Gregg and his team were apprehended almost immediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on them before ramming their car. "When Gary was in complete control, there would have been no suggestion of any leaks, it was a tight, tight operation. He was in attendance along with ex-Labour NI Secretary of State Peter Mandelson and former MI6 operatives. Masked gunmen immediately opened fire on the occupants with automatic weapons. MEDIA SCRUTINY: Press coverage is heaping pressure on Gary Fisher. But South East Antrim UDA boss Gary Fisher refused to sanction an attack on the UVF man, further weakening his standing with rank-and-file members within his own terror group. It used the name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) to claim responsibility for attacks and, because the two claimed to be separate organisations, the UDA was able to . [20], Although the UDA was officially on ceasefire, the South East Antrim Brigade remained active in late 1998 and early 1999, undertaking a series of pipe bomb attacks on Catholic properties. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Greggs eye, although it is also claimed that Gregg lost his eye due to a fight with republicans at the same parade. [9] Greggs fearsome reputation earned him the nickname the Reaper and he bore a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his back as a tribute. Gregg had been a regular visitor to Ibrox Park for a number of years,[11] often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. 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". Charlie Strain, Hugh Cameron, Tommy Hollran and Mark Gourley, who is missing presumed . 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. He is currently recovering at his mother's home in the Rathcoole estate after last week's beating. [10], Gregg played the bass drum in the UDA-affiliated flute band Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a loyalist flute band which police claimed regularly caused trouble at Orange Order parades. To the rest of us, an attack on a UDA brigadier is an attack on the whole organisation. [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. "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. [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. In the last 12 months almost a dozen alleged South East Antrim members have been lifted and charged with drug offences by the National Crime Agency working alongside the Paramilitary Crime Task Force. 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. Simms' demise was the catalyst for the disintegration of Fisher's power base. 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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. In late August, Adair had even managed to have Gregg stood down as Brigadier for not being militant enough and replaced by one of Adairs own associates. [27] On 8 December a bomb was found under Gregg's car, apparently placed there by one of Adair's allies from the Loyalist Volunteer Force. He was interviewed on the basis of anonymity. Widely known as a man with a fearsome . She was killed in 2005 and her remains hidden by the son of a veteran member of the Red Hand Commando - a UVF-affiliated group. His assassination attempt had made him a loyalist hero and he quickly took over from English as brigadier. [19] In late August 1997, the brigade became involved in simmering tensions with fellow loyalist paramilitaries in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). [17] Protestant Trevor Lowry (aged 49) was beaten to death in Glengormley by UDA members under Gregg's command on 11 April 2001 after he was mistaken for a Catholic. Read about our approach to external linking. Spotlight's Gangland: The Murder of Glenn Quinn can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer. [56] Two men from the Newtownards area were arrested in connection with the killing. 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. The internal clean-up of the UVF's South East Antrim unit came after its leaders promised to morph into an old boys organisation during a meeting with senior government officials. Four men were convicted of his murder. Nowadays, pockets of the town remain on edge since the murder of a local man, Glenn Quinn, by the South East Antrim UDA. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. A failure by the paramilitary group's south-east Antrim faction to back the move resulted in a . He called on the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to establish an auxiliary police clinic on the estate, which had no permanent police building, so as locals concerned about crime could have somewhere to go. [52] The South-east Antrim brigadier, who was not named in reports, stated that any brigade members attending Gilmore's funeral would be expelled. Three men were acquitted of his murder. [6] When asked by the BBC in prison if he regretted anything about the shooting, his reply was, "Only that I didn't succeed. The move, some say, does not signal a return to violence. 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. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. [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. It's very difficult to deal with the issue of their control, because of the fear that they just instil into people.". 2 Discover Center Of Taipei ( ), 1 Shifu Rd ( Taipei City Hall Stn ), +886 2 2757-4547. Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a flute band attached to the brigade, had been to Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march through the city centre when at the train station they met members of the Shankill Protestant Boys, a UVF-affiliated band. Gregg was the most senior UDA member killed since South Belfast brigadier John McMichael was blown up by the IRA in 1987. [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. As the band prepared to take the train home that evening they met members of the Shankill Protestant Boys, another band in town for the parade that was affiliated to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The new Irish Sea Border: What does it mean? The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of . Gregg was jailed for 18 years; however, he only served half his sentence and was released in 1993. His plan to flee to Scotland has also been put on hold after loyalists there were warned not to harbour him. 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. [1], 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. [15] English was a strong advocate of political means and pushed for the UDA to call a ceasefire in the early 1990s, a position that was anathema, at that point, to Adair. . Browns_right_foot 3 mo. They have also asked for an end to historic prosecutions for UVF killings that took place before 2010. 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Sources have told us the crime boss is a man under intense pressure. 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. Free. . SoundCloud . Will the Windsor Framework be enough for the DUP? 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. [42] The process was confirmed as complete by the IICD and came in the last 24 hours of the commission's existence. Golden Brown The Stranglers: Iconic Songs & the story behind them. Money drives the South East Antrim UDA's criminal interests, made off the backs of communities who are ruthlessly subjected to a code of silence. 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. But Johnny kept trying to justify it. "The vast majority of it comes in from down south, from one of the well-known crime gangs down there. The council released a statement expelling two figures within it, believed to be senior UDA figures Fisher and Kirkham, once a member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), although they were not named. John Gregg (UDA) The man who shot Gerry Adam? In October 2002, Gregg was one of the brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair from the UDA for his involvement in the non-fatal shooting of Jim Gray. 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. His organisation has come under intense scrutiny from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force and he is known to be anxious to get out of the crime business before he is scooped. Formed in 1971 from a number of loyalist vigilante groups, the UDA's stated aims were to protect unionist communities from attacks by republican paramilitaries, but it went on to kill hundreds of people during the Troubles using a cover name - the Ulster Freedom Fighters. Gregg joined the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) at the age of 14. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is the largest Ulster loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. 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. [11] Each geographical area was commanded by a UDA 'Brigadier' and sometimes also had a designated 'Military Commander', 'Intelligence Officer' and 'Quartermaster'. "They will extort, they will assault, they will hold back their community in order to sustain their own business," he said. "Putting it bluntly they were either stood down, expelled or shot - that's the only way to get out.". And one-time trusted lieutenant Colin Simms is in disgrace after being linked with the murder in Carrick a year ago of Glenn Quinn. As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. @caolan-mclaughlin-844507501 this is a UDA song ya muppet why u put f the uvf know yer history kid. "Some middle-ranking UDA men in the estate wanted him to be shot dead because touting on fellow loyalists to the police is as bad as it gets," said the source. His cheeks appeared hollow, he has shaved his head and those who have seen him describe him as 'haunted'. Gregg took this as a threat and, after complaining to senior figures in the West Belfast UDA, ordered the three men to be kneecapped. Central role played at UFF parade by veteran crime lord's two underbosses hints at changing of the guard. [4], Gregg and his team were apprehended almost immediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on them before ramming their car. In late August, Adair had even managed to have Gregg stood down as Brigadier for "not being militant enough" and replaced by one of Adair's own associates. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. 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: its sickening to call it the Gregg initiative when he was a ruthless terrorist.Everyone goes on about Johnny Adair but theyre all as bad as each other. [26], Adair ignored the expulsion, erecting "West Belfast UDA - Business as Usual" banners on the Shankill Road, whilst continuing his struggles with the remaining brigadiers, Gregg in particular. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles". 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. The Belfast Telegraph called the move "a familiar loyalist pattern of events. [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.