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). 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. 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. [6] However, this proved short-lived. [84] Carrick's drug trade is now a mish-mash of conflicting independent criminal gangs. [35] Afterward, a lone piper led the cortege to Carnmoney Cemetery where he was buried. On 6 January 2010, the UDA announced that it had put its weapons "verifiably beyond use". In May cops arrested and charged four men in connection with a kilo of cocaine seized back in 2020. Tommy Lyttle suspected that Craig had helped the IRA kill South Belfast UDA Brigadier, John McMichael in December 1987 not long after McMichael had aired complaints within the UDA hierarchy and in Craig's earshot, about Craig's dubious business dealings. A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole (the mural's location), Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley . A bomb attack on Adairs house on 8 January 2003 was blamed on Gregg by White, although Adair himself was returned to prison two days later after a dossier detailing his drug-dealing and racketeering activities was shown to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy. [62], On 8 May 2020 a number of journalists working for the Sunday Life and Sunday World newspapers were warned by the PSNI about imminent attacks against journalists by the South East Antrim UDA. Gregg was also characterised as a bully, a racketeer, and a sectarian bigot who took particular delight in carrying out vicious punishment attacks and randomly targeting Roman Catholics.. Watch: Peter Crouch sings the Fields of Athenry with Liverpool fans in Dublin pub, We need government and we need it now Mary Lou McDonald. 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. [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. The UVF were seen to be trying to exploit the friction within the UDA and even erected new billboards of UVF gunmen and both groups flooded the estate with their own paramilitary flags in the run-up to the Twelfth. He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier. Sources in Carrickfergus say that while he retains the . 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. 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 . . Despite the continuing activity of his brigade, and his own earlier maiming, Gregg shared the reluctance of other brigadiers about what he saw as a coming war between the UVF and West Belfast brigadier Johnny Adair. Catholic workman Gary Moore was killed in Monkstown in 2000 in another killing attributed to Greggs unit. [50] Three arrests were made in the days immediately after the attack. Convicted killer driver and drug offender Simms was once Fisher's muscle entrusted with keeping a small army of drug dealers in Carrick in check. Convicted gunrunner Thomas Morgan, a one-time member of the UDA, has muscled in on the town's drug scene. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) Senior members of South East Antrim UDA want to take out the UVF man who they believe gave up their drug dealers. [1] Gregg was also characterised as "a bully, a racketeer, and a sectarian bigot who took particular delight in carrying out vicious punishment attacks and randomly targeting Roman Catholics. This followed in summer 2002 when a community centre was taken over for this purpose although Greggs UDA objected and daubed the building with the word tout. [51], On 13 March 2017 Geordie Gilmore, formerly a commander in the brigade until being stood down in 2016 following a dispute over drug money,[52] was shot in the neck in Carrickfergus. His assassination attempt had made him a loyalist hero and he quickly took over from English as brigadier. [39] A new interim leadership was appointed in their stead although the brigade effectively divided between those who supported the wider UDA leadership and those who remained loyal to Fisher. [19], In late 2001, Gregg's 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 Gregg's close links to neo-Nazi groups in Great Britain. Masked gunmen immediately opened fire on the occupants with automatic weapons. Greggs 18-year-old son Stuart and another man were also in the vehicle but neither sustained injuries in the shooting attack. According to a recent MI5/police intelligence assessment shared with Spotlight, the South East Antrim UDA "has access to arms" and is "heavily involved in drugs supply, community coercion, intimidation and other criminality". [21] Gregg, who was noted for his sectarian beliefs, insisted that such attacks were necessary in order to prevent the "greening" of places such as Carrickfergus and Antrim, a process he claimed had already happened in Glengormley where the Catholic population had experienced significant growth. The secretive mobster has seen his one-time iron-clad grip on the UDA crime gang loosen in recent months, leaving him Brigadier in name only. Both men, who lived on Ferris Avenue, had their houses burnt out during the attack. Greggs killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. Law enforcement agencies see the loosening of Fisher's control as an opportunity. 1 February 2003, along with another UDA member, Robert Rab Carson, Gregg was shot dead on Nelson Street, in the old Sailortown district near the Belfast docks, while travelling in a red Toyota taxi after returning from Glasgow where he regularly went to watch Rangers F.C. [4], Gregg and his team were apprehended almost immediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on them before ramming their car. [46], In March 2014 the South East Antrim Brigade was widely reported as being behind a "rampage" in which up to 100 people, some of them wearing masks, attacked a number of residential properties in Larne. . A failure by the paramilitary group's south-east Antrim faction to back the move resulted in a . [18] English would soon re-emerge as part of the Ulster Democratic Party. SoundCloud . the UDA commander or Brigadier in South-East Antrim, a figure who kept a very low . games. [5] The Guardian has identified it as "one of the most dangerous factions". [69] His 2IC (second-in-command) was also dismissed after being given a sickening . On 14 March 1984, he severely wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an attack supposedly ordered as a response to the earlier killings of Ulster Unionist Party politicians Robert Bradford and Edgar Graham. Gregg was jailed for 18 years; however, he only served half his sentence and was released in 1993. [24] 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. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. FEARS of a new loyalist feud have emerged after a fanatical UDA faction accused a UVF chief of touting to cops. [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. Close pal Clifford 'Trigger' Irons is currently out on bail awaiting trial on drugs charges. Sources describe the UVF man, who has no convictions, as being well known for running off to tell tales to the terror group's Shankill boss Bunter Graham on a regular basis. 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. They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors. [64][65], According to the Irish Times there are suspicions that the threats are in response to coverage of the murder of Glenn Quinn in Carrickfergus in January 2020. [49] The targets of the attack were reported locally as being two brothers who had been involved in a scuffle with three UDA members the night before. match. [33], Gregg's killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. Snoddy was close to UDA leader Andy Tyrie and was recognised as one of his closest allies amongst the UDA leadership.[7]. [67], Threats against journalists and politicians, Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, "Drugs seized in searches linked to South East Antrim UDA", "South East Antrim UDA: 'A criminal cartel wrapped in a flag', "UDA member speaks out about threats and criminality - BBC News", "UDA rebels decommission and condemn McDaid killing", "EXECUTED: Fourth feud killing in four days as loyalist assassins murder UVF man in his flat. [21] Nonetheless he was not keen to antagonise Adair and so, along with McFarland, McDonald and Jimbo Simpson, accepted his invitation to attend a "Loyalist Day of Culture" organised by Adair on the Lower Shankill on 19 August 2000. A mortally wounded Carson died later in hospital, and taxi driver William McKnight was seriously hurt. Former PSNI superintendent Ken Pennington said he considers them to be "a criminal cartel that have wrapped themselves in a flag". 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 same year, Geordie Gilmore was also shot dead in broad daylight. Wikizero - Ulster Volunteer Force . "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.". [89] The UVF leader in East Belfast, who is popularly known as the "Beast of the East" and "Ugly Doris" also known as by real name Stephen Matthews, ordered the attack on Catholic homes and a church in the Catholic enclave of the Short Strand. Often called 'the Egyptian', Shoukri became known as 'the blingadier' for his extravagant lifestyle. 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. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification. [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]. [6] When asked by the BBC in prison if he regretted anything about the shooting, his reply was, "Only that I didn't succeed. Gary Fisher, a close associate of Tommy Kirkham, succeeded Gregg as brigadier. Video Software we use: https://amzn.to/2KpdCQFAd-free videos.You can support us by purchasing something through our Amazon-Url, thanks :)The UDA South East A. "He's already under enough heat from the cops. [63] At least one journalist was warned of a possible under car booby trap. In November 2011, Stuart Gregg received 400,000 compensation for psychological trauma due to having witnessed his fathers murder. [27], However, in late 2002 a UDA member originally from the Woodvale Road who had moved to Rathcoole was attacked after it emerged that he was a friend of Joe English, the former brigadier who had since been exiled from the area by Gregg for his anti-drugs stance. Free. [23] As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. "[11] In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. The Reaper is coming for you" as a threat to "Mad Dog" Adair and his ally John White. Each were accused of taxing drug dealers and stealing tens of thousands of pounds from UVF coffers. [15] A senior police source once described him as a man driven by "pure and absolute bigotry". He is currently recovering at his mother's home in the Rathcoole estate after last week's beating. Sources have told us the crime boss is a man under intense pressure. [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. [28] In response, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack in a move Gregg saw as a threat. Gregg, seated in the backseat, was hit at close range and died instantly. 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. The UDA South East Antrim Brigade was previously one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association and are heavily involved in the drug trade. Will the Windsor Framework be enough for the DUP? BUSINESS UDA signs strategic cooperation with Mara Inc to expand facilities management business " data-media=""> 21/02/2023 09:14 PM KUALA LUMPUR, He moved from the SEA power base in the Rathcoole estate to the sleepy backwater of Greenisland as his grip on SEA weakened. [11], As brigadier Joe English enjoyed, theoretically, more power than his predecessor, as Andy Tyrie had been removed from the UDA leadership and replaced by a collective leadership of the movement's six brigadiers, including English. "The UDA in Rathcoole couldn't figure out why all the UVF dealers were being left alone while their guys were getting caught left, right and centre. [10] 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. 25.043611 121.5625. Much of this activity was inspired by Gregg's personal hatred of Catholics. South East Antrim Brigade mural in Ballymena honouring Gregg. 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. The ex-UVF leader has been warned to return the money, with a portion also invested in hot food takeaways and some hidden at safe houses in the Rathcoole estate. He cited former UFF chief Johnny Adair as one of the few to have got out with the skin on his back. It has brought the town under close scrutiny from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force. "Fisher can't make a decision, he's not allowed to make a decision and they're just keeping him there, partly because no one wants the job and they're waiting until the heat from the Task Force eases. [18] In 2000, he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. Snoddy died from the illness in September 1988 and English immediately succeeded him. 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. 2023 BBC. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles". 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. Much of this activity was inspired by Greggs personal hatred of Catholics. Gregg and complained about the attack after a fanatical UDA faction accused a UVF chief of touting to cops William. In what they christened the Gregg initiative paramilitary group & # x27 ; s south-east Antrim faction to back move. Be replaced as brigadier told us the crime boss is a man driven by `` pure and absolute ''. 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