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. [28] Soon after two pipe bombs were thrown at Gregg's house, and his friend Tommy Kirkham's house was shot at. 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. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. games. "He was lucky to be let out alive, he knows it, but he's the exception rather than the rule.". Tensions in South East Antrim between the UDA and the UVF were already high after a summer of incidents and disagreements. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. SoundCloud . It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles". Snoddy died from the illness in September 1988 and English . [64][65], According to the Irish Times there are suspicions that the threats are in response to coverage of the murder of Glenn Quinn in Carrickfergus in January 2020. 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. [31], On 1 February 2003, along with another UDA member, Robert "Rab" Carson, Gregg was shot dead on Nelson Street, in the old Sailortown district near the Belfast docks, while travelling in a taxi after returning from Glasgow where he regularly went to Rangers F.C. Simms' demise was the catalyst for the disintegration of Fisher's power base. John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland.In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. The South East Antrim UDA's tally of violence spanning two decades includes a roll call of unsolved murders. [22], Gregg initially remained aloof from the struggle and instead concentrated on his anti-Catholic campaign. Carrick's drug trade is now a mish-mash of conflicting independent criminal gangs. UDA feud erupts. There is a belief in the organisation that the Task Force is building a case against Fisher and senior figures in SEA are content to leave him in place. Soon after two pipe bombs were thrown at Greggs house, and his friend Tommy Kirkhams house was shot at. The coffin was draped in the Ulster flag and the flag of the UFF. Sources have told us the crime boss is a man under intense pressure. [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. It has brought the town under close scrutiny from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force. The UDA structure was divided into six geographical areas during the late 1980s (Londonderry, South-East Antrim, North Belfast, East Belfast, West Belfast and South Belfast). During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Gregg's eye. 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. 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. The veteran loyalist, who was 'brigadier' of its South East Antrim unit, was kicked out of the organisation last week. Watch: Peter Crouch sings the Fields of Athenry with Liverpool fans in Dublin pub, We need government and we need it now Mary Lou McDonald. [4] A newer mural in the Cloughfern area of Newtownabbey and flags have updated the areas to include Ballycarry, Ballyclare, the rural hinterland of Ballymena called 'Braidside' and despite not being in County Antrim, the town of Newtownards. That same night Jackie McDonalds forces invaded the lower Shankill and ran those members of C Company that had remained loyal to Adair, who was still in prison, out of the city. [3] He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. 2023 BBC. [35] Afterward, a lone piper led the cortege to Carnmoney Cemetery where he was buried. The same year, Geordie Gilmore was also shot dead in broad daylight. 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. [1][2] It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. [1], 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. The south Belfast, south-east Antrim and east Belfast brigadiers . The views and opinions expressed in this documentary/ies and page are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. Following his release from prison, Gregg returned to Rathcoole where he again became an important figure, taking a central role in the illegal drug trade, with his Rathcoole stronghold a centre of narcotics.Sometime after the Combined Loyalist Military Command of 1994 he succeeded Joe English, who had emerged as a leading figure in the Ulster Democratic Party, as brigadier of the South-East Antrim UDA. Old tensions resurfaced however, and after Adairs men fought with UVF supporters at the Shankills Rex Bar, Adair launched a pogrom of the lower Shankill, forcing out all UVF members and their families and initiating a loyalist feud.[22]. Gregg when explaining his family background, revealed that his father, regarded as a quiet man, had trust in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army but joined the loyalist vigilante groups set up around the start of the Troubles ostensibly to protect the Protestant community from attacks by republicans. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. 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. [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. [53] Gilmore died the following day, with the incident described as part of an ongoing feud in the town. John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. He cited former UFF chief Johnny Adair as one of the few to have got out with the skin on his back. As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. [2] Since 2007 the South East Antrim Brigade has operated independently of the UDA following a fall-out. 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. Widely known as a man with a fearsome . 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. His gaunt appearance had people raising questions about his health. Fisher is no longer the main man in South East Antrim, he has seen his close circle of trusted sidekicks dissolve. From the 1990s until his shooting death in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. Posted 2 years ago 2 years ago. [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. From the 1990s until his shooting death in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. These psychos were obviously baying for blood Mod blood, to be exact. Ann Ogilbys brutal murder: Forgotten victims of the Troubles, Kriss Donald The Brutal Racist Killing of an Innocent Schoolboy. A lengthy internal investigation into the former 'brigadier' led by convicted UVF bomber and provost marshal Jackie Anderson found that he stole at least 250,000 over the past five years. Gregg joined the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) at the age of 14. John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland.In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. Gregg and his team were apprehended almost immediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on them before ramming their car. It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. UDA. Spotlight made contact with a former senior PSNI officer who was at the forefront of policing efforts against the gang. He was interviewed on the basis of anonymity. [8] Gregg, Colin Gray and Gerry Welsh were immediately arrested by the waiting British Army, who had doctored the bullets to reduce their lethality. 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. [41], In 2009, the brigade claimed to have decommissioned a substantial quantity of guns and explosives in a single day in the presence of the chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). [6] The Irish News described the brigade as 'powerful' and at one time being 'the most bloody and murderous gang operating within the paramilitary organisation'. [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. [52], On 29 May 2017 Colin Horner, a friend of Gilmore and former UDA member, was fatally shot in front of his three-year-old son at a busy shopping centre in Bangor, County Down. [46], In March 2014 the South East Antrim Brigade was widely reported as being behind a "rampage" in which up to 100 people, some of them wearing masks, attacked a number of residential properties in Larne. [11] Each geographical area was commanded by a UDA 'Brigadier' and sometimes also had a designated 'Military Commander', 'Intelligence Officer' and 'Quartermaster'. 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. Themen: Politische Wochenschau, politische Theorie, Artikel und Berichte zu Themen rund um berwachung, Repression, Wirtschaft, Soziales, Befreiungsnationalismus, Antiimperialismus, Zeitgeschichte und Literaturhinweise He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of . On 8 December a bomb was found under Greggs car, apparently placed there by one of Adairs allies from the Loyalist Volunteer Force. "[11] In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. [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. 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. T he breakaway South East Antrim has issued a warning that it will get tough with Carrick dealers . [10] 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. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. [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. [4] Gregg, at the time the head of the UDA group in Rathcoole, was in charge of a three-man hit team that pulled up alongside Adams' car near Belfast City Hall and opened fire injuring Adams and his three fellow passengers, who nonetheless escaped to seek treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. A rebel UDA unit is re-arming in a grim warning to rival drug dealers. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. [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. Baying for blood Mod blood, to be exact his team were apprehended almost immediately a... 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