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. While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. She is committed to explaining your options. Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of the former loyalist leader Gusty Spence. Get in touch with us now to get the service you need. [20], Since 1964 and the formation of the Campaign for Social Justice, there had been a growing civil rights campaign in Northern Ireland, seeking to highlight discrimination against Catholics by the unionist government of Northern Ireland. While the only echoes of Mr Spences paramilitary past were the UVF murals that dotted his funeral route, a guard of honour was formed by veterans of his old British Army regiment, the Royal Ulster Rifles. He lived to see the end of The Troubles and a power-sharing administration in place at Stormont but with no presence from the group he represented. After his release December 1984, Spence was a key figure in developing UVF thinking and indirectly its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party. Mr Spence said last night he was an eternal optimist" where the present situation in the North was concerned. Spence's biographer Roy Garland said he had formed unlikely relationships and challenged conventional loyalist thinking. On 17 February 1979, the UVF carried out its only major attack in Scotland, when its members bombed two pubs in Glasgow frequented by Irish-Scots Catholics. RT is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. He was buried in Bangor.[57][58]. The group also carried out attacks in the Republic of Ireland from 1969 onward. As a lone piper led his funeral cortege through the area, the streets were lined by mourners. SENIOR UVF figures have warned loyalists will "wreck the place" and "the streets will be in flames" if any Brexit deal between the UK and EU does not . [13][14][15][16][17] The other main loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), which had a much larger membership. [8] He was frequently involved in street fights with republicans and garnered a reputation as a "hard man". "Sunningdale pushed hard-liners into fatal outrages in 1974". The latter had formally asked Spence for his daughter's hand in marriage during a prison visit. He did not specify what activities or what was being resisted. 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,. Wright was apparently enraged by the nickname and made numerous threats to O'Hagan and Campbell. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. [41] Furthermore, the VPP suffered a heavy defeat in West Belfast in the October 1974 general election, when the DUP candidate John McQuade captured six times as many votes as the VPP's Ken Gibson. "BBC News Man held over East Belfast police murder bid", "Surge in Belfast violence blamed on resurgent UVF", "The Beast from East Belfast could put an end to flags violence right now but he won't", "East Belfast UVF: Mission Accomplished? [29], On 12 October, a loyalist protest in the Shankill became violent. Spence said loyalists offered "abject and true remorse" to the loved ones of all the innocent victims of the Troubles. She told mourners that he had made friends among republicans and socialists and among people from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. [19] Spence later wrote "at the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig, he's your last resort". 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". "Overstating and Misjudging the Prospects of Civil War: The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers in the Home Rule Crisis, 19121914." In June, nine UVF members were convicted of the attacks. The vast majority (more than two-thirds)[9][10] of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. [84] The Progressive Unionist Party's condemnation, and Dawn Purvis and other leaders' resignations as a response to the Moffett shooting, were also noted. Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin. The weapons were Palestine Liberation Organisation arms captured by the Israelis and sold to Armscor, the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of a 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware. Two of those later convicted (James McDowell and Thomas Crozier) were also serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), a part-time, locally recruited regiment of the British Army. Images Courtesy of Getty Images. The damage from security service informers started in 1983 with "supergrass" Joseph Bennett's information, which led to the arrest of fourteen senior figures. Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP. [60], In the 1980s, the UVF was greatly reduced by a series of police informers. It was the UVF's deadliest attack in Northern Ireland, and the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles. She died of her injuries on 27 June. ][102] On 11 April, the UVF reportedly ordered the removal of Catholic families from a housing estate in Carrickfergus. [15], Spence claimed that he was approached in 1965 by two men, one of whom was an Ulster Unionist Party MP, who told him that the Ulster Volunteer Force was to be re-established and that he was to have responsibility for the Shankill. [57] In 1976, Tommy West was replaced with "Mr. F" who is alleged to be John "Bunter" Graham, who remains the incumbent Chief of Staff to date. Donoghue noted the links between Orange Lodges in Scotland and loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland and that membership of the Orange Order in Scotland at the time was 80,000, and was concentrated in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Inverness. [68], According to journalist and author Ed Moloney, the UVF campaign in Mid-Ulster in this period "indisputably shattered Republican morale", and put the leadership of the republican movement under intense pressure to "do something",[69] although this has been disputed by others.[who?]. Both of them shared "a deep sense of history", and he spoke of Mr Lynch's "lasting ambition" to see peace in Ireland. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. 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The UVF killed four men in Belfast and trouble ended only when the LVF announced that it was disbanding in October of that year. She said: "Some people have said that in his later life, he changed to become committed to peace. [21] Some unionists feared Irish nationalism and launched an opposing response in Northern Ireland. Skip to navigation [n] Skip to content [c] Skip to footer [f] Search Search. [43] Jackson was allegedly the hitman who shot Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan. He was jailed for life for the murder of a Catholic barman in 1966 and served 18 years in prison. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. [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%). [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. [9] He was also associated loosely with prominent loyalists such as Ian Paisley and Desmond Boal and was advised by both men in 1959 when he launched a protest against Gerry Fitt at Belfast City Hall after Fitt had described Spence's regiment as "murderers" over allegations that they had killed civilians in Cyprus. Augustus (Gusty) Spence Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Protestant paramilitary organization founded in Northern Ireland in 1966. All were widely blamed on the IRA, and British soldiers were sent to guard installations. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. [26] He died of his wounds on 11 June. "We have to get in there, and stay in there," he continued, remembering that "it took several hundred years to bring about this situation, so we must have a little bit of patience. [31], The UVF had launched its first attack in the Republic of Ireland on 5 August 1969, when it bombed the RT Television Centre in Dublin. Read about our approach to external linking. [24] The murder of Ward was, however, repudiated by Paisley and condemned in his Protestant Telegraph, sealing the split between the two. F". [3] Spence was the sixth of seven children, their birth order being Billy, Cassie, Jim, Bobby, Ned junior, Gusty and Lily. [30] There were bombings on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 April and 26 April. [84] The Independent Monitoring Commission stated Moffett was killed by UVF members acting with the sanction of the leadership. In May 1966, the UVF issued a statement, announcing that it was declaring war on the IRA. The new Brigade Staff's aim was to carry out attacks against known republicans rather than Catholic civilians. In March and April that year, UVF and UPV members bombed water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland, blaming them on the dormant IRA and elements of the civil rights movement. When the prisoner was unable to provide one, Spence would then seek to convince them of the wisdom of his more politicised path, something that he accomplished with Mitchell. 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. . He initially refused and went on to attend his daughter's wedding. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. In 1984, the UVF attempted to kill the northern editor of the Sunday World, Jim Campbell after he had exposed the paramilitary activities of Mid-Ulster brigadier Robin Jackson. During 1970, 42 Catholic-owned licensed premises in Protestant areas were bombed. Sociologist Steven Bruce described the support networks in Canada as "the main source of support for loyalism outside the United Kingdom . [32] He was returned to Crumlin Road gaol soon afterwards, where he shared a cell with William "Plum" Smith, one of the Red Hand Commandos whom he had met upon his initial release and who had since been jailed for attempted murder. Correspondence includes Spence's correspondence with leaders and imprisoned members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and letters concerning his imprisonment originally . He would go on to hold private talks with the then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. "He was really a role model for many young men who would follow.". However, following significant political pressure, the UVF claimed in 2007 that it was decommissioning its weapons. Fire also engulfed the house next door, killing the elderly Protestant widow, Matilda Gould (77), who lived there. He was shot dead by the IRA in November 1982, four months after his release from the Maze Prison. Spence in 1972, while at large from prison, National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Biographies of people prominent during 'the Troubles': S, "CAIN: Background: Chronology of Key Events 1800 to 1967". [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. 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. [9] According to the book Lost Lives (2006 edition), it was responsible for 569 killings. Leader of the, 414 (~85%) were civilians, 11 of whom were civilian political activists, 21 (~4%) were members or former members of republican paramilitary groups, 44 (~9%) were members or former members of loyalist paramilitary groups, 6 (~1%) were members of the British security forces. Less extreme measures will be taken against anyone sheltering or helping them, but if they persist in giving them aid, then more extreme methods will be adopted. In 1984, Gusty was released from prison, and became a leading figure in the Progressive Unionist Party and . Augustus Spence was born in a Protestant area of Belfast, not far from Shankill Road. Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said many nationalists would remember Spence as someone "who was central to the sectarianism that gave birth to the modern loyalist paramilitary". [70], There followed years of violence between the two organisations. "[56], His funeral service was held in St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. Afterwards a plot was concocted where his nephew Frankie Curry, also a UVF member, would drive Spence back to jail but the car would be stopped and Spence "kidnapped". [54] This was endorsed by Gusty Spence, who issued a statement asking all UVF volunteers to support the new regime. Two Ulster Unionist Assembly members, Michael McGimpsey and Mike Neabitt, were among the mourners at the funeral. It comprises high-ranking officers under a Chief of Staff or Brigadier-General. 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. 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. Anderson, Malcolm & Bort, Eberhard (1999). [106] Later, in September 1972, Gusty Spence said in an interview that the organisation had a strength of 1,500. Officers from the PSNI's Paramilitary Crime Task Force also seized drugs, cash and expensive cars and jewellery in an operation carried out against the criminal activities of the UVF crime gang. View discounts Available for editorial and personal use only. [4] He married Isabella "Bella" Hayes, Gusty Spence's mother, in 1919. [21] The 'Paisleyites' set out to stymie the civil rights movement and oust Terence O'Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. 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. [10] Spence then found employment at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, where he worked as a stager (builder of the scaffolding in which the ships are constructed), a skilled job that commanded respect amongst working class Protestants and ensured for Spence a higher status within the Shankill. The statement also included a warning that activities could "provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance". Accueil / Non class / gusty spence funeral; 15 Sep 0. gusty spence funeral . The widow of former PUP leader David Ervine, Jeanette, also attended. Eleven years ago he was forced out of his home on the Shankill Road by Johnny Adair's gang during one of the many loyalist paramilitary feuds. While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. They managed to procure a large cache of weapons and ammunition including L1A1 Self-Loading Rifles, Browning pistols, and Sterling submachine guns. 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