On 7 May 1966, loyalists petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub in the loyalist Shankill area of Belfast. 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. Explosives for the north were mostly shipped in small boats which set out at night from the Scottish coast and made contact at sea with vessels from Ulster ports." [114] Many retaliatory attacks on Catholics were claimed using the covername "Protestant Action Force" (PAF), which first appeared in autumn 1974. They managed to procure a large cache of weapons and ammunition including L1A1 Self-Loading Rifles, Browning pistols, and Sterling submachine guns. He added: "He formed a relationship with Cardinal O'Fiach and that was in some of our ways of thinking in those days a big step because the Catholic church in particular were the enemy. [4] He married Isabella "Bella" Hayes, Gusty Spence's mother, in 1919. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. A number of friends and family members spoke at the service at St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. "We have to get in there, and stay in there," he continued, remembering that "it took several hundred years to bring about this situation, so we must have a little bit of patience. "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. LocationLa Habra, CA 90631 EmailGet a free estimate Call(562) 579-5980. [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". Adair's men forced their way into Spence's Shankill home but found it empty, as Spence tended to spend much of the summer at a caravan he owned in Groomsport. The latter had formally asked Spence for his daughter's hand in marriage during a prison visit. Two of those later convicted (James McDowell and Thomas Crozier) were also serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), a part-time, locally recruited regiment of the British Army. Tributes were paid to former leading loyalist paramilitary turned peacemaker Gusty Spence at his funeral in Belfast today. 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. Save up to 70% with our image packs Pre-pay for multiple images and download on demand. Spence is regarded as the first terrorist godfather in Northern Ireland but also the man who took the first steps towards ending UVF violence. 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. [92], During the Belfast City Hall flag protests of 201213, senior UVF members were confirmed to have actively been involved in orchestrating violence and rioting against the PSNI and the Alliance Party throughout Northern Ireland during the weeks of disorder. 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. [158] Loyalists in Portadown such as Bobby Jameson have stated that the LVF (the Mid-Ulster Brigade that broke away from the main UVF - and led by Billy Wright) was not a 'loyalist organisation but a drugs organisation causing misery in Portadown. [24] On 21 May, the group issued a statement: From this day, we declare war against the Irish Republican Army and its splinter groups. The men were tried, and in March 1977 were sentenced to an average of twenty-five years each.[51][52]. [126] Later, in September 1972, Gusty Spence said in an interview that the organisation had a strength of 1,500. Images Courtesy of Getty Images. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. After his release December 1984, Spence was a key figure in developing UVF thinking and indirectly its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party. None the less, they ransacked the house and stole Spence's army medals, while the Spence family were forced to stay off the Shankill for the entirety of the loyalist feud. On 17 February 1979, the UVF carried out its only major attack in Scotland, when its members bombed two pubs in Glasgow frequented by Irish-Scots Catholics. [36] Catholic churches were also attacked. [53] Spence, a talented footballer in his youth with Old Lodge F.C., was a lifelong supporter of Linfield F.C. Accueil / Non class / gusty spence funeral; 15 Sep 0. gusty spence funeral . Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. 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. Sun 25 Sep 2011 13.46 EDT. But despite the statement, the UVF was subsequently involved in sporadic violence, including several murders. The group is a proscribed organisation and is on the terrorist organisation list of the United Kingdom.[8]. [104] The Brigade Staff's former headquarters were situated in rooms above "The Eagle" chip shop located on the Shankill Road at its junction with Spier's Place. He later became involved in politics and announced the landmark loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. The loyalist leader always denied responsibility and his family are now challenging the conviction. During the service, mourners were told there is a campaign to have overturned the conviction for which Gusty Spence served a jail sentence, the killing of 18-year-old Belfast Catholic Peter Ward in 1966. He was OC of the IRA in the Cavan area during the Border campaign in the late 1950s and early 1960s. [85][86], On 2526 October 2010, the UVF was involved in rioting and disturbances in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey with UVF gunmen seen on the streets at the time. [21] The group called itself the "Ulster Volunteer Force" (UVF), after the Ulster Volunteers of the early 20th century, although in the words of a member of the previous organisation "the present para-military organisation has no connection with the U.V.F. In accordance with Spence's wishes, there were no paramilitary trappings at the funeral or reference to his time in the UVF. [16] Their base of operations was the Standard Bar, a pub on the Shankill Road frequented by Spence and his allies (it was normal practice for UVF "teams" to be based at a single pub that its members used socially). A man once involved in conflict. [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." [84] The Progressive Unionist Party's condemnation, and Dawn Purvis and other leaders' resignations as a response to the Moffett shooting, were also noted. Another former PUP leader, Dawn Purvis, said Spence's opinions began to shift sooner than is generally perceived. [40] These were all subordinate to the Brigade Staff. But despite the statement, the UVF was subsequently involved in sporadic violence, including several murders. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. [117] Members were trained in bomb-making, and the organisation developed home-made explosives. [2] He had been stationed in Cyprus and saw action fighting against the forces of Colonel Georgios Grivas. "He also sent a letter of condolence to the widow of Joe McCann, an IRA man, praising him as a soldier of Ireland.". [106] Later, in September 1972, Gusty Spence said in an interview that the organisation had a strength of 1,500. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. Progress is being made, inch by inch. Of course, the UVF had a big role to play, with a masked Geordie Orr (another pivotal UVF figure notable by his absence from the book) and others . He initially refused and went on to attend his daughter's wedding. Edward's son Ronnie was active in the Official IRA and then the INLA, serving a sentence on the INLA wing of the Maze prison while his uncle was on the UVF wing. UVF In 1961, Spence retired from the Royal Irish Rifles, which he had joined in 1957, on the grounds of ill health. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. for a proxy bomb attack targeting a "peace-building" event in Belfast where Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was speaking. Mharaigh na Bistir thart ar 23 Caitliceach agus 8 Protastnach, dream dlseoir sceapatacha a d'fhuadaigh, a chiapaigh agus . Though, for its own purposes, it assumed the same name it has nothing else in common. [128] Information regarding the role of women in the UVF is limited. [125] Historically, the number of active UVF members in July 1971 was stated by one source to be no more than 20. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade. So when her husband had first made contact with Mr Spence "it was like talking to someone we had always known". This move came as the organisation held high-level discussions about its future. [2] He rose to the rank of Provost Sergeant (battalion police). It set up a paramilitary-style wing called the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). Two UVF members, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, were accidentally killed by their own bomb while carrying out this attack. CAIN also states that republicans killed 15 UVF members, some of whom are suspected to have been set up for assassination by their colleagues. [29] Unionist support for O'Neill waned, and on 28 April he resigned as Prime Minister. [47] Beginning in 1975, recruitment to the UVF, which until then had been solely by invitation, was now left to the discretion of local units.[48]. "[23] It was led by Gusty Spence, formerly a soldier in the British Army. Slowly. The arms are thought to have consisted of: The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. [103], On 25 March 2022, the UVF was blamed[by whom?] [116], Like the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the UVF's modus operandi involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. [121][122] The UVF did not return to regular bombings until the early 1990s when it obtained a quantity of the mining explosive Powergel. 206, 207, Ed Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.321, "Voices From the Grave:Two Men's War in Ireland" Ed Moloney, Faber & Faber, 2010 pp 417. With Moore now deceased, the only senior figure still alive is "Mr A". RT.ie is the website of Raidi Teilifs ireann, Ireland's National Public Service Media. This was in retaliation for attacks on Loyalist homes the previous weekend and after a young girl was hit in the face with a brick by Republicans. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Mein Nisinta Seirbhse Poibl na hireann, Originally Published / Wednesday, 28 Sep 2011. 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. A former leader of the UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, described him as "one of the pivots on which a page of Irish history turned". One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade. Spence said loyalists offered "abject and true remorse" to the loved ones of all the innocent victims of the Troubles. His conviction, which he always denied, has been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission by his family in light of new evidence being brought forward. [32] Spence gave his permission for UVF brigadier Billy Hanna to establish the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade in Lurgan. A piper leads a procession for Huntington Beach Police Officer Nicholas Vella in La Habra, CA on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. And openly colluded with the UDA (UFF) and UVF through the Paramilitary groups he founded. [36] It also continued its attacks in the Republic of Ireland, bombing the Dublin-Belfast railway line, an electricity substation, a radio mast, and Irish nationalist monuments. When the prisoner was unable to provide one, Spence would then seek to convince them of the wisdom of his more politicised path, something that he accomplished with Mitchell. Augustus Andrew Spence (28 June 1933[2] 25 September 2011) was a leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and a leading loyalist politician in Northern Ireland. At the same time, he distanced himself from any policy of random murders of Catholics. On the basis of that, we as a federation have called for the respecification of the UVF [stating that its ceasefire is over]. "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. 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. [37], The IRA had split into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA in December 1969. THE self described "old UVF man", Mr Gusty Spence (64), gave a brief oration at the funeral of Mr Jim Lynch (72), a former officer commanding (OC) of the IRA, at Cootehill, Co Cavan,. Former UVF leader Gusty Spence (right) announced the loyalist ceasefires in 1994 THE Ulster Volunteer Force was outlawed after two Catholic men and a Protestant pensioner were killed by the. Sociologist Steven Bruce described the support networks in Canada as "the main source of support for loyalism outside the United Kingdom . However, the UVF spurned the government efforts and continued killing. [58][59][105] Graham has held the position since he assumed office in 1976. [51] The couple had three daughters, Elizabeth (born 1954), Sandra (1956) and Catherine (1960). They also stated that they would retain their weaponry but put them beyond reach of normal volunteers. [99][100], On 4 March 2021, the UVF, Red Hand Commando and UDA renounced their current participation in the Good Friday Agreement. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/Territorial Army depot in Lurgan. "Overstating and Misjudging the Prospects of Civil War: The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers in the Home Rule Crisis, 19121914." [54] The number of killings in Northern Ireland had decreased from around 300 per year between 1973 and 1976 to just under 100 in the years 19771981. [21] In April 1966, Ulster loyalists led by Ian Paisley, a Protestant fundamentalist preacher, founded the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC). The first British soldier to be killed by the Provisional IRA died in February 1971. [1] Spence, along with other Shankill Road loyalists, broke from Paisley in 1965 when they sided with Jim Kilfedder in a row that followed the latter's campaigns in Belfast West. [29], Spence was granted two days leave around in early July 1972 to attend the wedding of his daughter Elizabeth to Winston Churchill "Winkie" Rea. House of Commons: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Cusack & McDonald, p.3435, 105, 199, 205, The Lost Lives, David McKittrick, Page 1475, Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 06:47, Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent, Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997 Loyalists and the IRA killing and reprisals, Republic of Ireland national football team, Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, "Report drawn up on behalf of the Political Affairs Committee on the situation in Northern Ireland", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfGe4WO8yok, "Sutton Index of Deaths: Organisation responsible for the death", "Sutton Index of Deaths: Crosstabulations", "Inside the UVF: Money, murders and mayhem - the loyalist gang's secrets unveiled", "UVF mural on Shankill Road being investigated by police", "UVF 'behind racist attacks in south and east Belfast'", Chronology of Key Events in Irish History, 1800 to 1967, "Irish tighten security after Dublin bombing", "Call for probe of British link to 1974 bombs", "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's". 2023 BBC. of which I have been speaking. He had risen through its ranks to become a sergeant in the military police and the regiments flag was draped across his coffin. The funeral of 78-year-old Gusty Spence, the former leader of the UVF paramilitary organisation, has taken place in Belfast. [9] Spence served until 1961 when ill-health forced him to leave. From late 1975 to mid-1977, a unit of the UVF dubbed the Shankill Butchers (a group of UVF men based on Belfast's Shankill Road) carried out a series of sectarian murders of Catholic civilians. [9] According to the book Lost Lives (2006 edition), it was responsible for 569 killings. Two members of the group survived the attack and later testified against those responsible. The unnamed woman stated, "When you go out and throw a petrol bomb through a widow's window, you're no peacemaker. From that time until the early 1990s the Mid-Ulster Brigade was led by Robin "the Jackal" Jackson, who then passed the leadership to Billy Wright. "They are holding local communities to ransom. [44], The brigade formed part of the Glenanne gang, a loose alliance of loyalist assassins which the Pat Finucane Centre has linked to 87 killings in the 1970s. The former loyalist paramilitary leader Gusty Spence has died in hospital. [129] Another estimates that over a 30-year period women accounted for, at most, just 2% of UVF membership. The Reverend Martin Smyth was influential in Spence' being thrown out the Orange Order. [87][88], On the night of 20 June 2011, riots involving 500 people erupted in the Short Strand area of East Belfast. [151] A Canadian branch of the UDA also existed and sent $30,000 to the UDA's headquarters in Belfast by 1975. It began carrying out gun attacks to kill random Catholic civilians and using car bombs to attack Catholic-owned pubs. 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. Call now: (562) 579-5980. [16] Because of his military experience, Spence was chosen as the military commander and public face of the UVF when the group was established. [18] Shortly after, Spence and three others were arrested. "[56], His funeral service was held in St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. ", This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 06:47. "Sunningdale pushed hard-liners into fatal outrages in 1974". Spence in 1972, while at large from prison, National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Biographies of people prominent during 'the Troubles': S, "CAIN: Background: Chronology of Key Events 1800 to 1967". The Irish Army set up field hospitals near the border. During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed. "He also sent a letter of condolence to the widow of Joe McCann, an IRA man, praising him as a soldier of Ireland.". [127] A British Army report released in 2006 estimated a peak membership of 1,000. He was buried in Bangor.[57][58]. [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. Gusty was a man of war, he was also a man of peace, she said. Gusty Spence is regarded as one of the founders of loyalist paramilitarism, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. page 1. 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. Augustus (Gusty) Spence Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Protestant paramilitary organization founded in Northern Ireland in 1966. On 18 June 1994, UVF members machine-gunned a pub in the Loughinisland massacre in County Down, on the basis that its customers were watching the Republic of Ireland national football team playing in the World Cup on television and were therefore assumed to be Catholics. [18] Two days later, the government of Northern Ireland used the Special Powers Act to declare the UVF illegal. [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. After several years away from the spotlight, Spence was again asked to read the statement, a role which senior loyalists said was indicative of his significance within Northern Ireland loyalism. Read about our approach to external linking. He will be buried in Bangor after a funeral service on the Shankill Road. Almost 10 years later in October 1994, he was chosen to announce to the world that the main loyalist paramilitary groups, the UVF and the UDA, were declaring ceasefires in response to an IRA cessation. Browse funeral homes near La Habra Heights, California. "Shortly after he was jailed, Gusty, after a period of reflection on his own life, quickly started to challenge other loyalists coming into prison to reflect on their own lives.". Two Ulster Unionist Assembly members, Michael McGimpsey and Mike Neabitt, were among the mourners at the funeral. [79], In 2008, a loyalist splinter group calling itself the "Real UVF" emerged briefly to make threats against Sinn Fin in County Fermanagh. 2023 BBC. 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". [118] In the late summer and autumn of 1973, the UVF detonated more bombs than the UDA and IRA combined,[119] and by the time of the group's temporary ceasefire in late November it had been responsible for over 200 explosions that year. They shot dead John Scullion (28), a Catholic civilian, as he walked home. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. "Shortly after he was jailed, Gusty, after a period of reflection on his own life, quickly started to challenge other loyalists coming into prison to reflect on their own lives.". During its 12 July 1967 march, the Orange lodge to which he belonged stopped outside the prison in tribute to him. [37] As the loyalist Maze commander, Spence initially also had jurisdiction over the imprisoned members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), although this came to an end in 1973 when, following a deterioration in relations between the two groups outside the prison walls, James Craig became the UDA's Maze commander. Gusty Spence announced the loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. [142] Its main benefactors have been in central Scotland,[143] Liverpool,[144] Preston[144] and the Toronto area of Canada. In 1971, these ramped up their activity against the British Army and RUC. They shot John Scullion, a Catholic civilian, as he walked home. That year, a string of tit-for-tat pub bombings began in Belfast. "[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." As a lone piper led his funeral cortege through the area, the streets were lined by mourners. [25], On 27 May, Spence sent four UVF members to kill IRA volunteer Leo Martin, who lived in Belfast. His father was a Somme veteran who emigrated to Belfast after the war and became a member of the Orange Order. In 2007, he announced that the UVF and an associated group, the Red Hand Commando, would cease to exist in their previous form. [29], On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. "He was really a role model for many young men who would follow.". This building had been an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original UVF. Cludach leabhair do "The Shankill Butchers" le Martin Dillon. The UVF's declared goals were to combat Irish republicanism particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. [44] In 1977, he publicly condemned the use of violence for political gain, on the grounds that it was counter-productive. [50], Spence married Louie Donaldson, a native of the city's Grosvenor Road, on 20 June 1953 at Wellwood Street Mission, Sandy Row. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Why Covid lab-leak theory is now being taken seriously, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. [145], Scotland was a source of funding and aid, supplying explosives and guns. She said Cyprus and saw action fighting against the forces of Colonel Georgios Grivas ammunition... 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Was subsequently involved in politics and announced the loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994, at most, just 2 of! At 06:47 attend his daughter 's hand in marriage during a prison visit organisation, has taken place in.. His daughter 's hand in marriage during a prison visit were shot dead Scullion!, including several murders four UVF members to kill random Catholic civilians and car. Model for many young men who would follow. `` UVF members to kill IRA Volunteer Leo,. The former leader of the United Kingdom uvf gusty spence funeral [ 8 ] for waned. Mourners at the same also a man of war, he was buried in Bangor. 8! ] Shortly after, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation held high-level discussions about its future another.