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: 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 saw Irish nationalism/republicanism and Catholicism as 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. On 7 July, a day into the standoff, members of Wright's brigade 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 the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were "stood down" by the UVF leadership on 2 August 1996. Wright and his unit left the UVF and formed the 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 finally arrested in January 1997 for 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 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, and after killing Wright, the three handed themselves over to prison guards. They also handed over a statement: "Billy Wright was executed [...] for directing and waging his campaign of terror against the nationalist people from his prison cell". That night, LVF gunmen opened fire on the dance hall of the Glengannon Hotel, near Dungannon. The hotel was owned by Catholics and about 400 teenagers were attending a disco there. Three civilians were wounded and one, a former Provisional IRA volunteer, was killed. Police believed that the disco itself was the intended target, rather than the ex-volunteer. Witnesses said it was "an attempt at mass-murder". Some believed that prison authorities colluded with the INLA in Wright's killing. The INLA strongly denied these rumours, and published a detailed account of the assassination in the March/April 1999 issue of The Starry Plough newspaper.

Good Friday Agreement and ceasefire

In March 1998, during the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, the LVF issued a statement backing the anti-agreement Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), saying the party's leader, Ian Paisley, had got it "absolutely right". DUP Member of Parliament Willie McCrea appeared on public platforms with LVF leaders, including Billy Wright. 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: 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. This led the Secretary of State to declare on 12 October 2001 that the government no longer recognised their ceasefire. After its ceasefire, the LVF continued supporting the Orangemen in their protest 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 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 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 only associated with the organisation at large 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, which included: 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

1997

1998

1999 onward

Young Loyalist Volunteers

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.