[151] A Canadian branch of the UDA also existed and sent $30,000 to the UDA's headquarters in Belfast by 1975. The 78-year-old had been ill for some time. She said: "Some people have said that in his later life, he changed to become committed to peace. [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. ", "UVF orders removal of Catholic families from Carrickfergus housing estate in '21st century form of ethnic cleansing'. '[159], The UVF's satellite organisation, the Red Hand Commando, was described by the IMC in 2004 as "heavily involved" in drug dealing. According to Billy Mitchell, Spence quizzed him and others sent to the Maze about why they were there, seeking an ideological answer to his question. [32] Spence gave his permission for UVF brigadier Billy Hanna to establish the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade in Lurgan. [71], On 14 September 2005, following serious loyalist rioting during which dozens of shots were fired at riot police and the British Army the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain announced that the British government no longer recognised the UVF ceasefire. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. [citation needed] The feud between the UVF and the LVF erupted again in the summer of 2005. [55] The hawks had been ousted by those in the UVF who were unhappy with their political and military strategy. The UVF's leadership is based in Belfast and known as the Brigade Staff. Scores of houses and businesses were burnt out, most of them owned by Catholics. "[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." The UVF very clearly have involvement in drug dealing, all forms of gangsterism, serious assaults, intimidation of the community. In January 2000 UVF Mid-Ulster brigadier Richard Jameson was shot dead by a LVF gunman which led to an escalation of the UVF/LVF feud. With a few exceptions, such as Mid-Ulster brigadier Billy Hanna (a native of Lurgan), the Brigade Staff members have been from the Shankill Road or the neighbouring Woodvale area to the west. 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. He initially refused and went on to attend his daughter's wedding. . [63], The UVF also attacked republican paramilitaries and political activists. [125] Members were disciplined after they carried out an unsanctioned theft of 8 million of paintings from an estate in Co Wicklow in April 1974. The community centre hosting the event and 25 nearby homes were evacuated and a funeral was disrupted. [30] Met by two members of the Red Hand Commando upon his release, Spence was informed of the need for a restructuring within the UVF and told not to return to prison. [70], There followed years of violence between the two organisations. Another former PUP leader, Dawn Purvis, said Spence's opinions began to shift sooner than is generally perceived. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. Mr Lynch had many unionist friends, "some even politicians". It would continue these tactics for the rest of its campaign. During this time he restructured the organisation into brigades, battalions, companies, platoons and sections. [13], His older brother Billy Spence was a founding member of Ulster Protestant Action (UPA) in 1956[14] and Gusty Spence himself was also a member of the group. for a proxy bomb attack targeting a "peace-building" event in Belfast where Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was speaking. [151][152] These shipments were considered enough for the UVF/UDA to wage its campaign, most of which were used to kill its victims. 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 arms are thought to have consisted of: The UVF used this new infusion of arms to escalate their campaign of sectarian assassinations. [84] The Independent Monitoring Commission stated Moffett was killed by UVF members acting with the sanction of the leadership. [64] Republicans responded to the attacks by assassinating senior UVF members John Bingham, William "Frenchie" Marchant and Trevor King[65] as well as Leslie Dallas, whose purported UVF membership was disputed both by his family and the UVF. What's he waiting for? VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. After his release December 1984, Spence was a key figure in developing UVF thinking and indirectly its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party. [8], From an early age Spence was a member of the Prince Albert Temperance Loyal Orange Lodge, where fellow members included John McQuade. [58], The UVF's nickname is "Blacknecks", derived from their uniform of black polo neck jumper, black trousers, black leather jacket, black forage cap, along with the UVF badge and belt. [128] Information regarding the role of women in the UVF is limited. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. 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. 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. [2] He ran his part of the Maze along military lines, drilling inmates and training them in weapons use while also expecting a maintenance of discipline. On the basis of that, we as a federation have called for the respecification of the UVF [stating that its ceasefire is over]. Spence told Radio Ulster that the UVF had been "engaged in murder, attempted murder of civilians, attempted murder of police officers. 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. The party's former leader Dawn Purvis told his funeral in the loyalist heartland of Belfasts Shankill Road that Mr Spence became involved in violence in the 1960s. Brian Ervine said: "His contribution to the peace is incalculable and without him, probably the paramilitaries would still be at war. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. The coffin, covered with the flag of the Ulster Rifles and his beret, of former UVF leader Gusty Spence passes a UVF mural along the Shankill Road in Belfast after his funeral at St Michael's Church. These included the Miami Showband killings of 31 July 1975 when three members of the popular showband were killed, having been stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint outside Newry in County Down. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade. "He was an Irishman and looked upon himself as an Ulster Irishman as well as being British. This building had been an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original UVF. This move came as the organisation held high-level discussions about its future. They shot John Scullion, a Catholic civilian, as he walked home. Gusty Spence Funeral RIP 21,778 views Nov 15, 2013 95 Dislike Share Save Elmwoodgrove 14 subscribers The Funeral at Craven Street Gusty said Some day The PUP will grow a set of Jaws And BITE. [80], In the twentieth IMC report, the group was said to be continuing to put its weapons "beyond reach", (in the group's own words) to downsize, and reduce the criminality of the group. 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, yesterday. More militant members of the UVF who disagreed with the ceasefire, broke away to form the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), led by Billy Wright. There were no paramilitary trappings as mourners carried the coffin of the loyalist leader. 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. It set up a paramilitary-style wing called the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). [52] Louie died in 2003. He added: "I think it helped to set some of the tone to bring us to where we are now.". However, following significant political pressure, the UVF claimed in 2007 that it was decommissioning its weapons. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. The feud with the UDA ended in December following seven deaths. [39], Spence began to move towards a position of using political means to advance one's aims, and he persuaded the UVF leadership to declare a temporary ceasefire in 1973. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade. [21] The 'Paisleyites' set out to stymie the civil rights movement and oust Terence O'Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Mr Lynch died following a brief illness. [49] A political wing was formed in June 1974, the Volunteer Political Party led by UVF Chief of Staff Ken Gibson, which contested West Belfast in the October 1974 general election, polling 2,690 votes (6%). [162], There were also 66 UVF/RHC members and four former members killed in the conflict. Slowly. Correspondence includes Spence's correspondence with leaders and imprisoned members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and letters concerning his imprisonment originally . 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. He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the Maze Prison. 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. [58][59] West died in 1980. Read about our approach to external linking. [67] According to Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), the UVF killed 17 active and four former republican paramilitaries. [48] When Spence's wife died three years later, he said that C Company had been responsible for her death, such was the toll that the events had taken on her health. He was jailed for life for the murder of a Catholic barman in 1966 and served 18 years in prison. [84] Eleven months later, a man was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of the UVF's alleged second-in-command Harry Stockman, described by the Belfast Telegraph as a "senior Loyalist figure". The 78-year-old died in hospital at the weekend after a long illness. The group is a proscribed organisation and is on the terrorist organisation list of the United Kingdom.[8]. The group had been proscribed in July 1966, but this ban was lifted on 4 April 1974 by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in an effort to bring the UVF into the democratic process. [151][152] Between 1979 to 1986, Canadian supporters supplied the UVF/UDA with 100 machine guns and thousands of rifles, grenade launchers, magnum revolvers, and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition. [26] He died of his wounds on 11 June. This collection contains Gusty Spence's personal and business correspondence from 1959-1998, the bulk of which was written during . He will be buried in Bangor after a funeral service on the Shankill Road. Spence's biographer Roy Garland said he had formed unlikely relationships and challenged conventional loyalist thinking. 2023 BBC. Openly paraded with the UVF and thanked Gusty Spence repeatedly for his services to Ulster. The Irish Army set up field hospitals near the border. Both pubs were wrecked and a number of people were wounded. For an online, self-service experience, please visit: Two members of the group survived the attack and later testified against those responsible. In October 1975, after staging a counter-coup, the Brigade Staff acquired a new leadership of moderates with Tommy West serving as the Chief of Staff. The initial aim of Ulster Resistance was to bring an end to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. RT 2023. [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. The first Independent Monitoring Commission report in April 2004 described the UVF/RHC as "relatively small" with "a few hundred" active members "based mainly in the Belfast and immediately adjacent areas". Mr Spence was convicted for the murder of one of the victims, 18-year-old Peter Ward, who was shot dead after being identified as a Catholic while he drank in a mainly Protestant pub. Wednesday, 15 February 2023 | 10.2 . In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. It was not in his later life. Former Ulster Volunteer Force leader Gusty Spence has died aged 78. [29], On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. Get in touch with us now to get the service you need. Spence joined the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), becoming a leading figure in the group. 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