While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. During the riot, UVF members shot dead RUC officer Victor Arbuckle. 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. [81], In June 2009 the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in front of independent witnesses as a formal statement of decommissioning was read by Dawn Purvis and Billy Hutchinson. 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. But despite the statement, the UVF was subsequently involved in sporadic violence, including several murders. [25], On 27 May, Spence sent four UVF members to kill IRA volunteer Leo Martin, who lived in Belfast. [130], Prior to and after the onset of the Troubles the UVF carried out armed robberies. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The 78-year-old had been ill for some time. Mr Spence argued for a ceasefire with republicans from as early as the mid-1970s and played a key role in encouraging young loyalists he met in prison to think of the reasons for their involvement in violence. [8], From an early age Spence was a member of the Prince Albert Temperance Loyal Orange Lodge, where fellow members included John McQuade. Referring to its activity in the early and mid-1970s, journalist Ed Moloney described no-warning pub bombings as the UVF's "forte". A controlled explosion was carried out and the bomb was later declared a hoax. 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. The funeral of 78-year-old Gusty Spence, the former leader of the UVF paramilitary organisation, has taken place in Belfast. The biggest of these was the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest terrorist attack of the conflict. He added: "I think it helped to set some of the tone to bring us to where we are now.". As a PUP representative he took a principal role in delivering the loyalist ceasefires of 1994. The UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade was founded in 1972 in Lurgan by Billy Hanna, a sergeant in the UDR and a member of the Brigade Staff, who served as the brigade's commander, until he was shot dead in July 1975. [106][107] This uniform, based on those of the original UVF, was introduced in the early 1970s. 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. The initial aim of Ulster Resistance was to bring an end to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. He was born in the Shankill Road area of Belfast. 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. [26] Despite the fact that control of the UVF lay (nominally at least) with Spence's closest ally Samuel "Bo" McClelland, from prison Spence was often at odds with the group's leadership, in particular with regards to the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing. 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. [3] Spence Snr was a member of the Ulster Volunteers and had fought in the First World War. He will be buried in Bangor after a funeral service on the Shankill Road. Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of the former loyalist leader Gusty Spence. They also stated that they would retain their weaponry but put them beyond reach of normal volunteers. After his release December 1984, Spence was a key figure in developing UVF thinking and indirectly its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party. There was to be much overlap in membership between the UCDC/UPV and the UVF.[22]. DeSantis won't say he's running. Spence is regarded as the first terrorist godfather in Northern Ireland but also the man who took the first steps towards ending UVF violence. 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. [17], He was entrusted by the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) to read out their 13 October 1994 statement that announced the loyalist ceasefire. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an. A number. He was jailed for life for the murder of a Catholic barman in 1966 and served 18 years in prison. [73], On 2 September 2006, BBC News reported the UVF might be intending to re-enter dialogue with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, with a view to decommissioning of their weapons. [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. 2023 BBC. [93] Much of the UVF's orchestration was carried out by its senior members in East Belfast, where many attacks on the PSNI and on residents of the Short Strand enclave took place. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. The largest death toll in a single attack was in the 3 March 1991 Cappagh killings, when the UVF killed IRA members John Quinn, Dwayne O'Donnell and Malcolm Nugent, and civilian Thomas Armstrong in the small village of Cappagh. Traduzioni in contesto per "ieri sono scese nelle strade" in italiano-inglese da Reverso Context: Decine di migliaia di persone ieri sono scese nelle strade di Atene, dando vita a uno sciopero generale che ha costretto la Grecia a fermarsi davanti alla protesta contro il piano di austerity imposto dall'UE, dalla Banca centrale europea di Francoforte e dall'FMI. [18] Shortly after, Spence and three others were arrested. In 1971, these ramped up their activity against the British Army and RUC. "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.". "While the talks may be slow, they are the only glint on the horizon, he said. [11] He was also a member of the Royal Black Institution and the Apprentice Boys of Derry. In 1990, the UVF joined the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) and indicated its acceptance of moves towards peace. Is UVFs Beast in the East behind new wave of riots? [54], Spence died on 25 September 2011, aged 78, in a Belfast hospital;[53] he had been suffering from a long-term illness and was admitted to hospital 12 days prior to his death. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. However, following significant political pressure, the UVF claimed in 2007 that it was decommissioning its weapons. The report added that individuals, some current and some former members, in the group have, without the orders from above, continued to "localised recruitment", and although some continued to try and acquire weapons, including a senior member, most forms of crime had fallen, including shootings and assaults. 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. Spence is regarded as the first terrorist godfather in Northern Ireland but also the man who took the first steps towards ending UVF violence. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. 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. [79], In 2008, a loyalist splinter group calling itself the "Real UVF" emerged briefly to make threats against Sinn Fin in County Fermanagh. Bates was born into an Ulster Protestant family and grew up in the Shankill Road area of Belfast.He had a criminal record dating back to 1966, and later became a member of the Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Thirty-three people were killed and almost 300 injured. Gusty was a man of war, he was also a man of peace, she said. "On behalf of Sinn Fein I would wish to extend my condolences to his family at this time.". [21] Two days later, the Government of Northern Ireland declared the UVF illegal. [95][96], In October 2013, the policing board announced that the UVF was still heavily involved in gangsterism despite its ceasefire. [27][28] Spence respected some Irish republican paramilitaries, who he felt also lived as soldiers, and to this end he wrote a sympathetic letter to the widow of Official IRA leader Joe McCann after he was killed in 1972. [36] Catholic churches were also attacked. [89] The UVF leader in East Belfast, who is popularly known as the "Beast of the East" and "Ugly Doris" also known as by real name Stephen Matthews, ordered the attack on Catholic homes and a church in the Catholic enclave of the Short Strand. In incidents carried out within days of each other in June 1966, Mr Spences gang killed two Catholic men, plus a Protestant pensioner who was murdered in a failed attempt to burn a neighbouring Catholic-owned bar. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. "[140], Protestants in Canada also supported the loyalist paramilitaries in the conflict. [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. 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