From Daily Ireland and posted by Alan at Aontacht
The Continuity IRA is on the verge of a major split after all of its prisoners in Portlaoise jail quit the organisation.
The mass resignation occurred just days after the IRA put its weapons beyond use and followed a major dispute between the inmates and Continuity IRA leaders in Co Limerick.
By Paul Colgan
pcolgan@irishecho.com
IRA decommissioning may have concentrated minds on the possibilities of power sharing, but one unforeseen consequence has been the unfolding battle between Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein for the mantle of true republicanism.
Fianna Fail always knew it would have a fight on its hands once the republican movement ditched the armed struggle for good. Sinn Fein strategists recognized a long time ago that the retention of the IRA’s arsenal meant that the party was fighting elections with one hand tied behind its back.
While many observers have surmised that the decommissioning move was designed to restore power-sharing government at Stormont, it was more likely contrived to enhance republican electoral prospects in the republic.
Now that the guns issue is apparently sorted out, Fianna Fail can no longer object in principle to Sinn Fein’s involvement in a southern government. Bertie Ahern said he believes General John De Chastelain’s statement that all IRA weapons have been put beyond use.
With the International Monitoring Commission expected to report that the IRA ceases to exist as a functioning organization, Fianna Fail has run out of excuses why Sinn Fein should be excluded from government.
However now that the historic deed is done, and once the euphoria dies down, watch as Fianna Fail takes the gloves off with regard to Sinn Fein policy. The party has adopted a twin-track approach — it will attack Sinn Fein’s policies as potentially damaging to Irish prosperity whilst promoting itself as the true voice of modern republicanism.
The first of the broadsides came from none other than minister for foreign affairs Dermot Ahern at the weekend.
It was just a year ago that Ahern had offered his opinion that it was only “a matter of time” before Sinn Fein entered Government Buildings as a coalition partner. Ahern, while not explicitly lending Sinn Fein his party’s endorsement, was lumbered with the perception that he personally favored such a collaboration.
Quoted on Sunday, Ahern described Sinn Fein economic policy as a mixture of “secondary school Marxism and Mussolini protectionism.” He said the notion that you could build a 32-county republic on the basis of Sinn Fein policy was “hilarious”.
He added: “We will not countenance any arrangement with Sinn Fein after the next election on the basis alone of their economic policy and their anti-EU views, even if they get a clean bill of health on decommissioning, end of criminality and paramilitarism,” he said
Little ambiguity there it would seem. Meanwhile, Seamus Brennan — minister for Social Welfare — was calling for a revival of Fianna Fail’s republicanism.
Predicting that a united Ireland would be “a wonderful economic, social and cultural unit,” he said Fianna Fail should not feel guilty for openly promoting Irish unity.
“It is a message to Sinn Fein, too,” he said. “We have hidden or played down this aspiration of ours for very responsible reasons - because the taoiseach wanted to negotiate progress in the North and get the institutions back up and running without that tone in the middle of it.
“So, for very responsible reasons, we played down that, but it would be wrong to continue that now.
“Our own party needs to realize that the Good Friday Agreement is party policy, and that it allows persuasion to bring about a united Ireland. It allows us to persuade people to come to that position the same way the agreement allows unionists to move to the opposite position,” he said.
Again, little room for misinterpretation.
Fine Gael and Labor are not buying it. Fianna Fail, if needs be, will jump into bed with anyone — even the Shinners, they say.
Fianna Fail denies this and claim that it will not put the pursuit of power ahead of the country’s best interests. Suspicions abound however that, if Sinn Fein is in the mood to modify its economic proposals, Fianna Fail could easily reach an agreement with Gerry Adams.
Despite the hardening of Fianna Fail’s rhetoric, most recognize that it is something of a stretch to describe Sinn Fein’s economic agenda as “secondary school Marxism.”
The party’s 2002 election manifesto did propose an increase in corporation tax, but only one that would ensure that Ireland retains the lowest in Europe. Meanwhile its proposed employers’ PRSI increase would have only brought it back to the level it was in the late 1990s.
Sinn Fein has shown itself to be incredibly adept in refining party policy. Republican shibboleth after shibboleth has been discarded down through the years to facilitate the party’s development. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness have not allowed themselves to be restrained by the sacred cows that impede political growth.
The task of delivering IRA disarmament, a mere seven years after the organization declared “not an ounce, not a bullet”, surely puts the matter of minor manifesto alterations in the shade.
The reality of Fianna Fail’s hard words is that they are designed to protect Bertie Ahern’s flank against the opposition coalition.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny knows that he can make political capital out of any notion of a Fianna Fail / Sinn Fein coalition. The last thing Fianna Fail wants to do is to give him a stick to beat it with in the run up to a Dail general election.
Ahern knows that many of his backbenchers are not adverse to the idea of government with Sinn Fein — indeed many view it as a type of prodigal son recently returned to the constitutional nationalist fold. Keeping such views out of the public discourse will be one of his main preoccupations over the coming months.
Who knows where Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein will be when the votes are finally counted.
This story appeared in the issue of October 5 - 11, 2005
DISARM: INLA’s political wing accuses dissident republican groups of having no strategy
Connla Young
“They should lay down arms and engage with other republicans. I would call on these organisations to talk to the IRSP and other republicans, especially anti-Good Friday Agreement republicans”
The Irish Republican Socialist Party has called on anti-Agreement republicans not on ceasefire to bring their armed campaigns to a close. The call was made at the annual Séamus Costello commemoration in Bray, Co Wicklow, last weekend by IRSP national executive member Eddie McGarrigle. Mr McGarrigle, who is based in Strabane in Co Tyrone, said during his address that it was time for the Continuity IRA and Real IRA — militant groups opposed to the Good Friday Agreement — to call off their respective campaigns.
“There is no support for them within working-class communities. They are not alone in having misgivings about the Good Friday Agreement and there are many who believe it will not lead to a lasting settlement but armed struggle is not the way to go about bringing change. “These groups have got to get back to politics. British intelligence is so much ingrained in these organisations on the ground that they have no strategy at all. For these republicans to retain their dignity, they have to call a ceasefire now. “Their pretence of an armed struggle has clouded issues affecting working-class communities. They are in danger of letting the republican cause down by further action.
“They should lay down arms and engage with other republicans. I would call on these organisation to talk to the IRSP and other republicans, especially anti-Good Friday Agreement republicans. “Republican prisoners always had a place where they had a voice. Both they and their families need to be consulted North and South and need to be involved in dialogue. Their prisoners have got to be consulted,” he said. The ceasefire call from the IRSP, which offers political advice to the Irish National Liberation Army, will be seen as significant by political observers. The comments come 28 years to the day since the founder of both groups, Séamus Costello, was gunned down in Dublin by members of the Official IRA.
While adopting a strong position against the Good Friday Agreement, the INLA has been on ceasefire since August 1998. At that time, it abandoned its “no first strike” policy in favour of a complete end to hostilities. Mr McGarrigle said there was no longer an appetite for a militant campaign against British forces within nationalist and republican communities. The appeal to other militant republican groups to lay down their weapons comes just over a week after the IRA put its arms beyond use. The disarmament move followed a statement released in July that brought a halt to the organisation’s 35-year campaign. The IRA had been on ceasefire since 1997.
The Real IRA called a ceasefire on September 8, 1998 in the aftermath of the August 1998 Omagh bombing, which led to the deaths of 29 people. Within two years, the organisation abandoned its ceasefire with the launch of a bombing campaign in Britain. The organisation was also responsible for the killing of civilian worker David Caldwell. He died after lifting a booby-trap device at a Territorial Army base in August 2002. In December 2004, the Real IRA was responsible for a fire-bomb blitz that caused thousands of pounds of damage in stores across the North.The organisation has also been responsible for a number of failed attacks on British security forces since 1998.
The Continuity IRA has been in existence since 1986. It was responsible for a blast-bomb attack on members of the PSNI during heavy rioting in Ardoyne in July this year. “For these republicans to retain their dignity, they have to call a ceasefire now. “Their pretence of an armed struggle has clouded issues affecting working-class communities. They are in danger of letting the republican cause down by further action. “They should lay down arms and engage with other republicans. I would call on these organisation to talk to the IRSP and other republicans, especially anti-Good Friday Agreement republicans. “Republican prisoners always had a place where they had a voice. Both they and their families need to be consulted North and South and need to be involved in dialogue. Their prisoners have got to be consulted,” he said.
The ceasefire call from the IRSP, which offers political advice to the Irish National Liberation Army, will be seen as significant by political observers. The comments come 28 years to the day since the founder of both groups, Séamus Costello, was gunned down in Dublin by members of the Official IRA. While adopting a strong position against the Good Friday Agreement, the INLA has been on ceasefire since August 1998. At that time, it abandoned its “no first strike” policy in favour of a complete end to hostilities.Mr McGarrigle said there was no longer an appetite for a military campaign against British forces within nationalist and republican communities.
The appeal to other republican groups to lay down their weapons comes just over a week after the IRA put its arms beyond use. The disarmament move followed a statement released in July that brought a halt to the organisation’s 35-year campaign. The IRA had been on ceasefire since 1997. The Real IRA called a ceasefire in the aftermath of the August 1998 Omagh bombing, which led to the deaths of 29 people. Within two years, it abandoned its ceasefire with a bombing campaign in Britain.
05/10/2005 - 16:50:50
A North Antrim local authority must stop using public funds to finance Protestant marching season bonfires, it was claimed today.
Sinn Féin councillor Monica Digney said that Ballymena Borough Council currently uses revenue from ratepayers to pay for prizes awarded for the best local bonfires during July 12 events.
Cllr Digney, who won the first-ever Sinn Féin seat on the DUP-dominated council in May, was part of a delegation of North Antrim residents who today visited Dáil TDs to highlight sectarian attacks in local nationalist aras.
She said in Dublin: “Even nationalist rate-payers have to currently fund prizes like £350 (€516) for the best bonfire and so on down the line.”
She complained that nationalists still cannot attend their local Catholic churches on Sundays and urged North Antrim unionist leaders to strongly condemn all sectarian attacks.
The five-member delegation of residents met a group of TDs and Senators before holding talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern.
Farmer and school caretaker Liam O’Neill from Ahoghill said two local estates both had about 40 nationalist families 20 years ago, but they were now all driven out due to intimidation.
He added: “If kids miss the school bus in the morning, they’re afraid to walk to school through certain areas.
He told TDs: “You’re very lucky not to live in North Antrim. We can’t bring up our children there.”
Another resident, who asked not to be named, said he telephoned the PSNI when he witnessed loyalist youths throwing eggs at local schoolgirls one day.
He went on: “I waited at the scene for 45 minutes and nobody came. I was at home when I eventually got a call back from an officer about two-and-a-half hours later.”
Fianna Fáil Senator Camillus Glynn said: “This shatters the myth of an impartial police force.”
Sinn Féin’s North Antrim MLA Philip McGuigan, who recently compiled a dossier of local sectarian attacks on nationalists between June and September, said: “People can only get the leadership of those they elect and at the moment, unionists leaders are not offering positive leadership.”
He said DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley no longer had excuses not to engage with nationalist politicians after IRA decommissioning.
“He needs to be constantly challenged on the issue of sectarian attacks now,” he added.
Fianna Fáil Senator Jim Walsh told the residents at today’s meeting: “Sectarianism is a huge cancer in society and only serves to further polarise people.”
“There must be a zero tolerance attitude to sectarian attacks among police and politicians,” Independent TD Finian McGrath commented.
He added: “It’s not just a Northern Ireland issue. It’s a national, all-island issue.”
Fianna Fáil Senator Labhras O Murchu blamed escalating sectarian attacks on a “conspiracy of silence” among the media and politicians.
Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghin O Caolain criticised Fine Gael and Labour for not meeting the North Antrim residents.
Seanad leader Mary O’Rourke, who attended the meeting, said she would raise the issue with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern when he speaks on Northern Ireland issues in the Seanad tomorrow.
Posted by Danielle Ni Dhighe
INLA Prisoners of War Statement to the Seamus Costello Commemoration in Bray, Ireland on 2 October 2005
Comrades,
We gather here today to remember with pride our comrade and former leader and co-founder, Seamus Costello. It’s been 28 years since Seamus was murdered by reactionary forces opposed to the creation of a 32 County Socialist Irish Republic.
Whether it was on local community issues on Wicklow County Council or the broader socialist and anti-imperialist issues, his dedication, diligence and perseverance served as an inspiration to all who knew him.
Comrades, as we enter this new phase of the social struggle, it is that very same diligence, perseverance and dedication that is required by each and every one of us, to ensure that the ideals and principals that he espoused so dearly are delivered in a clear and transparent manner to both today’s and tomorrow’s generation.
Issues such as poverty, housing, health, education, employment and social issues coupled with the scourge of narcotics have decimated the very fabric of our society leaving the working class feeling more and more isolated and alone. There are many enemies of the working class. We cannot stand by and watch as drug barons, criminals and fat cat capitalists, often assisted by state sponsored forces, tear away at the very fabric of our society.
In the present day, the IRSM faces many challenges, we in the Irish Republican Socialist Movement must be visible, audible and sincere in our efforts to address these and the vast array of issues that scourge our communities.
Our voice must be audible when it comes to, highlighting the scourge of drugs within our society, highlighting the ever increasing number of people who live on our streets, highlighting state corruption at every level, from civil servant, planners to Gardai and those corrupt
politicians who govern us.
The Celtic Tiger never failed, “for everyone within working class communities, it never existed”, daily struggle to get by just got harder as everyday goods and services become more expensive. However, we can state that the GFA has failed. Sectarianism is rife, daily attacks occur on working class nationalist areas, in particular Ballymena and North Belfast, fed by entrenched loyalist hatred and governments who don’t seem to care.
Dessie O’Hare is still in jail, even though he is a qualifying prisoner under the GFA. Both governments bend the rules and shift the goalposts when they see fit. Other republicans, such as Strabane republican John Brady, are incarcerated, many on the sole word of the PSNI or Gardai, both proven corrupt police forces.
We must not be deterred by the capitalist endorsed decimation of our working class communities.
Comrades, onwards with the revolution.
Cathal Gartland, on behalf of Republican Socialist POWs, Portlaoise, Castlerea and Maghaberry.
Here’s another one about Doris for those of you who can’t get enough…
Click to view
Sacked loyalist leader Jim Gray who was shot dead in Belfast last night. He was confronted by two gunmen after he answered the front door of his home.
DEPOSED loyalist leader Jim Gray was shot dead in Belfast last night.
The flamboyant racketeer was shot down at the doorstep of his home in the east of the city where he once was the ruthless commander of the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA).
Gray (47) was on bail awaiting trial on money laundering charges after being arrested by police as part of an investigation into serious crime.
His unusual dress sense, which earned him the nickname Doris Day, was in sharp contrast to the style of other UDA commanders. Gray liked floral shirts and pink cardigans and dyed his hair blond.
It is understood he was shot when he answered the front door of his home, only to be confronted by two gunmen.
Gray had been arrested in County Down in early April along with his girlfriend.
He was expelled from the leadership of the Ulster Defence Association earlier this year.
In 2002 Gray was shot in the face by a rival organisation after he went to pay his respects to the family of a murdered drug-dealer, but was able to stagger to a nearby police station. Just nights later a loyalist man was killed, apparently in retaliation for his shooting.
One of two bars Gray owned in east Belfast was damaged by fire in 2001, allegedly after a man was beaten up there in a loyalist feud before being killed.
Gray was one of six brigadiers running the terrorist group. At the time of his dismissal UDA sources said that due to complaints his position had become “untenable”.
The murder sparked fears that the bloody loyalist feud currently raging could spiral out of control.
The shooting came hours after Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain called on loyalist paramilitaries to lay down their arms.
Despite the fears of the fued worsening, the killing is unlikely to have any major impact on the peace process but will again highlight demands from republicans that loyalist paramilitary groups follow the lead of the IRA and disarm.
Gray had become increasingly isolated from the rank-and-file members of the UDA as a result of his flamboyant lifestyle. And in many loyalist circles, he had actually become a hated figure because he seemed to be deliberatly thumbing his nose at his former colleagues in arm by flashing his cash.
In another incident Gray was cleared of possessing a samurai sword in public, while in 2002 his teenage son died of a drugs overdose while on holiday with his father in Thailand.
A spokeswoman for the PSNI said last night: “One man was fatally wounded in a shooting incident in the Knockwood Park area of East Belfast. It was reported to police shortly after 8pm.”
East Belfast Democratic Unionist Party MP Peter Robinson hit out at those responsible for the killing. “This murderous attack must be condemned by all right-thinking people,” he said. “Those who take the law into their own hands have nothing to contribute to society. There is no excuse for acting as judge, jury and executioner.”
Paul Melia
By Mark Devenport
BBC Northern Ireland political editor
Justice Minister David Hanson has told the BBC that he hopes to publish new guidelines on restorative justice in Northern Ireland “before the early New Year”.
David Hanson hopes to publish new guidlines on restorative justice
Mr Hanson said his officials had been talking to groups involved in restorative justice and individuals within the criminal justice system about guidelines which could provide a benchmark for how such schemes should operate.
However, the minister says he won’t formally issue any guidelines before discussing them with members of the wider community.
Supporters of restorative justice schemes argue that they provide a positive alternative to paramilitary beatings and attacks in loyalist and republican areas.
But critics express concern that they may create a two-tier justice system.
Fourteen schemes are currently in operation in republican areas, administered by an organisation called Community Restorative Justice.
Five operate in loyalist areas, run by an group called Northern Ireland Alternatives.
Northern Ireland Alternatives works with the police, who sit on their management committee.
Restorative justice schemes can see offenders meet victims
But Community Restorative Justice does not cooperate with the police, reflecting Sinn Fein’s argument that the PSNI is still not trusted in republican areas.
All the schemes are funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, a charity set up by the US millionaire Chuck Feeney who has in the past given money to Sinn Fein.
However, this private funding for restorative justice is expected to run out at the end of the financial year in April.
Both the loyalist and republican groups have applied for state funding without success.
It’s believed any future funding is being tied to the groups’ acceptance of the new guidelines.
Northern Ireland Alternatives accepted previous drafts from the government.
‘Nonsense’
But Community Restorative Justice rejected the suggested guidelines.
Its director Jim Auld said the previous guidelines were nonsense because they would not have allowed his scheme to take any cases from the community, but only to work with referrals from the police.
See Community Restorative Justice Ireland
Mr Auld accuses the Northern Ireland Office of “political vetting”, saying there is no reason why Community Restorative Justice should not get funding for non-criminal work.
However he holds out little hope of his group changing its attitude towards the PSNI.
Tom Winston of Northern Ireland Alternatives expresses frustration that his schemes are being lumped together with those in republican areas.
He says restorative justice has been politicised whilst “everyone waits on the big bang” of Sinn Fein changing its policy on policing.
Victims
Mr Winston says his schemes follow three broad principles.
They enable victims to meet offenders who might be asked to provide either an apology or financial compensation.
Offenders may also do something for the community, like cleaning graffitti off walls or tidying up gardens in their area.
Finally a support worker will try to ensure someone does not re-offend.
Community Restorative Justice has lobbied Sinn Fein to raise its case for funding with the government.
However, the SDLP is unhappy about the prospect.
This week the SDLP’s Alex Attwood said “it would be dangerous folly” if the government funded such projects before all parties, including Sinn Fein accepted the new policing structures.
Mr Attwood said this would “create a sense, and some argue the reality, that there are two policing worlds, that of the PSNI, due process and the rule of law, and that of others, their processes and their law”.
05/10/2005 - 17:01:31
A High Court judge today refused to revoke bail for a Co Louth man facing a charge of IRA membership.
Mr Justice Diarmuid O’Donovan refused the application by the State to revoke bail for Barry O’ Brien (aged 33), a father of three, and native of Dundalk, with an address at Oaktate, Stonetown, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.
O’Brien is charged with membership of an illegal organisation styling itself Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA on April 6, 2004.
O’Brien was granted bail by the High Court in May 2004 and one of the conditions was that he must not associate with anyone convicted of or charged with a scheduled offence.
Today Mr Justice O’Donovan heard that gardaí had observed O’Brien on eight occasions associating with persons convicted of scheduled offences.
Detective Superintendent Jim Sheridan, Dundalk, said that he had a conversation with O’ Brien on July 13 last when he told him that he was breaching his bail conditions.
O’Brien’s case is due to be mentioned at the Special Criminal Court next January but no date has yet been fixed for his trial.
But Mr Justice O’Donovan said that he would not revoke O’Brien’s bail because his trial is not going to go ahead for some time and because he has a presumption of innocence. However he changed O’Brien’s bail conditions and ordered that he must not go into Dundalk.
He also ordered O’Brien to sign on daily at Carrickmacross Garda Station instead of Dundalk Garda Station.
By Deborah McAleese and Jonathan McCambridge
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
05 October 2005
BBC photo
Suspicion was last night falling on Jim Gray’s former UDA allies following the execution of the one-time loyalist ‘brigadier’.
Gray was shot dead just yards from the front door of a house at Knockwood Park in east Belfast shortly after 8pm last night.
The gangster’s body lay covered by a white sheet for several hours as police cordoned off the scene. Forensic officers arrived and erected a tent over the body while several youths took pictures on their mobile phones of the corpse.
The area where Gray was murdered is within the UDA heartland from where he once ruled his crime empire.
Fears have been heightened of retaliation within loyalist circles but it is believed that Gray had become increasingly alienated from his former associates.
Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde will be publicly quizzed about the killing at a policing board meeting today.
And if the UDA is blamed for the murder the Government will face increasing pressure to declare the terrorist group’s ceasefire defunct.
Although police have not yet commented publicly about the murder it is believed that Gray was shot dead by two gunmen as he got out of his car to go into a house.
Gray had alienated himself from his former UDA comrades, who stood him down from his position as east Belfast ‘brigadier’ after they became sickened by his lavish lifestyle.
He was out on bail awaiting trial on money laundering charges after being arrested by police as part of an investigation into serious crime.
Police sources last night denied rumours that Gray had been given round-the-clock protection following intelligence reports that he was to be targeted.
While loyalist sources indicated that the murder was internal UDA “house-keeping”, it cannot be ruled out that Gray was targeted by individual loyalists with a grudge.
One source close to the UDA last night said there had been allegations circulating that Gray had been passing information to the security forces.
“It was suggested that there would be court appearances on the back of this information,” the source claimed.
Politicians from across Belfast condemned the shooting and expressed hopes that there would be no retaliation.
The final years of a sinister lifestyle
July 2002
Gray is one of the high-profile paramilitary figures who meets then Secretary of State John Reid for controversial talks held under the auspices of the Loyalist Commission.
September 16, 2002
The LVF shoots Gray in the face outside a house in Glenlea Park, Garnerville in retaliation for the murder of Stephen Warnock a few days earlier. The gunman chased him firing more shots, but Gray managed to reach Garnerville police training college where he was given first aid. That sparked a UDA-LVF feud, and cranked up the heat on simmering tensions between Johnny Adair and the other UDA bosses.
May 2004
Gray withdraws a High Court action against an insurance company which refused to pay out on a fire at his Bunch of Grapes bar, as Gray did not divulge he was a crime boss on his insurance forms. Cops believe the fire in a room at the bar, in January 2001, was linked to the murder of leading UDA man Geordie Legge.
June 2004
Gray is reported to have stunned investigators in the Assets Recovery Agency by claiming he made his fortune in a Las Vegas casino.
31 January 2005
Gray is fined £150 for careless driving. The red BMW he was driving struck a police officer while driving his on the Newtownards Road.
30 March 2005
The UDA releases a brief statement on announcing Gray’s departure the terrorist group. It said: “As from 12.30pm March 30, 2005, the Ulster Defence Association has stood down the current leadership of the East Belfast UDA until further notice. To dispel any confusion, East Belfast UDA are now under the direct command of the Inner Council.”
31 March 2005
Gray fails to rally enough support to overturn the decision by the UDA’s ‘inner council’ to expel him.
3 April 2005
Reports emerge that Gray is keen to wreak revenge on the UDA leaders who booted him out.
April 7, 2005
Gray, was arrested on April 7 along with girlfriend Sharon Moss between Banbridge and Loughbrickland. Police allegedly found a bank draft for €10,000 and almost £3,000 in cash in his car.
12 April 2005
Police swoop on several businesses across Belfast in connection with their ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering involving Gray. Just hours earlier, Gray’s girlfriend, Sharon Moss, appeared in court accused of 16 counts of money laundering.
15 April 2005
A Co Down court hears that Gray’s assets have been frozen.
24 April 2005
There are reports that former associates of Gray are concerned that he may be preparing to tell the police about their activities.
19 May 2005
Belfast estate agent Philip Johnston is suspended by his professional body. The National Association of Estate Agents took action after Johnston was arrested by detectives investigating Gray’s financial affairs.
31 May 2005
Gray is refused bail in the High Court.
14 June 2005
A prisoners’ aid centre is searched by detectives investigating Gray as part of a widening inquiry into loyalist money laundering.
19 June 2005
UDA leader Jackie McDonald explains that Gray was kicked out of the group for “treason”. McDonald accused Gray of “building a criminal empire outside the UDA”.
21 June, 2005
Philip Johnston starts to sell off his business.
1 July, 2005
LVF associate Jameson Lockhart is shot dead in a truck beside the demolition site of the Avenue One bar, formerly owned by Gray.
Early September, 2005
Former friends of Gray are said to be in hiding, amid growing fears that he was set to expose their activities. A loyalist source claims a number of Gray’s old associates feared he was on the verge of providing the PSNI with crucial evidence relating to unsolved UDA murders and armed robberies. The source claims the murder which Gray could hold the key to is that of former UDA boss Geordie Legge in 2001. One of Gray’s men was blamed for the murder.
September 15, 2005
A High Court decision to release Gray on bail was greeted with outrage. There was concern that his release at a time of unrest within loyalism could spark violence.
Flamboyant loyalist Jim Gray gunned down in east Belfast street
By Deborah McAleese
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
05 October 2005
THE UDA was last night being blamed for the execution of former ‘brigadier’ Jim Gray.
The one-time loyalist terror chief was gunned down outside a house at Knockwood Park in east Belfast shortly after 8pm last night.
It is believed two gunmen opened fire as he got out of a car.
Police sources last night denied that Gray had been given round-the-clock protection after intelligence reports suggested he was a legitimate target.
As news of the murder spread, fears were mounting of retaliation within loyalist circles.
However, Gray had alienated himself from his former terror associates, who stood him down from his position as east Belfast ‘brigadier’ after they became sickened by his lavish lifestyle.
Pressure is expected to be put on the Government to certify that the UDA ceasefire is over if Chief Constable Hugh Orde declares that the organisation is responsible.
The Chief Constable will be quizzed about the murder later today during a Policing Board meeting.
East Belfast MP Peter Robinson said there is “no excuse for acting as judge, jury and executioner”.
“This murderous attack must be condemned by all right-thinking people,” he said.
Jonathan McCambridge and David Gordon examine the turmoil within loyalism that preceded Jim Gray’s murder
By Jonathan McCambridge and David Gordon
jmccambridge@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
05 October 2005
JIM Gray was the UDA’s flamboyant east Belfast brigadier known for his ‘bling’ jewellery and colourful dress sense - before his terror empire came crumbling down around him.
His murder is the latest instalment in a saga that would not look out of place in a big-budget gangster movie.
A few short years ago, six men ruled the UDA. These self-styled ‘brigadiers’ made up the group’s inner council.
Two of the paramilitary godfathers are now dead - Gray, who led the UDA east Belfast along with a shadowy business associate and John ‘Grug’ Gregg, who bossed south-east Antrim from his headquarters in the Rathcoole estate.
A further two of the ‘brigadiers’ have meanwhile been forced into exile.
Former west Belfast UDA chief Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair, a one-time folk hero in loyalist circles, now lives in Bolton where he recently pleaded guilty to beating up his wife Gina.
Former north Belfast UDA boss Jim ‘Jimbo’ Simpson was also pushed out of his patch, and was given the derisory nickname ‘the Bacardi Brigadier’.
Gray, Gregg, Adair and Simpson all fell foul of fellow loyalists rather than republicans.
Just last month former associates of Gray were said to be in hiding, amid growing fears that he was set to spill the beans on their terrorist careers.
A senior loyalist source said then that Gray’s old pals feared he was on the verge of providing police with crucial evidence, relating to unsolved UDA murders and armed robberies.
Some of Gray’s other ex-associates, who stood by him when it was revealed he was coming under pressure from the UDA leadership, are also thought to have been worried about his plans.
In June, bulldozers flattened the Avenue One bar, on the Newtownards Road - which bleach-blond Gray ran before selling up earlier this year.
For years it was the unofficial UDA HQ in east Belfast.
Printed on a wall, beneath a now empty frame, were the words “In Memory of JJ Gray”, a tribute to the ex-UDA boss’s 19-year-old son, Jonathan.
The teenager tragically died from a suspected drugs overdose while holidaying in Thailand with his father, in 2002.
Police cordoned off the area around the body
Detectives investigating the murder of former loyalist leader Jim Gray have arrested six people, police have said.
Detective Superintendent George Hamilton said the arrests followed a number of searches.
He said that the involvement of the Ulster Defence Association was a “major line of inquiry” in the investigation.
Gray, 47, the flamboyant former leader of the UDA in the east of the city, was shot outside his father’s house on the Clarawood estate.
Gray was expelled as UDA leader in east Belfast last March.
He was recently released on bail on charges of money laundering, and was living at his father’s home in Knockwood Park while awaiting his court appearance.
DS Hamilton said Gray was not under police surveillance or dedicated protection, but had to report to police five times a week under his bail conditions.
He had also been warned that he was under threat since his release on bail.
“Police have complied with their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights to advise Mr Gray of the threats against him and provide him with personal security advice,” he said.
He added that those detained were being questioned at the serious crime custody suite in Antrim.
“This was the brutal killing of a man by another human being in any civilised society that is unacceptable,” he said.
DUP local MP Peter Robinson said there was no excuse for the murder.
In April, just over a week after being expelled from the UDA leadership, Gray was stopped by police near Banbridge, County Down.
Cash
He was travelling in a car towards the Irish border, and police suspected he was trying to leave the country.
The police found a bank draft for 10,000 euro and nearly £3,000 in cash in his car.
Gray claimed the money had come from the sale of two pubs in east Belfast.
Jim Gray had been recently released on bail
However, police believed it was obtained through crime including extortion and drug dealing.
He was charged with money laundering and possessing the proceeds of crime and was remanded in custody.
As the police investigation continued, detectives seized more than 100,000 documents and raided council offices, planning offices and premises used by solicitors, estate agents and accountants.
He continued to apply for bail which was granted last month on condition that he lived at the address where he was shot on Tuesday.
‘Doris Day’
Gray had a reputation for dressing flamboyantly and wearing heavy gold jewellery.
This earned him a number of derisory nicknames including ‘Doris Day’ and the ‘Brigadier of Bling’, while the group surrounding him were branded the ‘Spice Boys’.
Northern Ireland Officer minister David Hanson condemned those responsible for the killing.
“Whoever it is, the government’s commitment is to tackle that criminality to make sure that we deal with that criminality in a wider sense, to make sure that we take on board the type of issues to make that type of murder stop occurring,” he said.
DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson said there was no excuse for the killing.
“Those who take the law into their own hands have nothing to contribute to society,” the East Belfast MP said.
“There is no excuse for acting as judge, jury and executioner.”
‘No retaliation’
Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Rodgers has appealed for no retaliation for the shooting.
“Regardless of what the victim has been accused of doing, no-one has the right to take the law into their own hands,” he said.
SDLP assembly member Alex Attwood has also condemned the shooting.
He said he hoped the situation would not escalate to a point where others, including innocent people, might be killed or injured.
In September 2002, Gray was shot in the face as he arrived at a house in the Garnerville area of east Belfast.
At the time, police said the shooting was “loosely related” to the murder of Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Stephen Warnock, who was shot dead as part of a feud between loyalist paramilitaries.
05 October 2005 11:49
BBC photo
A group of women escaped injury in a petrol bomb attack on an Orange Hall in north Belfast last night.
A device was thrown at the building on the Lower Whitewell Road shortly after 9pm but burnt itself out on a grassy area outside.
The women had been meeting in the hall. Police are treating the attack as sectarian.
Nigel Dodds of the DUP said the attack was odious and another example of the republican agenda of ethnic cleansing of Protestant culture and communities.
05/10/2005 - 08:56:35
Jim Gray was living on borrowed time ever since the Ulster Defence Association ruthlessly kicked him out to fend for himself.
The arrogant and bullying ex-terror boss’s murder was predicted from the day he was stripped of control of his east Belfast stronghold.
Former associates sickened by his vanity and lavish lifestyle funded by a drug dealing operation that raked in up to a quarter of a million pounds a week may have been plotting for months, security chiefs claimed today.
One source said: “This came from within the organisation. Jim had built up some serious enemies.”
Gray, 47, was one of six so-called brigadiers running Northern Ireland’s largest loyalist terror grouping until he was toppled in March.
With his bleach-blond hair, heavy gold jewellery and all-year-round tan, he rivalled Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair as the most striking UDA chief.
His looks earned him the derisory nickname Doris Day, while his men were branded the Spice Boys.
But there was nothing funny about the violence he would inflict on anyone who crossed him.
On one occasion a wedding reception at a hotel near Belfast was disrupted by Gray and a mob of drunken loyalists.
When the bride’s father asked them to be quiet, the UDA chief ordered his henchmen to drag him outside where he was beaten savagely.
He was finally removed from control of the East Belfast unit after complaints reached leadership level.
Since then he was arrested and charged as part of a major police probe into an alleged money laundering scam in the city.
Gray had just been released on bail, although detectives had feared he may be murdered as soon as he returned to the streets.
“That was his biggest mistake. He was safer in jail,” one of those who dealt with him said today.
But after surviving an earlier assassination attempt two an a half years ago, loyalists said Gray regarded himself as invincible.
In that occasion a gunman shot him in the face as he went to the home of a murdered rival at the height of a loyalist feud that claimed several lives.
The attack in September 2002 came soon after Adair and Gray fell out during the power struggle.
Now Gray is dead and Adair is in exile in Lancashire where he was last heard of allegedly beating up his wife Gina.
One former drinking partner said that those who served under Gray became fed up with his leadership style.
He never tried to blend in with his fiercely working-class surroundings.
While husbands and fathers trudged through east Belfast’s backstreets to clock in for long hours at the shipyards, he acquired a taste for the jet-set lifestyle.
During his UDA heyday, Gray stayed at Five-Star hotels in Spain, the Canary Islands, London and Dublin.
He also adored golf and many believe he had enough talent to turn professional had he not been bent on a life of gangsterism.
His appearance set him aside from the typical loyalist hardman. Even Adair, whose own fashion statements often provoked ridicule, took offence at some of Gray’s outfits.
“Jim would arrive at meetings in his pink jumpers and Johnny would go mad,” one source said. “He’d be ranting, ‘That’s some image for our organisation’.”
Despite his reign of thuggery and racketeering, police believe he never personally carried out any murders.
“I don’t think he ever killed anyone in his life,” a security source who interrogated him insisted.
“He was put up as a brigadier, a front-man. Jim was a criminal all right, but not a killer.”
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