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Category: Irish Protocol

  • Report shows army and MI5 colluded with loyalist terror gang in killings

    Evidence has emerged that suggests the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), one of the three loyalist paramilitary organisations that have withdrawn from the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), colluded with the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and MI5 in killings.

    “Professionally carried out”

    The evidence relates to the murder of three IRA volunteers as well as a civilian. The IRA volunteers were John Quinn, Malcolm Nugent and Dwayne O’Donnell, and the civilian was Thomas Armstrong. UVF reportedly took responsibility for the killings, which took place at Boyle’s Bar in Cappagh in March 1991.

    In December of that year, three part-time members of the UDR were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murders. Another man who was related to one of the UDR men was detained too, but no charges were made.

    Now, a British army document has come to light. It not only provides information on how the UVF attack was executed but also the weapons used. The document further states that the murders were “professionally carried out”. In particular:

    From investigation of the scene it was found that the groupings of the bursts of fire were quiet [sic] exceptional for a PPM [Protestant paramilitaries] shoot and the targets had been well acquired.

    This new evidence was first revealed by the Irish News:

    Collusion

    The Belfast Telegraph states that a report has been handed to the victims’ relatives. The report, drafted by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) on those killed at Boyle’s Bar, says that:

    in the months after the killings three serving UDR members were named in intelligence reports as being responsible [for the killings].

    It further states that a “possible MI5 link involvement was also raised”.

    Phoenix Law lawyer Gavin Booth represents the families. He commented that this disclosure is “the first time a state report confirms collusion” in the Boyle’s Bar murders.

    More collusion

    It’s worth highlighting that there are many other instances of collusion or interaction between the UVF, and other loyalist paramilitaries, and British intelligence and armed forces.

    According to a lengthy exposé in Village, these include:

    • MI5 infiltration of Ulster Resistance (UR). Also, that “information was leaked from RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] and the UDR which provided [UR] with details of ‘suspected republicans’”.
    

      

    • Collusion between the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). It’s also reported that RUC intelligence was “used to target suspected republicans, including Loughlin Maginn, shot in Rathfriland in August 1989. His death, following that of solicitor Pat Finucane in February 1989, sparked the decades-long investigations by Sir John Stevens into collusion by the Security forces”.
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    • Claims that “MI5-controlled provocateur” Robert Nairac “obtained equipment and weapons for, co-ordinated and executed the [Miami Showband] massacre which was perpetrated by the UVF led by their commander Robin Jackson. … Two serving UDR officers, and one ex-UDR officer served life sentences for the murders”.
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    • Collusion between UDA agent Brian Nelson (found guilty of solicitor Pat Finucane’s murder) and the Force Research Unit (FRU).
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    Other revelations
    

    In a July 2016 article, The Canary revealed a restricted document that provided evidence of the UK government’s collusion with paramilitary organisations in the north of Ireland. The document consisted of testimony by Ian Hurst, an FRU agent, who also went by the name Martin Ingram.
    

    Then in November 2018, The Canary reported on another example of collusion involving the Glenanne gang, which:
    

    was made up of members of the RUC, a former police force in Northern Ireland; the UDR, a British Army regiment; and the UVF, a loyalist paramilitary group. It was centrally involved in the murder of over 120 innocent civilians between July 1972 and the end of 1978. The group also took its murderous campaign south of the border.
    

    And in December 2020, The Canary reported on the 1971 McGurk’s bar massacre, when 15 people were killed and more than 16 were injured. The article reported that author and activist Ciarán MacAirt revealed files showing:
    

    the name of the UVF’s original target that evening and showed there was a nearby British army presence that evening also. Moreover, MacAirt claims his revelations connect General Frank Kitson [British general who authored ‘Low Intensity Operations’] to the atrocity.
    

    It’s claimed that a staggeringly high number of Loyalist paramilitary members were British intelligence assets.
    

    Meanwhile, the UVF, UDA, and Red Hand Commando – all proscribed terrorist organisations – are continuing to pressure the UK and EU on matters related to Brexit. And going by the UK government’s track record for duplicity, it’s doubtful whether it can be trusted to be on the right side of history here.
    

    Featured image via YouTube
    

    By Tom Coburg
    


    This post was originally published on The Canary. 
    
	
    
	
	
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    UK government tried changing Brexit protocol unilaterally, but the EU isn’t having it
    
			
    
			

			
		
    
		

		
    Loyalist paramilitaries have effectively ended the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). They made clear in a 3 March letter that they’ll no longer abide by the GFA while the Irish Protocol remains in place. And on the same day, the UK government reportedly took unilateral action and amended the protocol.
    

    In response, the EU has made it clear that it’s taking legal action over the matter. The US senate is also expected to issue a resolution stating that a post-Brexit UK/US trade deal will depend on all conditions of the GFA being adhered to.
    

    All this stems directly from the disastrously agreed Brexit deal which the Boris Johnson-led government negotiated and signed up to.
    

    Unilateral action
    

    On 3 March, the UK government announced that the initial three month ‘grace period’ for agri-food goods, as well as parcels and plants, entering the north of Ireland from Britain will be extended by a further six months. This will apparently ease bureaucracy, which has already affected the flow of goods. But the UK government allegedly announced this change without informing the EU in advance.
    

    The EU has said that this unilateral action is potentially a breach of international law, and that legal action taken could end up in the European Court of Justice.
    

    Furthermore, European Commission (EC) vice-president Maros Sefcovic told the UK government that the Irish Protocol and its terms relating to trade must be respected:
    

    The protocol is the solution agreed by the UK and the EU to these challenges: it is the only way to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, preserving peace and stability and avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.
    

    Mixed reactions
    

    

    There have been a number of reactions to these developments. Simon Hoare, Tory MP and chair of the Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, pointedly commented that:
    

    The government didn’t reluctantly inherit the protocol, but jointly authored it with the EU
    

    Meanwhile, Sinn Féin insists that the protocol remains in force, while the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) wants it to go. The latter is also threatening legal action against the UK government.
    

    And shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haig wondered whether the UK government’s strategy is:
    

    to push the protocol to breaking point, and undermine the cast-iron commitment to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland
    

    Brexit future?
    

    All this comes on top of the staggering news that since the UK ended the Brexit transition phase, exports in January fell by 40%. Though, of course, the pandemic and the third lockdown would have had an effect too.
    

    Meanwhile, a US senate draft resolution reportedly states that any attempt to reintroduce “barriers, checkpoints or personnel on the island of Ireland” will contravene the GFA. And the US will therefore not tolerate any such attempts.
    

    Attacked from all sides – by the DUP and its paramilitary fellow-travellers, by the EC, and by the US – finding a solution to Johnson’s ‘oven ready’ Brexit mess is not going to be easy. Perhaps it’s time to go back to square one.
    

    Featured image via Flickr/Bankenverband
    

    By Tom Coburg
    


    This post was originally published on The Canary. 
    
	
    
	
	
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    Loyalist terrorists are considering ‘direct action’ against politicians if Brexit demands aren’t met
    
			
    
			

			
		
    
		

		
    Loyalist paramilitaries have withdrawn support for the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) as long as UK and EU stick with an unamended Irish Protocol. But behind this move lies, possibly, an even greater threat to peace on the island of Ireland and potentially beyond.
    

    Good Friday Agreement under threat
    

    In an earlier article in The Canary by Joe Glenton, it’s reported that a letter to Johnson by the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) states that the Loyalist Groupings are:
    

    herewith withdrawing support for the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement and its institutions until our rights under the Agreement are restored.
    

    The LCC represents the Red Hand Commando (RHC) the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). The paramilitary groups represented by LCC are proscribed terrorist organisations.
    

    The full text of the letter is included in this tweet from journalist Allison Morris:
    

    


    

    The letter adds that the withdrawal from the GFA will stand until the “Protocol is amended to ensure unfettered access for goods, services, and citizens throughout the United Kingdom”. Moreover, the letter states that “the triggers detailed in Article 16 of the Protocol… must be acted up without further delay”. 
    

    The north of Ireland’s deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill has also made it clear that the current debacle over customs arrangements between the north of Ireland and Britain is entirely down to the British government. And she has accused the British government of acting in “bad faith”.
    

    Threats by unionist gangs against politicians
    

    According to the Irish News, it’s understood that the LCC wrote the letter to Johnson:
    

    as part of attempts to appease hardline factions of loyalism who wanted to escalate opposition to the protocol into direct action against politicians and political offices [emphasis added].
    

    If loyalist gangs decide to escalate to “direct action against politicians and their offices”, what form could that take? Indeed, earlier in February LCC chair David Campbell ominously stated:
    

    If it comes to the bit where we have to fight physically to maintain our freedoms within the UK, so be it.
    

    PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne commented that he considered the remarks as “inflammatory”. Though Campbell claimed the quote had been taken out of context.
    

    Moreover, graffiti giving UK cabinet minister Michael Gove’s address and saying “We do not forget. We do not forgive” has been daubed in the Sandy Row area of Belfast.
    

    DUP also has blood on its hands
    

    Nor should it be forgotten that the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has a long history of association with paramilitaries.
    

    For example, DUP founder Ian Paisley set up the unionist militia Third Force. Former DUP leader and co-founder Peter Robinson “was an active member of Ulster Resistance”, the activities of which included smuggling “arms to the UK, including RPG rocket launchers”. In 1986, Robinson led hundreds of members of the Third Force in an “invasion” of the small village of Clontibret in County Monaghan, across the border. In that same year, Paisley and Robinson addressed a rally for Ulster Resistance in Ulster Hall.
    

    Then in 1987, Ulster Resistance combined with the UVF and the UDA in a weapons smuggling operation that included 200 assault rifles and ammunition. The rifles were used in:
    

    the murder or attempted murder of about 70 people in Northern Ireland. In the early 90s, they were used in three massacres: gunmen stood at the doors of a bookmaker’s shop and two bars, and simply sprayed the room. Nineteen people died and 27 were wounded.
    

    In 2009, DUP MP Willie McCrea was challenged about his links to the UVF leader Billy Wright in 1991 and 1992. This was at the height of a sectarian murder campaign in Mid-Ulster.
    

    As for the LCC, it issued a statement shortly before the 2017 general election urging voters to back DUP and Ulster Unionist candidates in four battleground constituencies.
    

    On 25 February, a week before LCC’s letter to Johnson, north of Ireland first minister Arlene Foster met with the paramilitary ‘umbrella’ body to discuss the Irish Protocol.
    

    Johnson’s Brexit mess
    

    It’s essential that not only the border between north and south Ireland remains as invisible as possible, but that the government finds a workable solution to the flawed Irish Protocol. Otherwise the deal with the European Union will flounder, and the UK-US trade deal could be in jeopardy too.
    

    This is a mess of Johnson’s own making. He now needs to ensure the GFA is restored without delay – but not by appeasing loyalist paramilitaries.
    

    Featured image via Flickr/KeBorja García de Sola Fernández
    

    By Tom Coburg
    


    This post was originally published on The Canary.