LITMIR.BIZ

       BACKGROUND

      I was born in the Shankhill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. I’m the youngest of five brothers and one sister. As a teenager, I ran with a gang of Protestants. We’d roam the city centre searching for Catholics to hurt, for no other reason than their religion.

      To people on the mainland, this may sound extreme but unless you live in Northern Ireland, the constant troubles are difficult to understand. I can only describe Belfast as two nations – Protestant and Catholic – and, believe me, the two don’t mix. It can be likened to the combination of nitroglycerine and a detonator – separately they are safe, but put them together and it’s dynamite! The wars were bloody and there were many casualties on both sides. I bear many scars and war wounds from my endless street battles. I think my reputation came from being a paramilitary leader, even before I was involved in the politics of it.

      I was a young Loyalist, full of hate and anger, and saw Catholics as my enemy. I was a product of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I grew up on the streets. Fighting Catholics was all I knew. I was a loose cannon, with no direction, until, that is, I joined the paramilitaries which gave me the direction I needed. It was then I realised why I was fighting: for peace in my country. Freedom is a passion I truly believe in.

      It’s every human being’s fundamental right to be free and I’d fight until the last breath in my body to achieve this independence. I became ruthless in my quest and would stop at nothing. It was then I earned respect and got my reputation.

       LIFE OF CRIME

      I’ve been in and out of jail all my life, all for terrorist offences. In 1995, I was charged with ‘Directive Terrorism’ and was sentenced to 16 years. Directive Terrorism covers a lot of things but I can’t for legal and security reasons talk specifically about what I have done. In September 1999, I was the 293rd prisoner to be released early under the Good Friday peace deal.

       WEAPONRY

      Again, for legal and security reasons I cannot say what I specialise in.

       TOUGHEST MOMENT

      I’ve had many tough moments. There have been ten attempts on my life. I’ve been attacked with crowbars and hammers and stabbed twice, in the back and in the leg. I’ve been shot and wounded three times, once by the IRA. They ambushed my car and opened fire with an assault rifle. I was hit in the side of my body. But the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life was being shot at close range in the back of the head. It was the most petrifying moment I’ve ever had.

      It was Autumn 1999 and I’d just been released from Ulster’s top-security Maze prison on parole. I’d promised to take my wife to a UB40 concert. We’d been looking forward to our first night out in many years. The kids were safely tucked up in bed and the babysitter was due at any time. As we were getting ready, there was nothing to suggest that this night was ever going to be anything out of the ordinary.

      The atmosphere at the concert was electrifying. UB40’s rhythm was contagious. My wife and I swayed to the dulcet tones, ‘Red, red wine …’ It was good to feel normal again, if only for a moment.

      BANG! The panic, the fear, the confusion. My wife screamed. I slumped to the floor with a bullet lodged in the back of my head.

       IS THERE ANYONE YOU ADMIRE?

      There are people I admire in Ireland who, in my eyes, are heroes. For instance, Michael Stone, the lone sniper in a Catholic graveyard. It’s difficult for me to explain and I certainly don’t mean any disrespect to London gangsters, but there are things terrorists would do in two days that gangsters wouldn’t do in their lifetime. That’s just a symptom of what’s happening in Northern Ireland. Atrocities aren’t being committed on a personal level, it’s aimed at the enemy and we believe the things we are doing are part of defending our people. If this means going to the extreme, then so be it.

       DO YOU BELIEVE IN HANGING?

      No.

       IS PRISON A DETERRENT?

      In Ireland, prison is not thought of as a deterrent, although a few years ago things were different and prison would have been harder but not these days. In Ireland, the paramilitary run the prisons, not the screws. We’re not criminals, we’re paramilitaries; we’re classed as soldiers. When we go to jail, we don’t do what they tell us – they do what we tell them.

      Jail is not a deterrent, jail is an education. I learned more about life when I was in jail than I did in the whole of my lifetime when I was out.

      In jail, you’re confined 24 hours a day and that time is spent alone. Outside time just passes you by and you never have time to stop and think about anything. Inside, you’re on your own, you analyse everything, you have all the time in the world to think, so it’s an education because everything goes through your head about what happened in the past, what might happen in the future. You analyse it all and educate yourself – it’s self-education. The fact that you’re in jail can be used to your advantage – if you want exams, you learn; if you’re into training, you use your time in the gym. That’s what I did. I went into jail out of shape and came out in the best shape of my life.

      No, jail is not a deterrent, it’s an education. The only thing it does is take away your freedom.

       WHAT WOULD HAVE DETERRED YOU FROM A LIFE OF CRIME?

      Nothing would have deterred me because I fight for what I believe in, and when you believe in something you follow your heart.

      I strongly believe what I’ve done is right so I have followed my heart. The only thing that will stop me from fighting is peace in my country.

       WHAT MAKES A TOUGH GUY?

      Only one man in a thousand is really tough. It’s natural – just in them. It’s not something you can share or explain, it’s just in you and people notice it and feel it.

       IS THERE ANYTHING TONY BLAIR COULD DO TO HELP PEACE?

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