Loyalist Volunteer Force

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) after breaking its ceasefire. Most of its members came from the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade, which Wright had commanded.

In a two-year period from August 1996, the LVF waged a paramilitary campaign in opposition to Irish republicanism and the Northern Ireland peace process. During this time it killed at least 14 people in gun and bomb attacks, almost all of them Catholic civilians killed at random. The LVF called off its campaign in August 1998 and decommissioned some of its weapons, but in the early 2000s a loyalist feud led to several killings.

Since then, the LVF has been largely inactive, but its members are believed to have been involved in rioting and organized crime. In 2015, the security forces stated that the LVF "exists only as a criminal group" in Mid-Ulster and Antrim.

The LVF is designated a terrorist group by the United Kingdom and United States.

Goals

In a document, the LVF outlined its goals as follows:

The use of the Ulster conflict as a crucible for far-reaching, fundamental and decisive change in the United Kingdom constitution.
To restore Ulster's right to self-determination.
To end Irish nationalist aggression against Ulster in whatever form.
To end all forms of Irish interference in Ulster's internal affairs.
To thwart the creation and/or implementation of any All-Ireland/All-Island political super-structure regardless of the powers vested in such institutions.
To defeat the campaign of de-Britishisation and Gaelicisation of Ulster's daily life.</blockquote>

There is also a Christian fundamentalist element within the LVF.

Its leader, Billy Wright, was a born again Christian and former preacher. Professor Peter Shirlow, of Queen's University Belfast, noted that many LVF members believed that Irish nationalism/republicanism and Catholicism were interlinked. They believed that Ulster Protestants were a persecuted people and Ulster was their "God-given land", which must be defended from these "dark and satanic forces".

The LVF published a magazine called Leading the Way.

History

Early days

Billy Wright was the leader of the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), having taken over the command from Robin "the Jackal" Jackson in the early 1990s upon the latter's retirement. In October 1994, the UVF and other loyalist paramilitary groups called a ceasefire.

Internal differences between Wright and the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast came to a head in July 1996, during the Drumcree parade dispute. The Orange Order was being stopped from marching through the Catholic Garvaghy area of Portadown. There was a standoff at Drumcree Church between thousands of Orangemen and their supporters on one side, and the security forces on the other. Wright was angered that the march was being blocked, and was often seen at Drumcree with Harold Gracey, head of the Portadown Orange Lodge.

Wright's brigade smuggled homemade weaponry to Drumcree, apparently unhindered by the Orangemen. shot dead Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick near Aghagallon. The man who killed McGoldrick said he had also planned, along with Billy Wright and Mark Fulton, to kidnap three priests from a parochial house in County Armagh and shoot them unless the march was allowed to continue. Allegedly, the brigade also planned to drive petrol tankers into the Catholic area and blow them up. After four days of loyalist protests and violence throughout Northern Ireland, the police reversed their decision and allowed the march to continue.

For breaking the ceasefire,

Wright and his unit left the UVF and formed the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). He personally chose its codename of "Covenant", which was used to claim LVF attacks.

Although behind many attacks in the Mid-Ulster area, especially in Portadown and Lurgan, Wright was arrested in January 1997 on charges of issuing death threats and perverting the course of justice. He was convicted in March 1997 and sentenced to eight years in the Maze Prison. There he demanded a separate wing for LVF prisoners. The authorities agreed and the wing became a gathering point for loyalists opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process, including many men from Belfast and north Down.

Death of Billy Wright

On 27 December 1997, Wright was assassinated by Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners inside the Maze Prison: Christopher "Crip" McWilliams, John Glennon and John Kennaway. The three were imprisoned in the same block as Wright. He was shot as he travelled in a prison van. After killing Wright, the three surrendered to prison guards. The hotel was owned by Catholics and about 400 teenagers were attending a disco there. DUP Member of Parliament Willie McCrea appeared on public platforms with LVF leaders.

In May 1998 the LVF called a ceasefire and urged people to vote 'No' in the referendum on the Agreement. The Northern Ireland Office accepted its ceasefire in November, making LVF prisoners eligible for early release under the Agreement. Later, it handed over a small amount of weapons to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. The decommissioned weapons were as follows:

4 sub-machine guns
2 rifles
2 pistols
1 sawn-off shotgun
2 pipe bombs
various ammunition and detonators

The destruction of some of the LVF arms were recorded by video. However, since the weapons were decommissioned in mid-1998, the LVF has killed four people.

Post-ceasefire activities

In early 2000, an LVF-UVF feud began, and there were several tit-for-tat killings. The Secretary of State declared on 12 October 2001 that the government no longer recognised their ceasefire.

After its ceasefire, the LVF continued supporting the Orangemen in their protests at Drumcree. In July 2000, it was revealed that members of neo-Nazi group Combat 18 were travelling from England to join the protest. They were given shelter by LVF volunteers in Portadown and Tandragee. Combat 18 had opposed the LVF's ceasefire, but this trip was said to mark a "healing of the rift".

In 2002, Wright's successor as LVF leader, Mark Fulton, was found hanged in Maghaberry prison. It is believed that he committed suicide.

In July 2005 the IRA declared it had ended its armed campaign and would disarm. In September 2005 weapons inspectors declared that the IRA had fully disarmed. In response, on 30 October that year, the LVF stated that it was standing down.

In February 2006, the Independent Monitoring Commission confirmed that the LVF-UVF feud was over. But, it said that the LVF's involvement with organised crime and drug trafficking continued, describing it as a "deeply criminal organisation". The twentieth IMC report stated that the group was small and without political purpose. Most of its violence was "more criminal than paramilitary" in nature. LVF members who continued violent activity were said to do so "for personal gain" and associated with the organisation at large only when it was helpful to do so. The report added that simple aggressive police work could damage the group's continuance.

Timeline of attacks

According to the Conflict Archive on the Internet's Sutton Database, the LVF have killed 19 people, who included:

14 civilians (12 Catholics and 2 Protestants)
3 UVF members
1 former Provisional IRA member
1 of its own members

Two further killings of Catholics were claimed by the LVF, but the RUC believed that UDA members were responsible.

The following is a timeline of attacks and attempted attacks that have been claimed by, or blamed on, the LVF.

1996

7 July: in Aghagallon, the LVF shot dead Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick (31) in his car. The gunmen then set it on fire. This attack was believed to be related to the Drumcree conflict; at the time, the Orange Order was being stopped from marching through the Catholic area of Portadown in their annual 'celebration'. Members of the group smuggled home-made weaponry to the protests at Drumcree church, apparently unhindered by the Orangemen.
25 October: LVF members carried out a failed armed robbery at the home of an Ulster Bank manager in Newcastle County Down.
6 January: The LVF shot and injured a man in the Glandore Terrace estate, Portadown. UDA member Derek Wray had been the original intended target.
8 March: the LVF carried out firebomb attacks on Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) offices in Banbridge and Newcastle, County Down. The attacks were believed to be a response to the NITB's marketing of the whole of Ireland as a tourist destination together with Bord Fáilte (the tourist board of the Republic of Ireland).
12 May: the LVF kidnapped Catholic civilian Seán Brown (61) after he left the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club in Bellaghy, County Londonderry. He was beaten and shot dead; his body was found the next day by a burnt-out car on Moneynick Road near Randalstown.
2 July: the LVF threatened to kill Catholic civilians if an upcoming Orange march was banned from the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.
5 August: the LVF claimed responsibility for trying to kill a Catholic taxi driver in Lurgan. He escaped when the gun jammed.The LVF said: "This attack and future attacks lay squarely at the feet of republicans. For too long the Protestant people have watched their very faith, culture and identity being slowly eroded away".
31 December: the LVF claimed responsibility for a gun attack on the Clifton Tavern on Cliftonville Road, Belfast. Gunmen burst into the pub and sprayed it with gunfire. Catholic civilian Eddie Treanor (31) was killed and five others were wounded.

1998

10 January: the LVF launched a gun attack on the Space nightclub at Talbot Street, Belfast. Gunmen pulled up in a car and opened fire on people standing at the door. A doorman, Catholic civilian Terry Enright (28), was killed. He was a cross-community worker who helped steer young people away from violence. The LVF said it was revenge for the killing of Billy Wright by INLA.
18 January: the LVF killed Catholic civilian Fergal McCusker (28) in Maghera, County Londonderry. He was kidnapped and shot dead while walking home. His body was found behind a youth center off Tircane Road.
27 January: the LVF was blamed for trying to kill a Catholic taxi driver in North Belfast. He escaped when the gun jammed.
27 February: the LVF was blamed for a beer keg bomb left in a car in the predominantly Nationalist town of Carnlough, County Antrim. The device was neutralised by the British Army.
3 March: the LVF killed a Catholic and a Protestant civilian—Damian Trainor (26) and Philip Allen (34)—in the Railway Bar in Poyntzpass, County Armagh. Gunmen entered the Catholic-owned pub, told them to lie on the floor and then shot them dead. The two were close friends.
21 April: the LVF killed Catholic civilian Adrian Lamph (29) in Portadown. A gunman cycled into his workplace—the Fairgreen amenity site on Duke Street—then singled him out and shot him. He was the first victim of the conflict since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
15 May: the LVF announced an "unequivocal ceasefire" which it hoped would encourage people to vote against the Good Friday Agreement.
2 July: the LVF was blamed for setting fire to ten Catholic churches in Northern Ireland. Churches were burnt over a ten-hour period in Crumlin, Lisburn, Dromore, Castlewellan, Banbridge, Laurencetown, Tandragee and Dungannon. The attacks were believed to be a response to the banning of the Orange Order's Drumcree march. The LVF was also blamed for petrol bombing the homes of two Catholics in Derry.
15 July: a package addressed to a Dublin hotel, which was believed to have been sent by the LVF, exploded while it was being examined at the Garda Technical Bureau. Two were injured in the blast.
8 August: the LVF issued a statement saying that its "war is over".

1999 onward

thumb|Young Loyalist Volunteers symbol, [[Ballycraigy]]

26 March 1999: the LVF warned that there would be a great strain on its ceasefire if the Provisional IRA did not begin disarming.
4 June 1999: The LVF carried out a Grenade attack on the home of a Catholic man on the Ballyweely road near Hilltown in County Down. The mans children and nephew were also in the house at the time though no one was injured.
10 January 2000: LVF members killed the UVF's Mid-Ulster commander, Richard Jameson (46). He was shot dead while sitting in his car outside his home on Derrylettiff Road near Portadown. He was also a member of the Orange Order. The killing was part of a loyalist feud.
26 May 2000: LVF members shot dead UVF member Martin Taylor (35) at his home on Silverstream Park, Belfast. This killing was part of a loyalist feud.
28 February 2005: members of the LVF were suspected to have been responsible for the disappearance of Lisa Dorrian (25) after a drugs party at a caravan park in Ballyhalbert, although the PSNI subsequently ruled out the involvement of any paramilitary group in her murder.

Young Loyalist Volunteers

thumb|Emblem of the YLV|150px

The youth division of the LVF was known as the Young Loyalist Volunteers (YLV). They were founded in 1997 and officially ended their activities in 2005.