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. He managed to avoid being beaten in return for tricking his ex-UVF 2IC friend into attending the Monkstown meeting during which he was attacked. A man described in court as the commander of the UDA in South East Antrim is one of four men charged with conspiring to supply cocaine. The main target proved to be Danny O'Connor, a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) representative on initially Larne Borough Council and then the Northern Ireland Assembly, whose home and office were attacked at least 12 times by Gregg's men between 2000 and 2002. "He's already under enough heat from the cops. Senior members of the UDA group want to take out the UVF member who they think is a 'tout'. [30] This briefly occurred in late August when one of Adair's allies took command of the brigade, although this proved short-lived. John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. Will the Windsor Framework be enough for the DUP? [4], Gregg and his team were apprehended almost immediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on them before ramming their car. UDA boss Gary Fisher plots his exit strategy. As head of a cash-rich organised crime gang, Fisher has amassed a considerable personal wealth, but even as brigadier his hands are tied when it comes to walking away. often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. "[38] The dissident branch was also revealed to have contained an informer after Jon McDowell, Tommy Kirkham's assistant, told the Belfast Telegraph that he was an RUC Special Branch agent in November 2007. 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. Carrick's drug trade is now a mish-mash of conflicting independent criminal gangs. "When we look at what they try and portray themselves to be, defenders of their area, I can't see how that ties in with dealing drugs in a community.". From the 1990s until his shooting death in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. [33], Gregg's killing proved to be the undoing of Adair. Gregg, seated in the backseat, was hit at close range and died instantly. By September 2002, Adair had even circulated stories to contacts in the media that Gregg was under death threat from the UDA. However, this proved short-lived. The secretive mobster looks gaunt and has been described as 'haunted', Fisher is losing his grip on the crime gang. "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 newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. He has since told pals that he has no intention of leaving Rathcoole, where he grew up, but loyalist insiders say that he will have no option but to go. Nowadays, pockets of the town remain on edge since the murder of a local man, Glenn Quinn, by the South East Antrim UDA. Fisher associates subjected Simms to a punishment shooting after he was found with his hands in the till. Police confirmed that they were treating it as part of the existing feud. Browns_right_foot 3 mo. . A senior police source once described him as a man driven by pure and absolute bigotry. A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey On 6 January 2010, the UDA announced that it had put its weapons "verifiably beyond use". id="addMyFavs"> 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. 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. "Some had to take out loans to buy their safety from this thug and then it turns out he's touting on the UDA's dealers to the cops at the same time.". 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. [84] Security sources say that with more than 2,000 members, the South East Antrim UDA is one of Northern Ireland's largest paramilitary gangs. 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. SouthEast Antrim UDA crime boss Gary Fisher is facing an internal revolt with even his closest lieutenants saying his time is up. Members of this brigade were believed to be behind the killings of Catholic postman Danny McColgan, Protestant teenager Gavin Brett and Trevor Lowry (the latter kicked to death in the mistaken belief he was a Catholic), and a spate of pipe bomb attacks on the homes of Catholics. [18] In 2000, he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. Gregg was given a paramilitary funeral which was attended by thousands of mourners, including senior UDA members Jackie McDonald, Jim Gray, Sammy Duddy and Michael Stone. Despite his reputation for gangsterism, Gregg's failed attack on Gerry Adams had afforded him legendary status and, under the direction of Jackie McDonald, the remaining UDA brigadiers concluded that Adair had to be removed. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. They have also asked for an end to historic prosecutions for UVF killings that took place before 2010. [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". Having witnessed demographic shifts in Glengormley and Crumlin, traditionally loyalist majority towns that had come to have nationalist majorities on account of loyalists moving out of Belfast, he determined that the same thing would not happen in Carrickfergus and Larne and so launched a campaign of pipe bomb and arson attacks on Catholic homes there (despite these towns having very small Catholic populations). 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. . [3] He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. 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. His cheeks appeared hollow, he has shaved his head and those who have seen him describe him as 'haunted'. He moved from the SEA power base in the Rathcoole estate to the sleepy backwater of Greenisland as his grip on SEA weakened. His gaunt appearance had people raising questions about his health. He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier. Formed in 1971 from a number of loyalist vigilante groups, the UDA's stated aims were to protect unionist communities from attacks by republican paramilitaries, but it went on to kill hundreds of people during the Troubles using a cover name - the Ulster Freedom Fighters. [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 UDA in Rathcoole couldn't figure out why all the UVF dealers were being left alone while their guys were getting caught left, right and centre. [69] The decommissioning was completed five weeks before a government amnesty deadline beyond which any weapons found could have been used as evidence for a prosecution. [56] Two men from the Newtownards area were arrested in connection with the killing. His 2IC (second-in-command) was also dismissed after being given a sickening . Rev Philip McAlister officiated at his funeral. [4] The attack had been known in advance by security forces due to a tip-off from informants within Rathcoole; Adams and his co-passengers had survived in part because Royal Ulster Constabulary officers, acting on the informants information, had replaced much of the ammunition in the UDAs Rathcoole weapons dump with low-velocity bullets. [42] The process was confirmed as complete by the IICD and came in the last 24 hours of the commission's existence. "Drugs is the big one. 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. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. [60], On 4 January police investigated SEA UDA graffiti sprayed on eleven properties. Central role played at UFF parade by veteran crime lord's two underbosses hints at changing of the guard. [30] A bomb attack on Adair's house on 8 January 2003 was blamed on Gregg by White, although Adair himself was returned to prison two days later after a dossier detailing his drug-dealing and racketeering activities was shown to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy. Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. Killing Rage The life and death of Eamon Collins. This week, a BBC Spotlight programme on the murder of Glenn Quinn investigated the savagery at the heart of one of Northern Ireland's largest loyalist gangs - the South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association (UDA). The veteran loyalist, who was 'brigadier' of its South East Antrim unit, was kicked out of the organisation last week. [2], Gregg joined the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) at the age of 14. "Fisher can't make a decision, he's not allowed to make a decision and they're just keeping him there, partly because no one wants the job and they're waiting until the heat from the Task Force eases. In the later 1980s Snoddy took ill with cancer and many of his duties as brigadier were filled by his ally Joe English. 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). November 22 2014 04:33 PM. Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, Statistical breakdown of deaths in the Troubles of Northern Ireland 1969 2001, Irish National Liberation Army ( I.N.L.A ), Irish Republican Army. "[11] In 2000 he helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was rejected. A DEPOSED UVF boss is suspected of stealing more than 250,000 from the terror gang over the past five years. 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. The internal clean-up of the UVF's South East Antrim unit came after its leaders promised to morph into an old boys organisation during a meeting with senior government officials. Gregg was the most senior UDA member killed since South Belfast brigadier John McMichael was blown up by the IRA in 1987. [29] In response, graffiti appeared around the walls of Rathcoole in December, stating: "Daft Dog and White beware. 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. Brawls between the two had been frequent and tensions had been growing between the UDA and UVF, leading to a drink-fuelled pitched battle between the two groups at the train station. Gary Fisher became brigadier following the murder in 2003 of his predecessor John 'Grug' Gregg, but he is known to be looking for a way out of the organisation. "The South East Antrim UDA were part of the UDA inner council," explained Jim McDowell, a former editor of the Sunday World newspaper. [23] As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. However, in the second half of 2002 he was dragged into the conflict after Adair made him a target in his own attempts to take full control of the UDA. The ex-UVF leader has been warned to return the money, with a portion also invested in hot food takeaways and some hidden at safe houses in the Rathcoole estate. It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. Convicted gunrunner Thomas Morgan, a one-time member of the UDA, has muscled in on the town's drug scene. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. The Tu-Su 09:00-17:00, closed M. Located just inside the main entrance of Taipei City Hall, this is a good place to know the history and culture of Taipei City. However in the second half of 2002 he was dragged into the conflict after Adair made him a target in his own attempts to take full control of the UDA. [10], Gregg played the bass drum in the UDA-affiliated flute band Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a loyalist flute band which police claimed regularly caused trouble at Orange Order parades. And some of them think the UVF tout should be made to pay with his life but were told they couldn't by already under-fire SEA leader Fisher. Fisher is no longer the main man in South East Antrim, he has seen his close circle of trusted sidekicks dissolve. Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. 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 . "It is notoriously difficult to leave," a senior loyalist source told us. He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. 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. The gang's boss in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast was another expelled. In October 2002, Gregg was one of the brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair from the UDA for his involvement in the non-fatal shooting of Jim Gray. Following the conclusion of the feud with Adair the UDA reconstituted its ceasefire in what they christened the Gregg initiative. When the taxi stopped at traffic lights close to the motorway, it was rammed by another taxi which had been hijacked earlier on the Shankill Road. Also his appearance at a Remembrance Sunday service two weeks ago has left those close to him in shock. [40] As of 2014, the South East Antrim Brigade is no longer considered part of the wider UDA and their brigadier does not attend meetings of the organisation's ruling Inner Council. Spotlight's Gangland: The Murder of Glenn Quinn can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer. "And the blunder of the Housing Executive staff being threatened did him no favours either in the area.". 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. He said there were about 2,000 members of the UDA in the south east Antrim . [3], Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, "BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama | John "Grug" Gregg", "Loyalists on brink of war as UDA chief is shot dead | UK news", "Assassin is kicked out of top UDA post | UK news", "Retaliation inevitable - Just a matter of when", "UDA leaders son gets record payout UTV News", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gregg_(loyalist)&oldid=1118219468, This page was last edited on 25 October 2022, at 19:42. The killing of Mr Horner, gunned down in front of his three-year-old son Oscar in the Bangor carpark of Sainsbury supermarket, was linked at the time to the South East Antrim UDA feud which claimed the life of his friend, Carrickfergus loyalist Geordie Gilmore, two months earlier. [24] 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. 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