As I mentioned in a previous post I've revisited some of the writing I had done on the early Troubles which I had parked for much of 2022 and 2023.
I'm currently fleshing out a section on my ongoing book project. This will examine John McKeague's 1970; a year in which the loyalist leader lost an election but gained a new organisation.
Below is a short excerpt of a much fuller piece which I will be releasing to subscribers later this month:
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McKeague along with Owens, Mallon, Elwood and Gracey had been acquitted of explosives charges late on the evening of 20 February (1970). A roar went up in the public gallery of Crumlin Road courthouse at around 9.00 p.m. when the verdict was read out by Justice Jones. A section of the crowd began to sing ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’ and ‘Derry’s Walls’. McKeague was lifted shoulder high by his supporters and chaired down the steps of the courthouse and onto the Shankill Road where a celebration was held. As McKeague jubilantly waved to those beneath him Mallon and Owens were being returned to prison to face further explosives charges. Almost immediately after his release McKeague went back to work on his militant project. Now out from the shadow of Paisley, he sought to lead his own organisation.
The SDA was still in existence and was continuing to attract a variety of new members, but it wasn’t the only vigilante group in Belfast or indeed the Shankill area at the time. The WDA was beginning to gain a reputation in the Woodvale area and it was decided in March that a central defence association should be created to bring together all the vigilante groups in Ulster. The organisation, a conglomerate of disparate groupings, was led by three joint chairmen: John McKeague, Ted Williams and Jim Ferson. They decided on a name - Ulster Defence Association.
While Williams and Ferson maintained relatively low profiles, McKeague was still a headliner for the local press and rarely passed up an opportunity to speak to any journalist that was interested in hearing his opinions. In the same month that the UDA was formed Ken Nixon of the Newsletter conducted a comprehensive and in-depth interview with McKeague in which he described him as ‘… having the face of an ascetic; his eyes are tough pale blue and his voice is soft in conversation, hardening to a flinty edge when explaining his personal version of Ulster politics.’ [12 Mar. 1970, p.4]