Emergence of Johnny Adair UDA West Belfast Brigade

lower shankill c company mural. 2nd battalion name recalls brigade s origins second battalion of original belfast uda

the stevens inquiries led period of chaos within west belfast brigade, rapid succession of brigadiers , number of leading members spending time in prison. lyttle s arrest in 1990 saw him relinquish role of brigadier, whilst allegations informer saw him disowned rest of brigade 4 others following him before year out. stability looked set when tommy irvine chosen brigadier , set in place new decentralised structure in commanders of a, b , c companies (at time matt kincaid, jim spence , william winkie dodds respectively) given freer hand in activities. irvine arrested part of inquiries in august 1990 , briefly replaced ken barrett. barrett ousted lyttle s choice, brother-in-law billy kennedy in october 1990 jim spence, had been taken prison part of stevens inquires, assumed overall control of brigade. 1 of first acts appoint officer in overall control of brigade s military activities , chose friend johnny adair role. adair replaced dodds, faced longer spell in prison, head of c company.

under adair s direction west belfast brigade became notorious killing spree, leading gunman stephen top gun mckeag in particular becoming notorious. first killing had occurred before emergence of adair on 11 march 1990 in clonard district of falls road. several more followed police estimated mckeag committed @ least 12 murders , former members of c company putting figure higher.

adair in charge

a mural commemorating stephen mckeag on hopewell crescent, off shankill road

spence arrested on charges of extortion in march 1993 , gave role of brigadier johnny adair succeeding him. brigadier, adair continued on same bloody path had followed military commander. 1 victim noel cardwell, mentally sub-normal glass collector @ c company bar, diamond jubilee, seen figure of fun adair , cohorts. in december 1993 cardwell taken royal victoria hospital, belfast after suffering bad reaction when drink spiked ecstasy tablet member of c company. whilst in hospital visited members of ruc asked him had been drinking with. cardwell named uda members with, having failed grasp code of secrecy governing uda. in order send message informers, adair had cardwell abducted following release hospital , subjected long , brutal interrogation process. shot , left bleed death. c company member gary mcmaster later sentenced life imprisonment part in murder. adair , close ally dodds targeted ira in october 1993 when republican intelligence witnessed 2 entering frizzell s fish shop on shankill road access west belfast brigade headquarters in room above. shankill road bombing followed killed 9 civilians , 1 of bombers adair , dodds had left time bomb detonated.

mckeag s killing spree continued under adair s brigadiership, starting on 1 may 1993 when former ira member alan lundy killed ardoyne. sean lavery, son of sinn féin belfast city councillor, killed on 8 august marie teresa dowds de mogollon killed on 30 august. , sean hughes killed @ donegall road shop on 7 september. mckeag tried latter murder acquitted due lack of evidence. michael edwards killed in finaghy on 3 september , paddy mahon on 15 october before mckeag arrested in connection hughes murder. mckeag in action , 1994 dodds close derek adgey, royal marine provided details of republicans dodds used c company, in particular leading gunman mckeag. mckeag fall out of favour later in decade, in part because of envy within c company of achievements , , found dead in suspicious circumstances in september 2000.

on 16 may 1994 around twenty leading figures in c company arrested part of ruc operation against notorious group. although number of arrested released without charge, adair imprisoned, forcing him vacate role brigadier. close ally winkie dodds named replacement, although adair remained in control dodds followed orders sent out prison. following adair s lead, dodds expanded drug-dealing empire west belfast brigade had begun develop. adair pursued policy of linking loyalist volunteer force (lvf) , following irish national liberation army s killing of lvf leader billy wright in december 1997, sent mckeag out wreak revenge, despite uda being on ceasefire. mckeag struck on 28 december machine-gunning clifton tavern in north belfast, killing edmund trainor , injuring several others. followed on 23 january 1998 killing liam conway on north belfast s hesketh road. inner council of uda brought mckeag task killing not disciplined, despite murder seeing ulster democratic party left out of all-party talks. west belfast brigade meanwhile continued assort freely lvf, splinter group of ulster volunteer force (uvf) , bitter rival of group, active alongside lvf members @ drumcree conflict. under adair west belfast brigade moved closer feud uvf.