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Former IRA boss Brian Gillen
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ONH chief Carl Reilly
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Padraig O Muirigh is a son of veteran IRA man 'Spike' Murray
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Seanna Walsh was instrumental in IRA ceasefire
The UVF is actively targeting prominent republicans for assassination.
Far from taking a backward step the loyalist terror group continues to gather intelligence on potential targets.
It is currently recruiting new members across Northern Ireland and stockpiling a new arsenal of weapons.
For 20 years the UVF has been living a lie. In the two decades since the organisation declared a unilateral ceasefire it has continued on a ‘war footing’ with a number of high profile republicans in their sights.
This week the Sunday World was approached by a number of veteran UVF men disgusted at the direction the organisation has taken.
Their story makes a mockery of the sham peace and “hands across the barricades” approach of the UVF and PUP leadership.
They reveal in detail intelligence gathering operations which have targeted high profile republicans such as Seanna Walsh, and former Belfast Lord Mayor Tom Hartley.
Oglaigh na hEireann chief Carl Reilly is a prime target as is Padraig O Muirigh, son of Sinn Fein negotiator Spike Murray.
Veteran republican and former IRA prisoner Seanna Walsh has been a strong supporter of the Sinn Fein peace strategy. hand-picked to deliver the IRA ceasefire in 1994, he remains an integral player in the republican movement.
Sean ‘Spike’ Murray a one time member of the IRA’s Northern Command is also regarded as a key player in the peace process – his son Padraig O Muirigh, a solicitor, is known for his cross community work.
The most baffling among the list of ‘targets’ is former Belfast Lord Major Tom Hartley.
The UVF veterans we spoke to are disillusioned and furious that the organisation they believed they served in good faith has been dragged through the mud, and are disgusted that someone like Hartley should be included as a ‘soft target.’
OnH chief Reilly is a prime target. A UVF squad has been keeping tabs on the north Belfast man’s movements.
But with the dissident republicans largely regarded as a spent force even he is regarded as a soft option.
The Sunday World understands the UVF has been gathering intelligence right up to the current day.
“Our war has run, it was over a long time ago and we bought into the future,” one man told us.
“We now have a dialogue with the republican community; most of us realise the problems of working class communities cross those divides.”
None of that has stopped the post-ceasefire UVF targeting the “old enemy”.
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We also reveal an elaborate plan to assassinate one time IRA boss Brian Gillen as he went for a walk at the Bog Meadows on the outskirts of west Belfast.
Every single one of these operations was planned in the years after the UVF ceasefire.
Most startlingly it has been revealed that the UVF planned to bomb a pub just 30 minutes before the ceasefire.
A bomb was constructed and timed to go off half an hour before the UVF ceasefire was to come into place at midnight on October 13, 1994.
Had the no-warning attack on the west Belfast pub, known to be frequented by republican activists, gone ahead it would have caused multiple deaths.
Two carloads of men were in place to carry out the attack, primed and ready to go they were stood down minutes before they were to arm and plant their bomb.
The Sunday World understands the bombing team was backed up by a carload of men armed with Sterling sub machine guns and Browning 9mm handguns.
The eve of ceasefire bomb plan was a deadly indication of how the UVF intended to snub any notion of a peaceful future.
Since former jailhouse boss Gusty Spence announced their cessation the UVF has done little to convince anyone they are interested in peace.
The organisation has murdered 31 people – 29 of them from their own community – while on ceasefire.
The Sunday World can reveal that from the moment Spence issue an “abject and sincere” apology to all victims of loyalist violence the organisation he helped shape has embarked on a programme of rearmament.
It was fully 15 years after their ceasefire announcement before they declared they were ready to out their arms beyond use. In June 2009 General John de Chastelain of the International Commission for Decommissioning announced that the body has witnessed a “major decommissioning event” carried out by the UVF and its sister organisation the Red Hand Commando.
The quantity of material destroyed was not disclosed, but the IICD said it included arms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices – in reality it was a cosmetic exercise.
We have spoken to veteran UVF men who were present when the Shankill HQ ordered all Brigades to surrender their weapons at a central – and still secret – location.
The Sunday World now understands that rather than appearing to fulfill their promise of decommissioning it was nothing more than an exercise in housekeeping.
We have spoken to members who were present and who have described the process as a massive “cleaning operation.”
Every ounce of explosive, every heavy duty machine gun, assault rifle, handgun and round of ammunition was brought to a single location where every single item was examined.
Our sources have told us every weapon with a history was discarded, every heavy duty weapon, every rusty or defective round was thrown into the decommissioning pot – but everything else was put back in the dumps.
“In short, they used decommissioning. There was no decommissioning, all they did was get rid of the dirty guns and keep the clean ones,” said our source.
The UVF has a cache of guns that have never been fired.
“Still in their grease proof paper,” said our source.
On top of that that they have been busy in the arms buying market.
The UVF has a significant arms cache made up mostly of handguns which are more readily used for assasination bids, indicating a shift from their previous practice of using rifles and heavy duty machine guns.
Senior sources have also told us they have brought in Mac10 sub machine guns and US made M11 9mm pistols which are standard issue to the American Navy.
We have also learned the terror group has brought in a major consignment of Japanese-made imitation AK47s and a large quantity of, as yet unidentified, explosives.
This week PUP leader Billy Hutchinson, a convicted UVF double killer, admitted the paramilitary command structure remained in place. He likened the terror group to the British Army for being in a state of readiness.
richard.sullivan@sundayworld.com