"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 deposed brigadier's ex-2IC is also facing major money worries having been fined 20,000 by the UVF. [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". [35] Afterward, a lone piper led the cortege to Carnmoney Cemetery where he was buried. Now, the UDA has imploded to such an extent that its west Belfast brigade, run by the re-imprisoned renegade Adair, is accused of murdering south-east Antrim brigadier, John "Grug" Gregg, while . T he breakaway South East Antrim has issued a warning that it will get tough with Carrick dealers . The UVF man who is accused of touting - who we can't identify for legal reasons - went around the Rathcoole estate and other loyalist areas close by demanding cash payments from alleged drug dealers recently. [20] This followed in summer 2002 when a community centre was taken over for this purpose although Gregg's UDA objected and daubed the building with the word "tout". In late 2001, Greggs 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 Greggs close links to neo-Nazi groups in Great Britain. [5] The Guardian has identified it as "one of the most dangerous factions". [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. She was killed in 2005 and her remains hidden by the son of a veteran member of the Red Hand Commando - a UVF-affiliated group. UDA. "They will extort, they will assault, they will hold back their community in order to sustain their own business," he said. Fri 14 Jan 2022 at 00:30. 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 . Tommy Lyttle suspected that Craig had helped the IRA kill South Belfast UDA Brigadier, John McMichael in December 1987 not long after McMichael had aired complaints within the UDA hierarchy and in Craig's earshot, about Craig's dubious business dealings. His 2IC (second-in-command) was also dismissed after being given a sickening baseball bat beating by other masked UVF members. The UDA South East Antrim Brigade was previously one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association and are heavily involved in the drug trade. [9] Gregg's fearsome reputation earned him the nickname "the Reaper" and he bore a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his back as a tribute. [31] Carson was described by UDA sources as a "dear friend" of Gregg's and a junior member of the South-East Antrim Brigade. [37], In 2007, the UDA's inner council expelled the Brigadier in the South East Antrim area and his political adviser after a long-running stand-off between the mainstream UDA and the South East Antrim Brigade. UDA boss Gary Fisher plots his exit strategy. Widely known as a man with a fearsome . . The 47-year-old had no connections to any paramilitary gang, but was beaten to death in his home in January 2020 after being threatened by the group. However, some communities in Northern Ireland still live in fear of violent loyalist paramilitary gangs and risk brutal consequences for doing or saying anything that gang members perceive as offensive. He told them they had to pay money - ranging from 5,000 right up to 20,000 - to be allowed to stay in the area and avoid a UVF punishment attack. [17] Protestant Trevor Lowry (aged 49) was beaten to death in Glengormley by UDA members under Gregg's command on 11 April 2001 after he was mistaken for a Catholic. Many of them were innocent - but had to pay up anyway. In the last 12 months almost a dozen alleged South East Antrim members have been lifted and charged with drug offences by the National Crime Agency working alongside the Paramilitary Crime Task Force. [23] As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. The juxtaposition of this initiative with the name of Gregg was condemned by the mother of a Catholic who had been killed by members of the South-East Antrim Brigade in 2000 as she argued "it's sickening to call it the Gregg initiative when he was a ruthless terrorist.Everyone goes on about Johnny Adair but they're all as bad as each other". 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. [22], Gregg initially remained aloof from the struggle and instead concentrated on his anti-Catholic campaign. [36] In May of that same year, Alan McCullough was himself killed by the UDA. [33], Gregg's killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. The business has expanded rapidly in recent years and is used to launder criminal cash. Under Fisher, the South East Antrim Brigade became close to the Shoukri brothers, who commanded the neighbouring North Belfast Brigade before being expelled from the UDA in June 2006. Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, UN to ignore remarks of India guru's fictional country, India court panel to probe Adani fraud allegations. [33] This was followed by two pipe bombs being thrown at Gregg's house and shots being fired at that of his friend Tommy Kirkham. The council released a statement expelling two figures within it, believed to be senior UDA figures Fisher and Kirkham, once a member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), although they were not named. 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. Carson was described by UDA sources as a dear friend of Greggs and a junior member of the South-East Antrim Brigade. Carrick's drug trade is now a mish-mash of conflicting independent criminal gangs. These were carried out under the Red Hand Defenders cover name, with some attacks also blamed on the Orange Volunteers who were active in similar attacks at the time. 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. Gregg, seated in the backseat, was hit at close range and died instantly. [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. SoundCloud . It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. the UDA commander or Brigadier in South-East Antrim, a figure who kept a very low . [29] 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. John Gregg (UDA) The man who shot Gerry Adam? John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. [43] The decommissioning was completed at the same time as that of the republican Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA). Law enforcement agencies see the loosening of Fisher's control as an opportunity. (I.R.A) History & Background. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. It used the name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) to claim responsibility for attacks and, because the two claimed to be separate organisations, the UDA was able to . Intense police pressure is forcing South East Antrim UDA mob boss Gary Fisher to gradually withdraw from his leadership role. [17] According to the Workers' Party (Ireland), English was stood down by the UDA after he had expressed willingness to enter into dialogue with them. A failure by the paramilitary group's south-east Antrim faction to back the move resulted in a . South East Antrim Brigade mural in Ballymena honouring Gregg. Sources have told us the crime boss is a man under intense pressure. A mural commemorating Gregg and Carson in Cloughfern. . He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier. When the loyalist arrived he was surrounded by four masked UVF members who beat him with baseball bats, breaking several bones. MEDIA SCRUTINY: Press coverage is heaping pressure on Gary Fisher. This came within a few days of a 1m allocation to a conflict transformation project in loyalist areas. A volley of shots was fired over his coffin by UDA gunmen outside his Rathcoole home. Central role played at UFF parade by veteran crime lord's two underbosses hints at changing of the guard. The Carrick UDA boss, like his counterpart in Monkstown, the other major loyalist housing area in this part of south-east Antrim, is a minor criminal and drug dealer, who has risen to the position . "When Gary was in complete control, there would have been no suggestion of any leaks, it was a tight, tight operation. In May cops arrested and charged four men in connection with a kilo of cocaine seized back in 2020. [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]. 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. The violence, on the Castlemara estate in the town, saw up to 150 loyalists confront each other as members of the 'mainstream' UDA flooded the area in a show of strength against the . [45] As of 2014 Fisher was still identified by the Irish Independent as Brigadier, with the brigade reported as being in the process of rearming. [54] Two men were subsequently charged with the murder. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of senior paramilitary veterans with Fisher forced to toe the line. The attack is commemorated in the song South East Antrim Brigade by loyalist singer Rab C, many of whose compositions were about the brigade and its leading members. The veteran loyalist, who was 'brigadier' of its South East Antrim unit, was kicked out of the organisation last week. Simms' demise was the catalyst for the disintegration of Fisher's power base. Will the Windsor Framework be enough for the DUP? The deal was discussed at a February meeting in London at the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. However, one major obstacle to overcome before any deal can be agreed is the recovery of the body of missing murder victim Lisa Dorrian. Greggs 18-year-old son Stuart and another man were also in the vehicle but neither sustained injuries in the shooting attack. At the service on 6 February, UVF/RHC representatives joined the UDA leadership in a show of anti-Adair solidarity. [3] He later became part of the UDA South East Antrim Brigade. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. "I think that the powers that be know exactly which individuals are involved. A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole (the mural's location), Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley and Whitewell, all of which are part of Newtownabbey, as well Similarly, South East Antrim UDA which broke away from the Inner Council in 2007, is wholly independent of any other UDA faction. Greggs killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. [6] His deputy Rab Carson was killed in the same attack, with both men having just returned from Scotland where they were attending a Rangers F.C. [27], However, in late 2002 a UDA member originally from the Woodvale Road who had moved to Rathcoole was attacked after it emerged that he was a friend of Joe English, the former brigadier who had since been exiled from the area by Gregg for his anti-drugs stance. [38], Gregg was married with one son and two stepdaughters. [47] A Police Service of Northern Ireland officer was injured during the disturbance. [28] In response, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack in a move Gregg saw as a threat. It's believed he fears sparking a new intra-loyalist feud, piling even more pressure on the faction which has been facing a police crackdown. On 4 September Langhammers car was blown up outside his Whiteabbey home by Greggs men, although Langhammer himself was asleep at the time and no one was injured. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. Martin Quinn says the family has been threatened by the South East Antrim UDA for speaking out, Security sources say the South East Antrim UDA has over 2,000 members, Police intelligence says the South East Antrim UDA is involved in the supply of drugs, Rev Philip McAlister officiated at the funeral of Geordie Gilmore, a BBC Spotlight programme on the murder of Glenn Quinn. [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. At the service on 6 February, UVF/RHC representatives joined the UDA leadership in a show of anti-Adair solidarity. often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. [73] . @caolan-mclaughlin-844507501 this is a UDA song ya muppet why u put f the uvf know yer history kid. 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