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. It is outlawed as a terrorist organisation in the UK and Ireland. In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be. ... Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1... The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is a loyalist paramilitary (terrorist) group in Northern Ireland. ... Billy Wright (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). ... Look up terrorist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

LVF emblem

Billy Wright, believed to be responsible for the deaths of thirty Catholics (mostly civilians with no paramilitary connections), had been the leader of the mid-Ulster brigade of the UVF. Internal differences between Wright and the UVF's brigade staff in Belfast came to a head in July 1996 during the Drumcree dispute. The body of a Roman Catholic taxi driver, a recent university graduate, was found dumped a few miles from Lurgan. Although no grouping claimed the murder, it was strongly suspected that it was Wright's men. Consequently the mid-Ulster unit was stood down by the UVF leadership, as it had breached the ceasefire the organisation had been observing while its representatives were in negotiations on the Belfast Agreement. Image File history File links LVF emblem File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links LVF emblem File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Drumcree Church is the parish church of Drumcree, a rural Church of Ireland parish to the north of Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. ... Lurgan (An Lorgain, meaning the shinbone in Irish) is a town in Northern Ireland with a population of approximately 25,000. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major step in the Northern Ireland peace process. It was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 (Good Friday) by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland...

Wright then took most of the unit's members with him and set up the LVF. Wright (who had previously been a lay preacher) is believed to have exerted a strong moral force among LVF members, for example, banning pornography in the LVF wing of the Long Kesh prison. Her Majestys Prison (HMP) Maze (known colloqually as 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. ...

Although believed to be behind many atrocities in the mid-Ulster area—centred on the Lurgan/Portadown area, including many attacks on civilians, Wright was finally charged with menacing behaviour and sentenced to eight years at the Maze prison. There he demanded a separate wing for the LVF prisoners. The authorities agreed and the wing became a gathering point for various dissident shades of loyalist paramilitaries, including many from Belfast and north Down. Lurgan (An Lorgain, meaning the shinbone in Irish) is a town in Northern Ireland with a population of approximately 25,000. ... Portadown (Port an Dúnáin in Irish) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. ... A civilian is a person who is not a member of a military. ... 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. ... A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is the second-largest city in Ireland. ... County Down, (An Dún in Irish) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, covering an area of 2,448 km² (945 square miles). ...

Wright was murdered on the 27th December 1997 in a daring and well-planned attack by members of the INLA housed in an adjacent wing of the prison. As Wright sat in a van waiting to be taken for a visit, a three-man unit scaled a number of roofs in the prison before running across a courtyard in full view of Wright's men locked in their wing and shooting dead their target. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) is an Irish republican paramilitary organization which was formed on December 8, 1974. ...

The INLA claimed that this "execution" was in reprisal for Wright's sectarianism: neither of the two other LVF men in the prison van, one of whom was on remand for beating to death a Catholic teenager, was harmed. Sectarianism (or sectism) is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination. ...

An inquiry has been promised by the British government into how the men had knowledge of Wright's movements and access to the loyalist wing. That night, LVF gunmen killed a bouncer in Tyrone who prevented a massacre by physically blocking their entrance to a pub. Unbeknownst to the killers, the man had once been in the IRA. The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... This article is about County Tyrone. ... IRA is an acronym with several different meanings. ...

In March 1998, during the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, the LVF issued a statement expressing support for the stance of the anti-agreement Democratic Unionist Party, saying the party's leader, Ian Paisley, had got it "exactly right". Members of the DUP have appeared on public platforms with LVF leaders, including Billy Wright. The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. ... The Democratic Unionist Party is a hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland led by Ian Paisley. ... The Rev. ...

LVF Mural in Ballysillan

In May 1998 it called a cease-fire and urged people to vote No in the referendum. The NIO accepted its cease-fire in November making its prisoners eligible for the early release scheme under the Belfast Agreement. Later, it handed over a small amount of weapons to the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. The weapons were destroyed and recorded via video. Image File history File links LVF mural File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links LVF mural File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process. ...

Wright's successor as LVF leader, Mark Fulton, was found hanged in Maghaberry prison in 2002. He is believed to have committed suicide.

The LVF is the only paramilitary group in Ireland to have killed a journalist, Martin O'Hagan, who was exposing their involvement in the heroin trade. The Secretary of State was moved to declare on 12th October 2001 that the government no longer recognised their ceasefire. Despite its self-proclaimed war on Irish republicanism, the LVF has killed only civilians and fellow loyalist paramilitaries, with the exception of the former IRA member mentioned above, according to Malcolm Sutton's tabulations.[1] Despite its ideology, the organisation in Belfast has strong ties with Catholic gangsters and drug dealers. Irish Republicanism is the nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be. ... IRA is an acronym with several different meanings. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is the second-largest city in Ireland. ...

The British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Paul Murphy, announced a public inquiry into the murder of Billy Wright in November 2004, following a report on the shooting by retired Canadian Judge, Peter Cory.He was appointed by the British and Irish governments to investigate killings involving allegations of collusion by the security forces with paramilitaries on both sides of the Irish border. Judge Cory recommended independent inquiries into the killings of Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill, Pat Finucane and Billy Wright in Northern Ireland. Judge Cory also recommended an inquiry in the Republic of Ireland into the murders of Superintendent Bob Buchanan and Chief Superintendent Harry Breen in 1989. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is the British cabinet minister who has responsibility for the government of Northern Ireland. ... Paul Murphy could mean Paul Murphy, a popular South East USA LARP and manga writer Paul Murphy, a musician and educator Paul Murphy, an actor Paul Murphy, a journalist for Time Out Paul Murphy, a UK politician Paul Murphy, a Manitoba politician Paul Murphy, co-writer of Paranoia Paul Murphy... The Honourable Peter deCarteret Cory, B.A., LL.B., LL.D. (born October 25, 1925) was a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1989 to 1999. ... Rosemary Nelson (d. ... Pat Finucane was a Belfast lawyer murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries on 12 February 1989, for defending members of the IRA in court. ...

At the present time (summer 2005), the LVF is under intense pressure from the UVF. Their intermittent feud has broken out again and press reports indicate that the UVF is intent on eradicating the smaller organisation once and for all.

Chris Anderson wrote a biography of Billy Wright entitled "The Billy Boy - The Life And Death Of LVF Leader Billy Wright" (ISBN 1840186399)