The UDA South East Antrim Brigade is one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). DIE KOMMENDEN sind nationalpolitisch-strmungsbergreifend. [3] A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole , Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley and Whitewell, all . Gregg had been a regular visitor to Ibrox Park for a number of years,[11] often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. [69] But South East Antrim UDA boss Gary Fisher refused to sanction an attack on the UVF man, further weakening his standing with rank-and-file members within his own terror group. He's crossed a line and there are figures in the UDA who won't forget.". [11] Each geographical area was commanded by a UDA 'Brigadier' and sometimes also had a designated 'Military Commander', 'Intelligence Officer' and 'Quartermaster'. "[11] In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. Both men, who lived on Ferris Avenue, had their houses burnt out during the attack. often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. Brawls between the two had been frequent and tensions had been growing between the UDA and UVF leading to a drink-fuelled pitched battle between the two groups at the train station. the UDA commander or Brigadier in South-East Antrim, a figure who kept a very low . He was aware that (another UDA Brigadier) had arranged a trip to London for us to speak to people in England, where we would attempt to reorganise and motivate units in . Law enforcement agencies see the loosening of Fisher's control as an opportunity. The expelled Mount Vernon UVF commander was replaced by a close associate of the organisation's overall leader John 'Bunter' Graham. His own earliest memory of the Troubles was the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marches in Derry, a movement to which Gregg and his family were strongly opposed. He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier. Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. [49] The targets of the attack were reported locally as being two brothers who had been involved in a scuffle with three UDA members the night before. T he breakaway South East Antrim has issued a warning that it will get tough with Carrick dealers . ago. Themen: Politische Wochenschau, politische Theorie, Artikel und Berichte zu Themen rund um berwachung, Repression, Wirtschaft, Soziales, Befreiungsnationalismus, Antiimperialismus, Zeitgeschichte und Literaturhinweise "The former brigadier was summoned to a UVF leadership meeting on the Shankill to talk about the missing money, but he cried off sick," said a UVF source. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is the largest Ulster loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. Gregg initially remained aloof from the struggle and instead concentrated on his anti-Catholic campaign. "Several UDA men told their bosses they wanted him shot dead while others wanted his knees done but they've been ordered by Fisher to leave him alone, for now. On February 1 2003, Gregg and fellow UDA man Rab Carson had just returned to Northern Ireland after attending an Old Firm match in Glasgow when their taxi drove into . match. Gary Fisher became brigadier following the murder in 2003 of his predecessor John 'Grug' Gregg, but he is known to be looking for a way out of the organisation. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. On 14 March 1984, he severely wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an attack supposedly ordered as a response to the earlier killings of Ulster Unionist Party politicians Robert Bradford and Edgar Graham. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey. Widely known as a man with a fearsome . [51], On 13 March 2017 Geordie Gilmore, formerly a commander in the brigade until being stood down in 2016 following a dispute over drug money,[52] was shot in the neck in Carrickfergus. [18] English would soon re-emerge as part of the Ulster Democratic Party. Former PSNI superintendent Ken Pennington said he considers them to be "a criminal cartel that have wrapped themselves in a flag". [58], On 11 December 2018 handguns bought on the 'dark net' by two Co Antrim men linked to a loyalist feud may have been destined for use by the South East Antrim UDA. [5] The Guardian has identified it as "one of the most dangerous factions". Under Gregg, drug-dealing became a major problem in brigade areas, particularly Rathcoole, with Gregg himself said to have a leading role in the illicit trade. games. [14] Later in the year, English was forced to confront Adair about rumours that Adair was considering attending an Inner Council meeting armed in order to eliminate the other five brigadiers and assume sole control of the UDA. [14] Throughout 1999 his brigade continued to be active, undertaking a pipe bomb campaign against Catholic homes whilst on 12 May members of his brigade shot and wounded a Catholic builder in Carrickfergus under the cover name "Protestant Liberation Force". From the 1990s until he was shot dead in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. [30] This briefly occurred in late August when one of Adair's allies took command of the brigade, although this proved short-lived. [1], Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. [28] Soon after two pipe bombs were thrown at Gregg's house, and his friend Tommy Kirkham's house was shot at. Adair ignored the expulsion, erecting West Belfast UDA Business as Usual banners on the Shankill Road, whilst continuing his struggles with the remaining brigadiers, Gregg in particular. Often called 'the Egyptian', Shoukri became known as 'the blingadier' for his extravagant lifestyle. Ann Ogilbys brutal murder: Forgotten victims of the Troubles, Kriss Donald The Brutal Racist Killing of an Innocent Schoolboy. [1][2] It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. "The vast majority of it comes in from down south, from one of the well-known crime gangs down there. "Over the last 12 months the paramilitary cops (Paramilitary Crime Task Force) have been hitting the South East Antrim over and over again," said a source. [13] The two clashed frequently and, in 1993, Adair even threatened to kill English after English had suggested that the UDA should not claim the murder of Marie Teresa Dowds de Mogollon, which Adair's top hitman Stephen McKeag had perpetrated. [32], When the taxi stopped at traffic lights close to the motorway, it was rammed by another taxi which had been hijacked earlier on the Shankill Road. "But he's only delaying the inevitable and will eventually have to account for the 250,000 that's disappeared.". [36] Adair would be removed from his position of power soon afterwards in a show of strength by the mainstream UDA under the command of Jackie McDonald. Much of this activity was inspired by Greggs personal hatred of Catholics. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. [4], Gregg and his team were apprehended almost immediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on them before ramming their car. [59], On 3 January 2019 police reported a baby in a pram narrowly escaped injury after homes were attacked in Co Down by South East Antrim UDA members. He was interviewed on the basis of anonymity. As the band prepared to take the train home that evening they met members of the Shankill Protestant Boys, another band in town for the parade that was affiliated to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). "It is notoriously difficult to leave," a senior loyalist source told us. "But then what happened was that the UDA began to splinter into criminal gangs, criminal fiefdoms.". Charlie Strain, Hugh Cameron, Tommy Hollran and Mark Gourley, who is missing presumed . [2] Since 2007 the South East Antrim Brigade has operated independently of the UDA following a fall-out. In a move that was not universally popular in the region, Fisher allowed the Shoukris and their ally Alan McClean to live under South East Antrim Brigade protection and even attend meetings of the brigade's commanders. "I think that the powers that be know exactly which individuals are involved. [30] A bomb attack on Adair's house on 8 January 2003 was blamed on Gregg by White, although Adair himself was returned to prison two days later after a dossier detailing his drug-dealing and racketeering activities was shown to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy. Gregg was jailed for 18 years; however, he only served half his sentence and was released in 1993. [31] Gregg was back in command by October, at which point he was one of the brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair from the UDA for his involvement in the attempted murder of Jim Gray.[32]. [38], Gregg was married with one son and two stepdaughters. fifty skinheads appeared from nowhere, many of them wearing Chelsea and Rangers football scarves and covered in Loyalist and swastika tattoos. Despite his reputation for gangsterism, Gregg's failed attack on Gerry Adams had afforded him legendary status and, under the direction of Jackie McDonald, the remaining UDA brigadiers concluded that Adair had to be removed. He will have run the crime gang . John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. [39] A new interim leadership was appointed in their stead although the brigade effectively divided between those who supported the wider UDA leadership and those who remained loyal to Fisher. "There was an old joke going round the Rathcoole estate that when (name removed) is on the phone he's either talking to Den Elliott or the peelers," the source added. The secretive mobster has seen his one-time iron-clad grip on the UDA crime gang loosen in recent months, leaving him Brigadier in name only. It's very difficult to deal with the issue of their control, because of the fear that they just instil into people.". To the rest of us, an attack on a UDA brigadier is an attack on the whole organisation. The same year, Geordie Gilmore was also shot dead in broad daylight. Read about our approach to external linking. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of . His gaunt appearance had people raising questions about his health. November 22 2014 04:33 PM. UDA Brigadier for South East Antrim, Gregg - who became a loyalist icon when he shot Sinn Fin chief Gerry Adams - was gunned down in Belfast's docklands area nearly 20 years ago. He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier. [28] In response, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack in a move Gregg saw as a threat. [11], As brigadier Joe English enjoyed, theoretically, more power than his predecessor, as Andy Tyrie had been removed from the UDA leadership and replaced by a collective leadership of the movement's six brigadiers, including English. [35] Afterward, a lone piper led the cortege to Carnmoney Cemetery where he was buried. The shootings raised some anger on the Shankill, where the three were well-liked figures, and Adair sought to exploit this as a method of getting rid of Gregg. [63][64] Patsy McGlone, Stephen Farry, Steve Aiken and Doug Beattie also condemned the attacks and were subsequently warned by the PSNI of threats from the South East Antrim UDA. A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey On 6 January 2010, the UDA announced that it had put its weapons "verifiably beyond use". [8] Gregg, Colin Gray and Gerry Welsh were immediately arrested by the waiting British Army, who had doctored the bullets to reduce their lethality. The new Irish Sea Border: What does it mean? Greggs movements were known to C Company member Alan McCullough who, receiving instruction from Adair (then in HMP Maghaberry), arranged for a hit team to kill Gregg and his associate as the taxi took them from the port of Belfast. [55] Gilmore had been targeted in an unsuccessful crossbow attack the previous August. He cited former UFF chief Johnny Adair as one of the few to have got out with the skin on his back. Home. This has trigged UDA fury - the terror group has been facing an onslaught from crimebusters in South East Antrim while the UVF in the same area have been left relatively untouched. [3] He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. South East Antrim UDA crime boss Gary Fisher is facing an internal revolt with even his closest lieutenants saying his time is up. During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Gregg's eye,[12] although it is also claimed that Gregg lost his eye due to a fight with republicans at the same parade. His own earliest memory of the Troubles was the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marches in Derry, a movement to which Gregg and his family were strongly opposed. Members of this brigade were believed to be behind the killings of Catholic postman Danny McColgan, Protestant teenager Gavin Brett and Trevor Lowry (the latter kicked to death in the mistaken belief he was a Catholic), and a spate of pipe bomb attacks on the homes of Catholics. Adair was returned to prison two days later. [63], The threats were condemned by Peter Vandermeersch of Independent News & Media and Seamus Dooley, assistant General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, and by Amnesty International UK. The ex-UVF leader has been warned to return the money, with a portion also invested in hot food takeaways and some hidden at safe houses in the Rathcoole estate. Adams was in a taxi near Belfast City Hall with some associates when another car containing John 'Grug' Gregg and two fellow Rathcoole UDA members pulled up alongside and opened fire on Adams. Tensions in South East Antrim between the UDA and the UVF were already high after a summer of incidents and disagreements. Gregg took this as a threat and, after complaining to senior figures in the West Belfast UDA, ordered the three men to be kneecapped. Security sources say that with more than 2,000 members, the South East Antrim UDA is one of Northern Ireland's largest paramilitary gangs. They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. A UDA member originally from the Woodvale Road had moved to Rathcoole where he had been beaten up after it emerged that he was a friend of Joe English, the former brigadier who had been exiled from the estate by Gregg for his anti-drugs stance. However, one major obstacle to overcome before any deal can be agreed is the recovery of the body of missing murder victim Lisa Dorrian. The veteran loyalist, who was 'brigadier' of its South East Antrim unit, was kicked out of the organisation last week. It is unclear when South East Antrim was first designated as a brigade area although its first recognised leader was Alan Snoddy and he held title of Brigadier by at least 1979. Browns_right_foot 3 mo. Gregg was married with one son and two stepdaughters. Gregg had been a regular visitor to Ibrox Park for a number of years. However, this proved short-lived. [6] However, this proved short-lived. Police confirmed that they were treating it as part of the existing feud. However in the second half of 2002 he was dragged into the conflict after Adair made him a target in his own attempts to take full control of the UDA. Gregg was the most senior UDA member killed since South Belfast brigadier John McMichael was blown up by the IRA in 1987. The deposed brigadier's ex-2IC is also facing major money worries having been fined 20,000 by the UVF. [19], In late 2001, Gregg's reign of terror in Rathcoole, where drug dealing, knee-capping and savage beatings were the norm, was challenged by local British Labour Party Councillor Mark Langhammer, who also objected to Gregg's close links to neo-Nazi groups in Great Britain. Along with Jackie McDonald and Billy McFarland, fellow brigadiers on the UDAs Inner Council, Gregg was lacking in enthusiasm for the Belfast Agreement when it appeared in 1998. 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. Greggs 18-year-old son Stuart and another man were also in the vehicle but neither sustained injuries in the shooting attack. Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a flute band attached to the brigade, had been to Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march through the city centre when at the train station they met members of the Shankill Protestant Boys, a UVF-affiliated band. Sources in South East Antrim have told us Fisher has been trying to engineer an exit strategy with enough money to sustain a life away from the UDA. John Gregg (1957 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. His perceived "crime" was a throwaway remark he made privately, when he criticised an attack by the South East Antrim UDA on a friend's business. [29] In response, graffiti appeared around the walls of Rathcoole in December, stating: "Daft Dog and White beware. Watch: Peter Crouch sings the Fields of Athenry with Liverpool fans in Dublin pub, Former minister Nichola Mallon says Windsor Framework receiving positive welcome from businesses, Senior police officer referred to watchdog over alleged rape comments, Over 150 Presbyterian members sign letter criticising incoming moderators comments on ordination of women, Hancock hugely disappointed and sad after WhatsApp messages sent to newspaper. [20] On 4 September Langhammer's car was blown up outside his Whiteabbey home by Gregg's men, although Langhammer himself was asleep at the time and no one was injured. Saturday, 28 January 2023 ePaper Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a hawk in loyalist circles. Despite the continuing activity of his brigade, and his own earlier maiming, Gregg shared the reluctance of other brigadiers about what he saw as a coming war between the UVF and West Belfast brigadier Johnny Adair. 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