My Life in Loyalism

Product Information

However, before long the extreme lack of discipline that then ensued became too much for several senior figures to stand and as a consequence in 1984 Hutchinson took control again, holding the post until his release from prison in 1990.

The institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement are not working and need to be reviewed, a loyalist leader has said. Also referring to the INLA as sectarian seems a little odd for the member of an organisation who murdered people for no other reason that their religion, especially when he was active during the early and mid ‘70s.

He said: “It was mixed because everything wasn’t positive from my point of view and the party’s point of view.

Understanding your desire for a ceremony that reflects your individuality, I am dedicated to making this vision a reality. This arrangement did not last long, as the UVF prisoners had grown tired of the strict disciplinary regime initiated by Spence which Hutchinson attempted to continue. In the book, he describes how his mother came to visit him in prison, and asked him about a Catholic man who had been killed by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). I have dissuaded others from using violence while constantly living under the threat of death myself. Hutchinson, as the leader of the UVF prisoners in Long Kesh, through contacts with Pat Thompson, his republican counterpart, helped get Catholic and Protestant clergy involved in exploring political ways forward.I saw an 18-month-old baby, I knew him, but I didn’t know it was him at the time, and whenever the ambulance people were picking up the body parts it was a clear plastic bag .

I always say I was born into a mixed marriage because my father was a socialist and my mother was a unionist”; as a child, his father took him to the Falls to play in the park, and to the cinema. The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to its secondary activity of credit broking. In his treatment of the peace process, Billy Hutchinson gives much praise to the late Irish American businessman, Bill Flynn, for his support for Loyalists on their journey.In October 2007 Hutchinson was arrested in connection with the August 2005 murder of Catholic teenager Thomas Devlin. Along with Spence and Ervine, Hutchinson was a strong advocate of moves towards peace and he played a leading role in helping to convince UVF commanders to endorse the Combined Loyalist Military Command ceasefire in 1994. Hutchinson lost his seat in the 2003 election after the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin took an extra seat each. Asked why anyone should talk to loyalists when they are involved in extortion and intimidation and drug dealing, he replied that he was asking for engagement with the leadership, whom he said did not want such activities. Gusty Spence was the commander of the UVF prisoners and military discipline was maintained among them.

The employee was dismissed due to a complaint about him making a remark construed as promoting the loyalist song, The Sash.

Billy Hutchinson, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, talks to Eamon about the rising tensions and fraying relationships in Northern Irish politics.