LVF smoked out after barbecue
By Alan Murray
31 July 2005
THE UVF’s drive against the LVF in east Belfast, last weekend, wasn’t planned.
What began as a minor incident snowballed, but now the UVF is keen to repeat what it regards as a successful tactic against it’s bitter rivals.
Loyalist sources say the UVF operation, in Garnerville, which drove out the LVF, last Sunday and Monday, began with a few UVF men having a barbecue, before they turned to give LVF rivals a grilling.
It’s understood that on Sunday evening, a leading UVF man went to the area with another UVF man, who had been put out of the estate by the LVF months previously.
Along with two other UVF men they went to the exiled man’s old home, in Garnerville, where his wife and family still live, and decided to have a barbecue.
After a few drinks, more UVF men were invited to come up and join in, and eventually the now swollen UVF party decided to pay a visit to the home of one of the LVF figures in the estate.
“It just snowballed after that. The LVF man panicked and jumped into his car and fled, and the UVF men thought this was a successful ploy and went to another couple of houses, phoned up more UVF men, and went from house to house, telling the LVF men that they were staying in the estate. The rest is local history,” one loyalist revealed.
“It wasn’t a grand plan by the UVF leadership, it all just bubbled out of a barbecue, a few drinks, knocking on a few doors, and the LVF panicked.
“They thought they were going to be hammered, but there was no big UVF plan, and the LVF just put one and one together and got three.
“But, now that it’s done, there will be no going back, and the UVF will push on to Holywood to winkle them out of there, and put them across the river.”
Loyalist sources also revealed that unknown to the UVF, a key LVF figure in Garnerville had been ’stood down’ by its overall leadership just two days earlier.
The man, who we can’t name for legal reasons, is a relative of a man shot dead in a loyalist feud.
LVF sources have confirmed to Sunday Life, that he was relieved of his position within the small terror group, a couple of days before the UVF invaded the estate.
‘Freedom Party’ for troubled estate
WHAT a difference a few days make.
There was a party atmosphere in the Garnerville estate yesterday, where, earlier in the week, masked UVF men and supporters invaded to drive out people accused of links to the rival LVF group.
Yesterday, kids played on bouncy castles, and had their faces painted in a street celebration, dubbed a Freedom Party.
One local woman, a long term resident, said: “We’re calling it a Freedom Party because we don’t have the LVF here anymore to torture us.”
Some residents, who favoured the UVF invasion, claimed they were glad to see the back of LVF elements, who they blamed for drug dealing, noisy all-night parties, intimidation, and other anti-social behaviour, during the last couple of years.
