Billy Wright (July 7, 1960 – December 27, 1997) was a Northern Irish terrorist, a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and leader of the extremist Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (362nd in leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Main language English Other recognised languages Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th... The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. ... The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a loyalist terrorist group in Northern Ireland which broke away from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was led by the late Billy Wright. ...

He was born in Wolverhampton to an Irish Protestant family, but was raised in Mount Norris, South Armagh. He joined the youth section of the UVF at the age of fifteen in response to the Kingsmill massacre. He was soon arrested and sentenced to six years for arms offenses and hijacking in 1977. He served 42 months at the Crumlin Road and Maze prisons. When his prison term was completed, Wright went briefly to Scotland but soon returned to Northern Ireland. He was arrested repeatedly throughout the 1980s on suspicion of murder and conspiracy. He was also targeted by the IRA and also the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) leader Dominic McGlinchey. Wright's uncle, father-in-law and brother-in-law were all shot dead. He was nicknamed 'King Rat' by the press. Wolverhampton is an city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... County Armagh (Contae Ard Mhacha in Irish) is a county in Ulster, Ireland. ... In the Kingsmill massacre on January 5, 1976, ten Protestant men were killed in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, using the cover name South Armagh Republican Action Force. The victims were textile workers returning home to Bessbrook in a Ford Transit mini-bus... Crumlin Road courthouse, linked to the gaol by underground passage Crumlin Road Gaol is a former prison situated in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... HM Prison Maze (known colloqually as The H Blocks, Long Kesh or The Maze) is a disused prison sited at the former RAF station at Long Kesh (it is still called Long Kesh by many Irish Republicans) near Lisburn, nine miles outside Belfast, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Main language English Other recognised languages Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the RA is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation dedicated to the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and to a United Ireland. ... The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) is an Irish republican paramilitary organization which was formed on December 8, 1974. ... Dominic McGlinchey was born in 1954 into a County Derry family with a strong Irish Republican background. ...

Wright became commander of a brigade in the mid-Ulster area around Portadown and directed some brutal sectarian killings. It is also claimed that he was one of the most significant drug dealers in the area, primarily in ecstasy. He attempted to join the top leaders in 1996 but was refused. He broke away from the UVF after they failed to organise attacks in support of the Orange Order march at Drumcree in July 1996. A Catholic man, Micheál McGoldrick, was found dead near Lurgan on July 8, 1996 as part of an unapproved operation by Wright. Another Catholic, James Morgan, was killed soon after. Wright was dismissed from the UVF and threatened with execution. Wright ignored the threat and formed the LVF, taking members mainly from his old UVF brigade. They were joined by other loyalists disaffected by the peace process, giving them a maximum strength estimated at around 250 activists. They operated outside the Combined Loyalist Military Command and ignored the ceasefire order of October 1994. Portadown (Port an Dúnáin in Irish, meaning port of the fortress) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. ... Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination, it also usually involves a rejection of those not a member of ones sect. ... These lollipops, above, were found to contain heroin when inspected by the US Drug Enforcement Administration In jurisdictions where legislation restricts or prohibits the sale of certain popular drugs, it is common for an illegal drugs trade to develop. ... MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), most commonly known today by the street name ecstasy, is a synthetic entactogen of the phenethylamine family whose primary effect is to stimulate the secretion of and inhibit the re-uptake of large amounts of serotonin as well as dopamine and noradrenaline in the brain, causing... The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organisation largely based in the province of Northern Ireland and in western Scotland but which has a worldwide membership. ... Portadown (Port an Dúnáin in Irish) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be or The Establishment. ... When discussing the history of Northern Ireland, the peace process is generally considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 IRA ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of The Troubles, the Belfast (or Good Friday) Agreement, and subsequent political developments. ... The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s. ...

Despite a series of sectarian murders and attacks on Catholic property attributed to the LVF through 1996-1997 (although they were not claimed), Wright was not successfully imprisoned until March 1997 when he was convicted of threatening to kill a woman and sentenced to eight years. Initially imprisoned at HMP Maghaberry he was sent to the Maze again in April 1997. He demanded and was granted a LVF section in C and D wings of H-block 6 (H6) for himself and 26 fellow terrorists. INLA prisoners were in the A and B wings and the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) warned there would be trouble. In May the LVF agreed to a ceasefire. In August 1997 LVF prisoners rioted over their visiting accommodation. Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) describes itself as a republican socialist party and claims to be both Marxist-Leninist and republican. ...

INLA inmates had told staff "they intend, given a chance, to take out the LVF". The POA said precautions had been put in place to ensure inmates from the two terror groups did not come into contact with each other. Prison officers had grave concerns over security measures in H Block 6, where Wright and the LVF were housed. Five months later, LVF leader Wright was ambushed by an INLA team, shooting him at least three times led by Christopher 'Crip' McWilliams, inside the top security jail.

The LVF was reduced without its leader and became more closely tied to the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair. The group committed a series of almost random attacks on Catholic civilians in revenge for the death of Wright. Martin O'Hagan, a journalist Wright especially disliked, was killed in September 2001 by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover-name. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is a loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland, outlawed as a terrorist group in the UK and Republic of Ireland, which is perceived by its supporters as defending the unionist community from Irish Republican terrorism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) is an extremist terrorist group formed in 1998 and composed largely of Protestant hardliners from loyalist groups observing a cease-fire. ...

External link

• An account of the murder of Wright from An Camchéachta, IRSP newspaper
• An account of the murder from a non nationalist viewpoint

Further reading

• Chris Anderson, The Billy Boy: The life and death of LVF leader Billy Wright, Mainstream Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1840186399