Ulster Political Research Group

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The Ulster Political Research Group is an advisory body connected to the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), providing advice to them on political matters. The group was permanently founded in January 2002, and is largely a successor to the Ulster Democratic Party (which had been dissolved in 2001).

Contents

Origins

The group had its origins in the earlier New Ulster Political Research Group (NUPRG), which was set up, on the initiative of UDA chairman Andy Tyrie, in January 1978 under the chairmanship of Glenn Barr, largely as a reaction to antagonism that had grown between the UDA and Ian Paisley after the paramilitary group had supported a failed strike organised by Paisley the previous year. [1] Barr's old friends Tommy Lyttle and Harry Chicken both took up seats on the NUPRG whilst South Belfast Brigadier and Tyrie's deputy John McMichael was appointed secretary of the new body. [1]

After a few months McMichael wrote about the progress of the group in the UDA's Ulster magazine and stated that they had examined the case for direct rule from Westminster and found it to be wholly unsatisfactory. According to McMichael the future lay in "a special type of negotiated independence". [2] Tyrie also began to argue for independence and Barr, who had advocated this Ulster nationalism for some time, gave indications to Magill magazine that this was the direction in which the NUPRG was going. [3] Their March 1979 report, Beyond the Religious Divide, argued the case for independence and even provided an outline of the workings of such a state, basing it largely on the US model of a Supreme Court, written constitution and bill of rights and the separation of the executive and judicial arms of government. The document also called for a power-sharing arrangement that would take account of the wishes of the Catholic minority. [4]

The group fielded three candidates in the 1981 local elections, with one of them holding the seat that he had won in a by-election three months before the local elections. [5] However the NUPRG were disbanded soon afterwards and replaced with the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party, a group that took Beyond the Religious Divide as the basis of its ideology. [6]

Re-establishment

The Ulster Democratic Party, which had succeeded the earlier Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party, dissolved in 2001 and the UPRG was re-established soon afterwards.[ citation needed ]

The UPRG came to wider prominence in 2003 after West Belfast brigadier Johnny Adair had been expelled from the movement and the UDA leadership decided to present a more civilian face. On 22 February 2003 a new one-year ceasefire extension was announced at a hotel in east Belfast but this was presented as a UPRG event, with journalists' questions being answered by the likes of Frank McCoubrey, Sammy Duddy, Frankie Gallagher, Jim Wright and Tommy Kirkham, all of whom had emerged as the leading figures in the group. [7] The ceasefire was indefinitely extended in January 2004 and once again it was left to the UPRG to make the announcement. [8]

Although the UPRG is not a registered political party some members have gained elected office. McCoubrey was a UPRG member of Belfast City Council ostensibly as an independent (and was formerly deputy Lord Mayor of the city) until joining the Democratic Unionist Party in November 2012, [9] whilst Kirkham (a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council until losing his seat in the 2011 local elections) is also registered as the leader of the Ulster Protestant League, a title he has never used in elections. [10]

2006 split

In October 2006, the UDA South East Antrim Brigade announced it would not for now give its support to the UPRG, but would henceforth align itself with a new body named Beyond Conflict, [11] founded by Tommy Kirkham and other UDA leading members. After this announcement, tabloid media reported that Beyond Conflict supposedly stated that it could take eight million pounds and five years after the South East Antrim Brigade would cease all activity. [12] The report was completely repudiated by academics who say the figure was never justified by facts. [13]

2007 funding row

In March 2007 the British government announced plans to give £1 million to a Farset Youth and Community Development project designed to move the UDA away from paramilitarism. [14] The announcement followed an initiative by the UPRG to consult with UDA activists, culminating in the publication of a business plan to facilitate a Conflict Transformation Initiative. [15] The move was supported by Chief Constable Hugh Orde who was seen to shake hands with Jackie McDonald, a senior loyalist believed to be the UDA's leading figure in the south of the city, in direct contrast to the statement by leading Police Service of Northern Ireland officer Det Supt Esmond Adair, who claimed that the UDA was still heavily involved in extortion. [16]

This led Margaret Ritchie Minister for Social Development to say that she would pull the plug on the £1.2m project run by Farset, if the UDA did not begin to decommission in 60 days. She further called on the group to begin a meaningful dialogue with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, the group responsible for overseeing decommissioning and led by General John de Chastelain. [17] McDonald had stated that he was reluctant to see the UDA decommission because of the threat posed by dissident republican groups. [18]

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The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of the participants of the Troubles. Its declared goal was to defend Ulster Protestant loyalist areas and to combat Irish republicanism, particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the 1970s, uniformed UDA members openly patrolled these areas armed with batons and held large marches and rallies. Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks that used the cover name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) so that the UDA would not be outlawed. The British government proscribed the UFF as a terrorist group in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed until August 1992.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster Democratic Party</span> Political party in Northern Ireland

The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), to replace the New Ulster Political Research Group. The UDP name had previously been used in the 1930s by an unrelated party, which on one occasion contested Belfast Central.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster nationalism</span> Ideology that supports independence for Northern Ireland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Duddy</span> Northern Irish loyalist

Andrew Samuel Duddy, known as Sammy, was a Northern Irish loyalist, having joined the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) shortly after its formation in 1971. He later became a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), which provided political advice to that organisation.

Frank McCoubrey is a Northern Irish unionist politician and Ulster Loyalist, as well as a community activist and researcher. McCoubrey is a Belfast City Councillor for the Court DEA since 1997, sitting as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member since 2012. He is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG). McCoubrey is a native of Highfield, Belfast.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Barr</span> Northern Irish politician (1932–2017)

Albert Glenn Barr OBE was a politician from Derry, Northern Ireland, who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism and Loyalism due to simultaneously holding important positions in the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party and the Ulster Defence Association.

The Ulster Workers' Council was a loyalist workers' organisation set up in Northern Ireland in 1974 as a more formalised successor to the Loyalist Association of Workers (LAW). It was formed by shipyard union leader Harry Murray and initially failed to gain much attention. However, with the full support of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) the UWC became the main mobilising force for loyalist opposition to power-sharing arrangements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McMichael</span> Northern Irish loyalist (1948–1987)

John McMichael was a Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent and charismatic figure within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade. He was also commander of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF), a cover name for the UDA, overseeing an assassination campaign against prominent republican figures whose details were included in a notorious "shopping list" derived from leaked security forces documents. The UDA used the UFF name when it wished to claim responsibility for attacks, thus allowing it to remain a legal paramilitary organisation until August 1992 when it was proscribed by the British Government.

The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie McDonald</span> Northern Irish loyalist (born 1947)

John "Jackie" McDonald is a Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following John McMichael's killing by the Provisional IRA in December 1987. He is also a member of the organisation's Inner Council and the spokesman for the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), the UDA's political advisory body.

Tommy Kirkham is a Northern Ireland loyalist political figure and former councillor. Beginning his political career with the Democratic Unionist Party, he was then associated with the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Political Research Group although he has since been expelled from both groups. He was a former deputy mayor of Newtownabbey and sat on Newtownabbey Borough Council as an Independent Loyalist.

Frankie Gallagher was a loyalist community worker from Northern Ireland and was along with Tommy Kirkham and Sammy Duddy one of the first leading spokespeople for the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) which offered political advice to the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during the Troubles.

Andrew Tyrie is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary leader who served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during much of its early history. He took the place of Tommy Herron in 1973 when the latter was killed, and led the organisation until March 1988 when an attempt on his life forced him to resign from his command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UDA South East Antrim Brigade</span> Paramilitary gang of Northern Island

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. It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east County Antrim, Northern Ireland. A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole, Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley and Whitewell, all of which are part of Newtownabbey, as well as Carrickfergus, the Shore Road, Greenisland, Ballymena, Whitehead, Antrim and Larne. A newer mural in the Cloughfern area of Newtownabbey and flags have updated the areas to include Ballycarry, Ballyclare, the rural hinterland of Ballymena called 'Braidside' and despite not being in County Antrim, the town of Newtownards. The Guardian has identified it as "one of the most dangerous factions". The Irish News described the brigade as 'powerful' and at one time being 'the most bloody and murderous gang operating within the paramilitary organisation'. Since 2007 the South East Antrim Brigade has operated independently of the UDA following a fall-out.

H. David "Davy" Payne was a senior Northern Irish loyalist and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during the Troubles, serving as brigadier of the North Belfast Brigade. He was first in command of the Shankill Road brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), which was the "cover name" of the militant branch of the UDA. The group was responsible for a series of abductions and killings of mostly Catholic civilians in the early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Lyttle</span>

Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle, was a high-ranking Ulster loyalist during the period of religious-political conflict in Northern Ireland known as "the Troubles". A member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) – the largest loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland – he first held the rank of lieutenant colonel and later was made a brigadier. He served as the UDA's spokesman as well as the leader of the organisation's West Belfast Brigade from 1975 until his arrest and imprisonment in 1990. According to journalists Henry McDonald and Brian Rowan, and the Pat Finucane Centre, he became a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch informer.

William Elliot was a former Northern Irish loyalist who served as brigadier of the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) East Belfast Brigade in the 1980s.

Samuel Smyth was a Northern Irish loyalist activist. A founder member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) he was the early public face of the movement as the organisation's spokesman, and he later became involved in the group's attempts to politicise. He was assassinated by the Provisional IRA as part of the Troubles. Author Steve Bruce described Smyth as the "sometime editor of the Ulster Militant and a loose cannon who enjoyed an exciting and erratic relationship with the UDA".

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Wood, p. 68
  2. ↑ Wood, p. 69
  3. ↑ Wood, pp. 69–70
  4. ↑ Wood, p. 71
  5. ↑ "Local Government Elections 1981". www.ark.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Wood, pp. 73–74
  7. ↑ Wood, p. 298
  8. ↑ Wood, p. 306
  9. ↑ Frank McCoubrey joining the DUP Archived 3 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine , BBC News, 13 November 2012
  10. ↑ "Northern Ireland Political Parties". www.ark.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "ITV Hub - The home of ITV". ITV Hub. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "ITV Hub - The home of ITV". ITV Hub. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
  13. ↑ Doctoral Theses & post UDA: Action Research project, Johhnie Jackson PgD, 2017-
  14. ↑ £1m is confirmed for UDA project Archived 26 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine from bbc.co.uk
  15. ↑ UDA bites at huge cash carrot Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine from bbc.co.uk
  16. ↑ UDA 'still involved in extortion' Archived 27 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine from bbc.co.uk
  17. ↑ "UDA is in 'last chance saloon'". 10 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021– via news.bbc.co.uk.
  18. ↑ "UDA 'to decommission by February'". 8 September 2009. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021– via news.bbc.co.uk.

Bibliography


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