[56] The UVF's activities in the last years of the decade were increasingly being curtailed by the number of UVF members who were sent to prison. After the Troubles began, an Orange-Canadian loyalist organization known as the Canadian Ulster Loyalist Association (CULA) sprang to life to provide the 'besieged' Protestants with the resources to arm themselves. [31], The UVF had launched its first attack in the Republic of Ireland on 5 August 1969, when it bombed the RT Television Centre in Dublin. The latter had formally asked Spence for his daughter's hand in marriage during a prison visit. [123][124], The strength of the UVF is uncertain. "[154], According to Alan McQuillan, the assistant director of the Assets Recovery Agency in 2005, "In the loyalist community, drug dealing is run by the paramilitaries and it is generally run for personal gain by a large number of people." Video, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, Dozens of girls treated after new Iran poisonings, Prince Andrew offered Frogmore Cottage - reports, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Beer and wine sales in Canada fall to all-time low, Man survives 31 days in jungle by eating worms, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US. On 7 May 1966, loyalists petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub in the loyalist Shankill area of Belfast. [125] Historically, the number of active UVF members in July 1971 was stated by one source to be no more than 20. "However he did dedicate himself to peace and reconciliation for much of his later life so he will also be remembered as a major influence in drawing loyalism away from sectarian strife," he added. ", This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 06:47. [41] On 17 May, two UVF units from the Belfast and Mid-Ulster brigades detonated four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan. "Sunningdale pushed hard-liners into fatal outrages in 1974". The Shankill loyalists supported Kilfedder and following his election as MP sent a letter to Paisley accusing him of treachery during the entire affair. [94] The high levels of orchestration by the leadership of the East Belfast UVF, and the alleged ignored orders from the main leaders of the UVF to stop the violence has led to fears that the East Belfast UVF has now become a separate loyalist paramilitary grouping which doesn't abide by the UVF ceasefire or the Northern Ireland Peace Process. [2] In 1978, Spence left the UVF altogether. [58][59] West died in 1980. A man once involved in conflict. She died of her injuries on 27 June. Another former PUP leader, Dawn Purvis, said Spence's opinions began to shift sooner than is generally perceived. She said: "Some people have said that in his later life, he changed to become committed to peace. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. What's he waiting for? Ms Purvis encouraged young loyalists at the funeral to read the political doctrines encouraged by Mr Spence. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. A controlled explosion was carried out and the bomb was later declared a hoax. [130], Prior to and after the onset of the Troubles the UVF carried out armed robberies. Mr Lynch's widow, Norma, recollected last night that the late Catholic primate of Ireland, Cardinal O Fiaich, had said that "if there was a hope for peace in Ireland it would come through Gusty". [36] Catholic churches were also attacked. [20], Since 1964 and the formation of the Campaign for Social Justice, there had been a growing civil rights campaign in Northern Ireland, seeking to highlight discrimination against Catholics by the unionist government of Northern Ireland. [53] Spence, a talented footballer in his youth with Old Lodge F.C., was a lifelong supporter of Linfield F.C. During his time in prison Spence renounced violence and helped to convince a number of fellow inmates that the future of the UVF lay in a more political approach. The group also carried out attacks in the Republic of Ireland from 1969 onward. Formed in 1965,[7] it first emerged in 1966. . Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Read about our approach to external linking. In response to events in Derry, nationalists held protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent. In May 1966, the UVF issued a statement, announcing that it was declaring war on the IRA. Such retaliation was seen as both collective punishment and an attempt to weaken the IRA's support; it was thought that terrorising the Catholic community and inflicting such a death toll on it would force the IRA to end its campaign. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. Augustus 'Gusty' Spence (born 28th June 1933) is a former leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Loyalist politician and soldier in the British Army. This was a general strike in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement, which meant sharing political power with Irish nationalists and the Republic having more involvement in Northern Ireland. Veteran anti-UVF campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son, Raymond Jr., a Protestant, was beaten to death by UVF men in 1997, estimates the UVF has killed more than thirty people since its 1994 ceasefire, most of them Protestants. Read about our approach to external linking. He then became involved in politics and announced the landmark loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. There was to be much overlap in membership between the UCDC/UPV and the UVF.[22]. [35], Spence's time on the outside came to an end on 4 November when he was captured by Colonel Derek Wilford of the Parachute Regiment, who identified Spence by tattoos on his hands. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Notable mourners included Unionist politicians Dawn Purvis, Mike Nesbitt, Michael McGimpsey, Hugh Smyth and Brian Ervine, UVF chief John "Bunter" Graham and UDA South Belfast brigadier Jackie McDonald. It was the UVF's deadliest attack in Northern Ireland, and the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles. Another former PUP leader, Dawn Purvis, said Spence's opinions began to shift sooner than is generally perceived. [30] There were bombings on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 April and 26 April. At his funeral yesterday, Mr Spence said he was not there to deify Mr Lynch, whom he described as "a simple man but a wealthy one in terms of his friends and his love for his country". Spence now argued that UVF members were soldiers and soldiers should not kill civilians, as had been the case at McGurk's Bar. Some of them left much of Belfast without power and water. [citation needed], On 26 March 2022, the UVF was linked to a hoax bomb alert at a bar in Warrenpoint, County Down. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. [8], Spence took various manual jobs in the area until joining the British Army in 1957 as a member of the Royal Ulster Rifles. Mr Spence was brought up in the Shankill, but was forced out in later years by loyalists opposed to his defence of the peace process and his opposition to continued paramilitary activity. Tributes were paid to former leading loyalist paramilitary turned peacemaker Gusty Spence at his funeral in Belfast today. [9] According to the book Lost Lives (2006 edition), it was responsible for 569 killings. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. The gang comprised, in addition to the UVF, rogue elements of the UDR, RUC, SPG, and the regular Army, all acting allegedly under the direction of the British Intelligence Corps and/or RUC Special Branch. "He was an Irishman and looked upon himself as an Ulster Irishman as well as being British. [16] Because of his military experience, Spence was chosen as the military commander and public face of the UVF when the group was established. He later became involved in politics and announced the landmark loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. [146][147] Former MI5 agent Willie Carlin said: There were safe houses in Glasgow and Stirling. In keeping with his wishes, there were no paramilitary trappings and his coffin was draped with the regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles, in which he served. "FIFTH REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT MONITORING COMMISSION", Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs - Part One: The continuing threat from paramilitary organisations, "Inside story: Why the IRA never attacked Scotland", "Revealed: how Scots loyalists sent gelignite to paramilitaries. The UVF's last major attack was the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, in which its members shot dead six Catholic civilians in a rural pub. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. She told mourners that he had made friends among republicans and socialists and among people from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. [139] In 2002 the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee estimated the UVF's annual running costs at 12 million per year, against an annual fundraising capability of 1.5 million. [5] He was educated at the Riddel School on Malvern Street and the Hemsworth Square school, finishing his education aged fourteen. The weapons were Palestine Liberation Organisation arms captured by the Israelis and sold to Armscor, the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of a 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware. He was OC of the IRA in the Cavan area during the Border campaign in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This building had been an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original UVF. Bistir na Seanchille. Spence joined the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), becoming a leading figure in the group. Armed men hijacked a van on the nearby Shankill Road and forced the driver to take a device to a church on the Crumlin Road. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. In keeping with his wishes, there were no paramilitary trappings and his coffin was draped with the regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles, in which he served. Wright is believed to have dealt mainly in Ecstasy tablets in the early 90s. Get in touch with us now to get the service you need. [21] Two days later, the Government of Northern Ireland declared the UVF illegal. The UVF stated that the attempted attack was a protest against the Irish Army units "still massed on the border in County Donegal". This development came soon after the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast had stood down Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, on 2 August 1996, for the killing of a Catholic taxi driver near Lurgan during Drumcree disturbances. He added: "I think it helped to set some of the tone to bring us to where we are now.". [45], In 1974, hardliners staged a coup and took over the Brigade Staff. for a proxy bomb attack targeting a "peace-building" event in Belfast where Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was speaking. "He also sent a letter of condolence to the widow of Joe McCann, an IRA man, praising him as a soldier of Ireland.". [68], According to journalist and author Ed Moloney, the UVF campaign in Mid-Ulster in this period "indisputably shattered Republican morale", and put the leadership of the republican movement under intense pressure to "do something",[69] although this has been disputed by others.[who?]. [29], On 12 August 1969, the "Battle of the Bogside" began in Derry. F". . The gunmen shot dead six people and injured five. [98], On 23 March 2019, eleven alleged UVF members were arrested during a total of 14 searches conducted in Belfast, Newtownards and Comber and the suspects, aged between 22 and 48, were taken into police custody for questioning. DeSantis won't say he's running. It was the deadliest attack of the Troubles. [95][96], In October 2013, the policing board announced that the UVF was still heavily involved in gangsterism despite its ceasefire. Save up to 70% with our image packs Pre-pay for multiple images and download on demand. In February, it began to target critics of militant loyalism the homes of MPs Austin Currie, Sheelagh Murnaghan, Richard Ferguson and Anne Dickson were attacked with improvised bombs. Gusty Spence (1933-2011) was a Loyalist paramilitary volunteer, a founding member and early leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). "[56], His funeral service was held in St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. LocationLa Habra, CA 90631 EmailGet a free estimate Call(562) 579-5980. Spence was initially held over the murder of the first victim of the Troubles, John Scullion, who was shot by the UVF in the Falls Road area of Belfast. "They are holding local communities to ransom. Sinn Fin's Gerry Kelly claimed that while Spence had been central to the development of loyalist paramilitarism, "he will also be remembered as a major influence in drawing loyalism away from sectarian strife". [76][77][78], In January 2008, the UVF was accused of involvement in vigilante action against alleged criminals in Belfast. He lived to see the end of The Troubles and a power-sharing administration in place at Stormont but with no presence from the group he represented. In the 1960s, he founded the Ulster Volunteer Force, which was responsible for hundreds of murders during the Troubles. The UVF launched further attacks in the Republic of Ireland during December 1972 and January 1973, when it detonated three car bombs in Dublin and one in Belturbet, County Cavan, killing a total of five civilians. Instead his coffin was adorned with the beret and regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles, his former regiment. Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said many nationalists would remember Spence as someone "who was central to the sectarianism that gave birth to the modern loyalist paramilitary". ][102] On 11 April, the UVF reportedly ordered the removal of Catholic families from a housing estate in Carrickfergus. [50], Spence married Louie Donaldson, a native of the city's Grosvenor Road, on 20 June 1953 at Wellwood Street Mission, Sandy Row. When the Assets Recovery Agency won a High Court order to seize luxury homes belonging to ex-policeman Colin Robert Armstrong and his partner Geraldine Mallon in 2005, Alan McQuillan said "We have further alleged Armstrong has had links with the UVF and then the LVF following the split between those organisations." [18] Two days later, the government of Northern Ireland used the Special Powers Act to declare the UVF illegal. [20], In October 1966, Spence was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Ward, although Spence has always claimed he was innocent. [21] In April 1966, Ulster loyalists led by Ian Paisley, a Protestant fundamentalist preacher, founded the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC). [121][122] The UVF did not return to regular bombings until the early 1990s when it obtained a quantity of the mining explosive Powergel. [157] It was around this time that Sunday World journalists Martin O'Hagan and Jim Campbell coined the term "rat pack" for the UVF's murderous mid-Ulster unit and, unable to identify Wright by name for legal reasons, they christened him "King Rat." [17], He was entrusted by the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) to read out their 13 October 1994 statement that announced the loyalist ceasefire. He was the first RUC officer to be killed during the Troubles. Spence was born in the Shankill Road, Belfast, area, Northern Ireland, the son of William Edward Spence, who was born in Whitehaven, England and raised in the Tiger's Bay area of north Belfast before moving to the Shankill. A number. Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of the former loyalist leader Gusty Spence. It would continue these tactics for the rest of its campaign. Afterwards a plot was concocted where his nephew Frankie Curry, also a UVF member, would drive Spence back to jail but the car would be stopped and Spence "kidnapped". Scores of houses and businesses were burnt out, most of them owned by Catholics. It comprises high-ranking officers under a Chief of Staff or Brigadier-General. During its 12 July 1967 march, the Orange lodge to which he belonged stopped outside the prison in tribute to him. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. [52] Louie died in 2003. RT 2023. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. His father was a Somme veteran who emigrated to Belfast after the war and became a member of the Orange Order. It was not in his later life. The family of the former UVF leader Gusty Spence is planning a funeral with the emphasis on his British army past rather than his time in the paramilitary group. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. In 1984, the UVF attempted to kill the northern editor of the Sunday World, Jim Campbell after he had exposed the paramilitary activities of Mid-Ulster brigadier Robin Jackson. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. Browse funeral homes near La Habra Heights, California. [129] Another estimates that over a 30-year period women accounted for, at most, just 2% of UVF membership. [155], Billy Wright, the commander of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade, is believed to have started dealing drugs in 1991[156] as a lucrative sideline to paramilitary murder. [19] Spence later wrote "at the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig, he's your last resort". [151] On 10 February 1976, following the sudden uptick of violence against Catholic civilians by loyalist militants, Irish cardinal William Conway and nine other Catholic bishops met with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and his cabinet, asking them as to where the loyalist militants had acquired guns, to which Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees replied "Canada". In 1972, five Toronto businessmen shipped weapons in grain container ships out of Halifax, bound for ports in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland which were destined for loyalist militants. Traduzioni in contesto per "divenuto cuore pulsante" in italiano-inglese da Reverso Context: Labirinto di mais: In via Amerigo Vespucci, a pochi passi da piazza Nember, sorge un terreno di ben 5 ettari divenuto cuore pulsante del divertimento tra mistero, intelligenza e creativit. While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. Read about our approach to external linking. [24] The murder of Ward was, however, repudiated by Paisley and condemned in his Protestant Telegraph, sealing the split between the two. [126] Later, in September 1972, Gusty Spence said in an interview that the organisation had a strength of 1,500. In keeping with his wishes,. [131] The UVF has also been involved in the extortion of legitimate businesses, although to a lesser extent than the UDA,[138] and was described in the fifth IMC report as being involved in organised crime. DeSantis won't say he's running. 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