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Down Orange Welfarewas anUlster loyalistparamilitaryvigilantegroup active inNorthern Irelandduring the 1970s. Operating in rural areas ofCounty Down,the group faded after failing to win support away from larger groups such as theUlster Defence Association(UDA) andUlster Volunteer Force(UVF).

Founding

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The group was established in 1972 by its commander, Lieutenant-ColonelPeter Brushand his deputyHerbert Heslip,both members of theUlster Unionist Party(UUP).[1]Claiming to be linked to theOrange Order,the group was said to have 5,000 trained activists, many of whom were serving members of the security forces and former members of theUlster Special Constabulary,commonly referred to as the "B Specials".[1]The group, which was highlyconservativeand élitist in nature, was strongest amongst the farming community ofNorth Down.[2]There were also a number of local small businessmen involved.[3]

The stated aim of Down Orange Welfare was to oppose both the growth of bothIrish republicanismandsocialism.[2]As such it has been portrayed as a "doomsday outfit" preparing itself to oppose any anticipatednationalistrebellion.[4]It formed part of the umbrellaUlster Army Councilthat was established in 1973.[5]It also established contact with theNational Front,a group that was also close to the Ulster Volunteer Force at the time.[6]Down Orange Welfare was a member of the loyalist paramilitary body, theUlster Army Council.[7]According to Brush, Down Orange Welfare also maintained aliaison officerfor theUlster Defence Association.[8]

It was active in theUlster Workers' Council strikeof May 1974 and members of the group blocked roads during the ensuing protests.[9]After the 1974 strike the group joined theUlster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee,but left along with theUlster Defence Associationin 1976 after it emerged thatRed Hand CommandoleaderJohn McKeagueand other members were holding meetings with members of theProvisional IRAand also discussing plans for an independent Northern Ireland with leading Catholic figures.[10]They were also involved in the less successful United Unionist Action Council (UUAC) strike of 1977.[1]The group declined after this second strike and disappeared soon afterwards.[2]Brush would disappear from public view along with the movement.[11]In 1979 Bill Hannigan, who had been a representative of Down Orange Welfare on the 1974 strike committee, was sentenced to ten years in prison for firearms offences. Hannigan was a former member of the British Army'sRoyal Irish Fusiliersand stood unsuccessfully in local government elections before the strike.[12]Brush, interviewed in 1980, said the group was in "suspended animation" and drilling and assemblies had ceased.[13]

In March 1982, a spokesman for Down Orange Welfare denied any knowledge of recent road blocks mounted by theThird Forcein north County Down.[14]

It was reported in 1986 that remnants of Down Orange Welfare had joined the new loyalist paramilitary groupUlster Resistance.[15]

UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade

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According toRoyal Ulster Constabulary(RUC)Special Patrol GroupofficerJohn Weir,the group had engaged in manufacturing weapons for theUVF Mid-Ulster Brigade,which was commanded from 1975 to the early 1990s byRobin Jackson.[16]Jackson had taken over as leader when the brigade's founder,Billy Hannawas shot to death outside his home inLurgan;the killing was allegedly perpetrated by Jackson.[17]The weapons were transferred to the UVF through the medium of several RUC officers based atNewrystation, including Weir.[16]Weir alleged that he personally received two Sterlingsubmachine gunsfrom Down Orange Welfare which he then handed over to the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The weapons had been made in Spa, County Down by the group who were at the time in the process of manufacturing anM1 carbine.[16]Weir named formerUlster Defence Regiment(UDR) soldier Samuel McCoubrey as the chief gunmaker[16]for Down Orange Welfare; in 1988 McCoubrey was arrested after his engineering works inBallynahinchwas uncovered as a facility for manufacturing submachine guns. In his confession, McCoubrey admitted to having been paid to manufacture submachine guns for loyalist paramilitaries since 1972.[18]Weir also claimed that Chief SuperintendentHarry Breenwas a member of Down Orange Welfare and had been present when he was given the guns.[16]These allegations against Breen are staunchly denied by his former RUC colleagues.[19]

Weir was convicted in 1980 of the murder of Catholic chemist William Strathearn which had taken place in 1977.[16]Harry Breen was one of two RUC officers killed in aProvisional IRAambush outsideJonesborough, County Armaghin March 1989.

Despite its overt militancy, Down Orange Welfare was never directly implicated in any killing nor apparently were any attacks attributed to the group.[3]

References

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  1. ^abcAbstracts on Organisations - 'D'
  2. ^abcPeter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley,Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th century,Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 213
  3. ^ab"Religion and Violence: the Case of Paisley and Ulster Evangelicals".The Irish Association - Paper presented by Steve Bruce.UK: University of Aberdeen. 11 October 2003Retrieved 25 June 2012
  4. ^Ed Moloney,Paisley: From Demagogue to Democrat?,Poolbeg, 2008, p. 259
  5. ^Abstracts on Organisations - 'U'
  6. ^Nigel Fielding,The National Front,Taylor & Francis, 1981, p. 182
  7. ^Abstracts on Organisations - 'U'
  8. ^Belfast Telegraph,4 October 1976
  9. ^W.D. Flackes & Sydney Elliott,Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-1993,The Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 141
  10. ^W.D. Flackes & Sydney Elliott,Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968–1993,Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 334
  11. ^Ciarán Ó Maoláin,The Radical Right: A World Directory,Longman, 1987, p. 334
  12. ^Belfast Telegraph,27 May 1980
  13. ^Belfast Telegraph,28 May 1980
  14. ^Belfast Telegraph,17 March 1982
  15. ^"Inside the loyalist terror machine",Irish Independent,19 November 1986.
  16. ^abcdef"Seeing Red", John Weir's affidavit, statement by John Weir, 03.01.99ArchivedJune 19, 2009, at theWayback MachineRetrieved 18 December 2011
  17. ^Tiernan, Joe (2000).The Dublin Bombings and the Murder Triangle.Ireland: Mercier Press. pp.110-111
  18. ^Sunday Tribune,7 May 1996
  19. ^"Did Gardai collude with the IRA in RUC men's murder?".Sunday Tribune.Suzanne Breen. 11 September 2007Retrieved 25 June 2012
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