The self-styled Ulster Political Research Group, which speaks for the UDA, met the British Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, in Belfast on Monday, a week after it met the taoiseach in Dublin.
Senior UPRG spokesman Tommy Kirkham says he’s pessimistic about the ceasefire, although observers are more skeptical and believe the UPRG is “talking up” the possibility of more violence to give it greater leverage.
Kirkham said last week that the UDA’s limited cessation almost ended earlier last week after the discovery of a device at a loyalist prisoners’ organization (it was thought to have been planted by dissident republicans).
“If that had killed or injured anyone, we wouldn’t be having any talks with anyone,” Kirkham said. “As for what happens next, I’m not hopeful. But we are planning a round of meetings with a number of people.”
The UDA announced a 12-month halt to “military operations” last February. It was greeted with skepticism at the time and has not been recognized by London or Dublin as genuine.
The ceasefire was named the John Gregg Initiative in tribute to the loyalist godfather shot dead by Johnny Adair’s C Company during the internal UDA feud a year ago. The murder was followed by a purge of Adair supporters from their Shankill heartland. The gang was forced out of Northern Ireland and has since settled in Scotland and England.
Kirkham said the UPRG’s agenda for the meeting with Murphy included prisoner issues, the review of the Good Friday agreement and the way loyalists are being treated by police.
The UDA has been linked to a number of violent incidents over the last year, including the murder of Adair ally Alan McCullough last summer. Concerns about a full-scale collapse of its ceasefire were heightened in recent weeks, after it emerged that the John Gregg Initiative was being reviewed.
In a linked development, it’s been revealed that a luxury home owned by a close Adair associate, John White, has been sold on the open market. The Assets Recovery Agency, which exists to seize illicit funds, is being challenged to explain the sale.
Despite an apparent government investigation into White’s fortune, security sources confirmed that the convicted loyalist double-murderer has now sold his home, valued at