Loyalist Volunteer Force

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Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
Leaders Billy Wright; [1] Mark Fulton; [2] Robin King; Jim Fulton [3]
Dates of operationAugust 1996 – October 2005 (on ceasefire since May 1998)
Split from Ulster Volunteer Force
Group(s)Young Loyalist Volunteers (youth wing)
Red Hand Defenders (cover name)
Headquarters Portadown
Active regions Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland (rarely)
Ideology Ulster loyalism
Protestant extremism
Anti-Catholicism
Irish Unionism
SizeUnknown
Allies Red Hand Defenders
dissident UDA members [4]
Combat 18
Opponents Irish republicans/nationalists
Irish Catholics
British Army
Royal Ulster Constabulary later Police Service of Northern Ireland
Ulster Volunteer Force
Battles and wars The Troubles
Designated as a terrorist group byFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States.svg  United States

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) after breaking its ceasefire. Most of its members came from the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade, which Wright had commanded. In a two-year period from August 1996, the LVF waged a paramilitary campaign in opposition to Irish republicanism and the Northern Ireland peace process. During this time it killed at least 14 people in gun and bomb attacks, almost all of them Catholic civilians killed at random. The LVF called off its campaign in August 1998 and decommissioned some of its weapons, but in the early 2000s a loyalist feud led to several killings. Since then, the LVF has been largely inactive, but its members are believed to have been involved in rioting and organized crime. In 2015, the security forces stated that the LVF "exists only as a criminal group" in Mid-Ulster and Antrim. [5]

Contents

The LVF is designated a terrorist group by the United Kingdom and United States. [6] [7] [8]

Goals

In a document, the LVF outlined its goals as follows:

There is also a Christian fundamentalist element within the LVF. [10] [11] Its leader, Billy Wright, was a born again Christian and former preacher. Professor Peter Shirlow, of Queen's University Belfast, noted that many LVF members saw Irish nationalism/republicanism and Catholicism as interlinked. They believed that Ulster Protestants were a persecuted people and Ulster was their "God-given land" which must be defended from these "dark and satanic forces". [12]

The LVF published a magazine called Leading the Way. [13]

History

Early days

Billy Wright was the leader of the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), [14] having taken over the command from Robin "the Jackal" Jackson in the early 1990s upon the latter's retirement. In October 1994, the UVF and other loyalist paramilitary groups called a ceasefire. Internal differences between Wright and the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast came to a head in July 1996, during the Drumcree parade dispute. The Orange Order was being stopped from marching through the Catholic Garvaghy area of Portadown. There was a standoff at Drumcree Church between thousands of Orangemen and their supporters on one side, and the security forces on the other. Wright was angered that the march was being blocked, and was often seen at Drumcree with Harold Gracey, head of the Portadown Orange Lodge. [15]

Wright's brigade smuggled homemade weaponry to Drumcree, apparently unhindered by the Orangemen. [15] On 7 July, a day into the standoff, members of Wright's brigade [15] [16] shot dead Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick near Aghagallon. The man who killed McGoldrick said he had also planned, along with Billy Wright and Mark Fulton, to kidnap three priests from a parochial house in County Armagh and shoot them unless the march was allowed to continue. [17] Allegedly, the brigade also planned to drive petrol tankers into the Catholic area and blow them up. [18] After four days of loyalist protests and violence throughout Northern Ireland, the police reversed their decision and allowed the march to continue.

For breaking the ceasefire, [14] Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were "stood down" by the UVF leadership on 2 August 1996. [19] Wright and his unit left the UVF and formed the LVF. He personally chose its codename of "Covenant", which was used to claim LVF attacks. [20]

Although behind many attacks in the Mid-Ulster area, especially in Portadown and Lurgan, Wright was finally arrested in January 1997 for issuing death threats and perverting the course of justice. He was convicted in March 1997 and sentenced to eight years in the Maze Prison. [21] [22] There he demanded a separate wing for LVF prisoners. The authorities agreed and the wing became a gathering point for loyalists opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process, including many from Belfast and north Down. [23]

Death of Billy Wright

On 27 December 1997, Wright was assassinated by Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners inside the Maze Prison: Christopher "Crip" McWilliams, John Glennon and John Kennaway. [24] The three were imprisoned in the same block as Wright. He was shot as he travelled in a prison van, and after killing Wright, the three handed themselves over to prison guards. [24] They also handed over a statement: "Billy Wright was executed [...] for directing and waging his campaign of terror against the nationalist people from his prison cell". [24]

That night, LVF gunmen opened fire on the dance hall of the Glengannon Hotel, near Dungannon. [25] The hotel was owned by Catholics and about 400 teenagers were attending a disco there. [25] Three civilians were wounded and one, a former Provisional IRA volunteer, was killed. [25] Police believed that the disco itself was the intended target, rather than the ex-volunteer. [25] Witnesses said it was "an attempt at mass-murder". [25]

Some believed that prison authorities colluded with the INLA in Wright's killing. The INLA strongly denied these rumours, and published a detailed account of the assassination in the March/April 1999 issue of The Starry Plough newspaper. [24]

Good Friday Agreement and ceasefire

In March 1998, during the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, the LVF issued a statement backing the anti-agreement Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), saying the party's leader, Ian Paisley, had got it "absolutely right". [26] DUP Member of Parliament Willie McCrea appeared on public platforms with LVF leaders, including Billy Wright. [27] [28]

In May 1998 the LVF called a ceasefire and urged people to vote No in the referendum on the Agreement. The Northern Ireland Office accepted its ceasefire in November, making LVF prisoners eligible for early release under the Agreement. Later, it handed over a small amount of weapons to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. The decommissioned weapons were as follows:

The destruction of some of the LVF arms were recorded by video. However, since the weapons were decommissioned in mid-1998 the LVF has killed four people. [ citation needed ]

Post-ceasefire activities

In early 2000, an LVF-UVF feud began and there were several tit-for-tat killings. This led the Secretary of State to declare on 12 October 2001 that the government no longer recognised their ceasefire. [29]

After its ceasefire, the LVF continued supporting the Orangemen in their protest at Drumcree. In July 2000, it was revealed that members of neo-Nazi group Combat 18 were travelling from England to join the protest. They were given shelter by LVF volunteers in Portadown and Tandragee. Combat 18 had opposed the LVF's ceasefire, but this trip was said to mark a "healing of the rift". [30]

In 2002, Wright's successor as LVF leader, Mark Fulton, was found hanged in Maghaberry prison. It is believed he committed suicide. [31]

In July 2005 the IRA declared it had ended its armed campaign and would disarm. In September 2005 weapons inspectors declared that the IRA had fully disarmed. In response, on 30 October that year, the LVF stated that it was standing down. [32]

In February 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission confirmed that the LVF-UVF feud was over but said that the LVF's involvement with organised crime and drug trafficking continued, describing it as a "deeply criminal organisation". The twentieth IMC report stated that the group was small and without political purpose. Most of its violence was "more criminal than paramilitary" in nature. LVF members who continued violent activity were said to do so "for personal gain" and only associated with the organisation at large when it was helpful to do so. The report added that simple aggressive police work could damage the group's continuance. [33]

Timeline of attacks

According to the Conflict Archive on the Internet's Sutton Database, the LVF have killed 19 people, [34] which included:

Two further killings of Catholics were claimed by the LVF, but the RUC believed that UDA members were responsible.

The following is a timeline of attacks and attempted attacks that have been claimed by, or blamed on, the LVF.

1996

1997

1998

1999 onward

Young Loyalist Volunteers

Young Loyalist Volunteers symbol, Ballycraigy Young Loyalist Volunteers Ballycraigy.jpg
Young Loyalist Volunteers symbol, Ballycraigy

The youth division of the LVF was known as the Young Loyalist Volunteers (YLV). They were founded in 1997 and officially ended their activities in 2005. [56] [57]

See also

Related Research Articles

William Stephen Wright, known as King Rat, was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary leader who founded the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) during The Troubles. Wright had joined the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in his home town of Portadown around 1975. After spending several years in prison, he became a Protestant fundamentalist preacher. Wright resumed his UVF activities around 1986 and, in the early 1990s, replaced Robin Jackson as commander of that organisation's Mid-Ulster Brigade. According to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Wright was involved in the sectarian killings of up to 20 Catholics but was never convicted for any.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster Volunteer Force</span> Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation formed in 1965

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The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1998 by loyalists who opposed the Belfast Agreement and the loyalist ceasefires. Its members were drawn mostly from the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). The name had first been used by Red Hand Commandos dissident Frankie Curry in 1996 and he was the leading figure in what was a somewhat unstructured organization until he was killed in 1999. It is named after the Red Hand of Ulster.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Troubles in Portadown</span>

This article recounts the violence and other effects related to The Troubles in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Much of it has been related to the Drumcree parade dispute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestant Action Force</span> Front group during the Troubles

The Protestant Action Force (PAF) was a front group used by Ulster loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland when claiming responsibility for a number of attacks during the Troubles. First used in 1974, attacks by individuals claiming to be members of the PAF killed at least 41 Catholic civilians. The PAF was most commonly used by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). All of the attacks claimed by the PAF in Armagh and Tyrone counties from 1974 to 1976 have been linked to the Glenanne gang, which was a group consisting of members of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade along with rogue Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officers. A six-year period of no attacks claimed by the PAF ended in 1982; during the 1980s, the PAF claimed 15 attacks in the Belfast area and two in County Armagh. UDR soldiers were convicted of two attacks in Armagh. The PAF claimed its last attacks in the early 1990s, all of which were in north Armagh and were alleged to involve members of the security forces.

William James Fulton, known as Jim Fulton, is a Northern Irish loyalist. He was a volunteer in the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the paramilitary organisation founded in 1996 by Billy Wright and later commanded by his brother Mark "Swinger" Fulton until the latter's death in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drumcree conflict</span> Northern Ireland dispute over parades

The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is a dispute over yearly parades in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The town is mainly Protestant and hosts numerous Protestant marches each summer, but has a significant Catholic minority. The Orange Order insists that it should be allowed to march its traditional route to and from Drumcree Church on the Sunday before the Twelfth of July. However, most of this route is through the mainly Catholic/Irish nationalist part of town. The residents, who see the march as sectarian, triumphalist and supremacist, have sought to ban it from their area. The Orangemen see this as an attack on their traditions; they had marched the route since 1807, when the area was mostly farmland.

This is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group since 1966. It includes actions carried out by the Red Hand Commando (RHC), a group integrated into the UVF shortly after their formation in 1972. It also includes attacks claimed by the Protestant Action Force (PAF), a covername used by the UVF. Most of these actions took place during the conflict known as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Curry</span> Ulster loyalist

Frankie Curry was a Northern Irish loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career. A critic of the Northern Ireland peace process, Curry was killed during a loyalist feud.

Kenneth McClinton is a Northern Irish pastor and sometime political activist. During his early years McClinton was an active member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA/UFF). He was a close friend of Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright and was the main orator at his funeral following his killing by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in December 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Fulton (loyalist)</span>

Mark Fulton was a Northern Irish loyalist. He was the leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), having taken over its command following the assassination of Billy Wright in the Maze Prison in 1997 by members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

Muriel Gibson is a leading Northern Irish loyalist who was a member of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). The organisation was founded in 1996 by Billy Wright. She was acquitted of murdering a Catholic council worker, Adrian Lamph, in 1998, but convicted in January 2007 and sentenced to eight years imprisonment for destroying evidence following the 1998 murder, impeding the arrest and prosecution of his killers, and LVF membership. She was also found guilty of withholding information regarding a shooting, possession of firearms, detonators and pipe bombs.

Alex Kerr was a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary. Kerr was a brigadier in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)'s South Belfast Brigade. He is no longer active in loyalism.

UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the brigade were Robin Jackson, known as "The Jackal", and Billy Wright. The Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out many attacks, mainly in Northern Ireland, especially in the South Armagh area, but it also extended its operational reach into the Republic of Ireland. Two of the most notorious attacks in the history of the Troubles were carried out by the Mid-Ulster Brigade: the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the Miami Showband killings in 1975. Members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were part of the Glenanne gang which the Pat Finucane Centre has since linked to at least 87 lethal attacks in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Jameson (loyalist)</span>

Richard Jameson, was a Northern Irish businessman and loyalist, who served as the leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force's (UVF) Mid-Ulster Brigade. He was killed outside his Portadown home during a feud with the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the breakaway organisation founded by former Mid-Ulster UVF commander Billy Wright after he and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were officially stood down by the Brigade Staff in August 1996.

The 1991 Cappagh killings was a gun attack by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) on 3 March 1991 in the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. A unit of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade drove to the staunchly republican village and shot dead three Provisional IRA members and a Catholic civilian at Boyle's Bar.

Jackie Mahood is a Northern Irish former loyalist activist with both the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). He later split from these groups and became associated with the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), founded in 1996 by Billy Wright.

Robin Andrew King, is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary leader who served as the commander of the Ulster Protestant Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). A close friend of the organisation's founder Billy Wright, King took over as leader following the death of Mark "Swinger" Fulton, who had succeeded Wright when he was assassinated by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in December 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 Craigavon killings</span> November 1991 gun attack in Northern Ireland

On 14 November 1991 the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, shot dead three civilians in Craigavon, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The three men were driving home from work at the Hyster forklift factory.

References

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Further reading