Loyalists: War and Peace in Northern Ireland

by Peter Taylor

A frank and chilling history of paramilitary groups in Ireland.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ireland, Politics, 20th Century, Irish Literature, British Literature

Paperback

First published December 31, 1998

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book describes the attempt by Protestant paramilitaries to emulate the better trained and equipped IRA and to be as ruthless as the INLA which they manage with some success to do. This book also shows the lack of leadership and organization within loyalist groups which allowed the IRA to survive repeated attacks upon themselves by groups such as the UVF and UFF/UDA while at the same time assassinating Protestant terrorists and British security forces, and in the process becoming the largest best trained terrorist organization in Europe. Very good book on Protestant forces which is rare as everyone writes about the IRA.

[Zachary Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of a trilogy written by the author about The Troubles period in Northern Ireland. This particular book looks into the so-called Loyalist side of Northern Ireland’s political divisions.

Loyalists are to Unionists what Republicans are to Nationalists in terms of their tolerance of violence as a means to achieve their goals. That is to say they are on the extreme end of the Unionist political camp which seeks to stand against a united Ireland and keep Northern Ireland within the UK at all costs.

Loyalism grew from the Unionist tradition of a people feeling besieged by a hostile populace. They were besieged because they, Presbyterian Scottish migrants, were encouraged to settle in the province of Ulster by Queen Elizabeth I in order to keep the potentially rebellious Catholic majority population pacified. But the price of this new order was mutual suspicion and periodic outbreaks of violence. The Unionist Protestants (which included in time those known as Loyalists), loyal to the British Crown, developed a culture marked by conflict and resistance to preserve their way of life. Sadly, this resistance came at the expense of Catholics.
Exactly 100 years ago the Government of Ireland Act founded the nation of Northern Ireland. This took 6 counties from the 9 counties that made up the province of Ulster. The Protestant Unionists saw their state as a safe bastion that needed to be dominated by themselves in order to prevent what they really feared; union with the Free State of Ireland (latter the Republic) and thus in their view ultimate rule by the Catholic Church from Rome. In the view of many Unionists any concessions made to the Catholics in terms of political or economic rights was a slippery slope to the abolition of the state and ultimate Irish unity. This helped justified the continuance of a system in which Catholic were less likely to get employed than Protestants, less likely to be able to vote (due to property restrictions on a poorer populace, and more likely to be targeted by largely Protestant security forces backed up by B Specials who were basically squads of thugs.
The end of the 1960s saw the rise of the National Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in Northern Ireland, with Catholics taking their inspiration from the civil rights struggles in US at the time. Unfortunately, many Unionists and Loyalists took issue with this Catholic agitating for several reasons. One more understood now is that many working-class Protestants lived in conditions that were just as bad, or worse than many Catholics. This made many already suspicious Protestants suspicious of NICRA and eventually intolerant to it’s messages. This was made worse by Unionist politicians who used violent rhetoric to stir up hatred against NICRA, not in the least the late Revered Ian Paisley who eventually founded the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This acted as a pressure cooker on Northern Ireland. Eventually the police could not contain it and the British Army were sent in for their longest continuous deployment to help keep peace in the troubled province. By 1969 The Troubles had begun and they would not officially stop until April 1998.
Broadly speaking the Unionists were split into 3 camps; the mainstream Unionists (such as those in the Ulster Unionist Party), the extreme Unionists (as represented by firebrand figures like Ian Paisley), and the Loyalist paramilitaries and political representatives. The Loyalists took it upon themselves to take the fight to the IRA (mainly the Provisional IRA from 1969 onwards) on the streets to defend their people as they saw it. Groups such as the second incarnation of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Red Hand Commandos, Ulster Defence Association (UDA), and Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) organised, armed and started killing. The first police death in Northern Ireland was ironically caused by Loyalist forces. This indicates an interesting trend of Loyalism. Loyalists sought to defend to fight to keep the state of Northern Ireland into being, so they could maintain their closeness to the British Crown. However, when the forces of the state seem to be poised to abandon them Loyalist tradition now and then allowed for retaliatory action. This was most evident in the almost hysterically angry Unionist reaction to the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Loyalist paramilitaries and the leaderships of them learned as The Troubles progressed. They learned that at times their interests aligned with other Unionist political groups, although many like the fiery but tactical Ian Paisley were often fair weather friends. They also learned the limits of what tit for tat killings could achieve, periodically calling ceasefires. Eventually through shadowy links with the British state they perfected their targeting to heavily focus on Republican activists, councillors and PIRA members. The UK Government has recently announced that no more legal inquiries will be made into this. More positively, some key Loyalist figures started thinking about peaceful political routes for their creed fairly early on. Astonishingly one of these figures was Augustus “Gusty” Spence, the founder of the second coming of the UVF. In prison he decided to plant the seeds of political Loyalism. Eventually the UVF and the UDA both founded political parties, the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) and Ulster Democratic Party (UDP). Both parties had key roles in what would become the peace process.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and found it very informative. In many ways I believe the Unionists, particularly the Loyalist fringe of it, are little understood outside of Northern Ireland. This book did well not only to explain well their history and cultural tradition, but also to try to get the reader to understand the mentality and perspectives of these people. From my perspective it seems as though much literature about The Troubles seems to focus on the Republican side of the conflict, at the Unionists and Loyalists expense, possibly owing to many English readers remembering the mainland bombing campaign. What was especially interesting was how the author illustrated the divisions and intrigues within the Unionist camp. I personally have a deep distaste for Ian Paisley who I believe did much to stir up the Troubles but has always avoided getting his hands directly dirty. It makes one wonder, whether perhaps many of the former Loyalists paramilitaries who today fully admit to their transgressions are in some way more honourable and trustworthy. Frustratingly, this book’s timeline ends on the date of it’s publication (in 1999). So it ends on speculation about decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. It seems the Loyalists learned politics very quickly. The more mainstream Unionists pushed the British Government to pressure Republicans to disarm before power sharing properly got underway. Yet no such pressure was exerted on the Loyalists, which I am sure was fine by them. I understand that they eventually officially disarmed in 2007.

On a personal note, I fully admit that The Troubles and the politics and history around it are one of my main nerdy specialist areas. I first visited Belfast in November 2015 while attending Queens University Belfast Model United Nations (MUN) event. The journey was eye opening (and bone shudderingly cold due to an Atlantic storm). My conference committee was frustratingly chaired, but I had fun anyway and met some lovely people. To my delight the conference also included a tour of Stormont (which was vacant due to another political row) and a few walking tours. But what I was waiting for was I booked for the very end; a famous Belfast Black Cab Tour. This was a tour of the Falls Road, Shankill Road, peace wall and the various paramilitary murals around those sites. I had a good-humoured Irish Nationalist as a tour guide. He found it hilarious that I came to a conference to represent Pakistan. He solemnly showed me the Divis Flats where the first casualty of the Troubles was killed; a 9 year old innocent boy who was killed in his sleep. He then took me around streets that would not look out of place in certain parts of Bristol, except for the murals. They are unique and many are indeed impressive in their spectacle, even if the images they convey are usually for the glorification of paramilitary violence. And this isn’t in some foreign country. This is evidence of sectarian war in the UK. Years later I took some friends with me on the tour. After that they felt much like I did that they got a truer and fuller picture of our union, warts and all.

[John O’Boyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Taylor’s book is a chronological retelling of the Troubles from their perspective of the loyalist paramilitary groups and organisations up until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

In this respect it is a serviceable book, though personally I was hoping for a more anthropological read that examined life during the troubles within loyalist communities, in particular those communities who lived in a state of fear from some of the more depraved and infamous loyalists such as the Shankhill butchers, those in charge of the romper rooms and Billy Wrights reign of terror.These things are briefly touched upon but not throughly examined.

Whilst the book performs the purpose of a history of the troubles from the perspective of loyalist paramilitaries, those who want to learn more about life within loyalist communities, particularly those who operated in a manner more akin to a gangster or criminal racket as opposed to a political mission will have to look elsewhere, as it is largely the same story I’ve heard at this point many times before.

[Calvin]

This book was a fairly simply and straightforward book. It details event about the loyalists and troubles that were faces in Northern Ireland throughout the 70's. It starts off around the McGurk Bombing and the later effects this would have on the troubles. Due to the name of the book, it does go into the loyalists and there goals of keeping northern Ireland for the UK, and the immense of amount of pressure they faced by separatists and alike. later it dives into what life was like in Ireland for someone who participated in loyalist meetings and conflict, and it details your average life really. But a lot more of danger that can be faced for just speaking out on what you believe. Then the book goes over to the year 1972. And goes heavily into bloody Sunday and what it was like for all sides involved. As bloody Sunday was a deadly shooting that killed 14 separatists and injured 20 more. It was and still is a major talking point of the troubles in Northern Ireland. Later the book goes into the attempted ceasefire between Harold Wilson and the IRA, though this never actually happened, and war would continue for ongoing years. Much of the later book from here on talks about further violence in the region and how it affected the situation. Before it later goes into the actual ceasefire that would happen between Ireland and the UK. Which would end the main conflict, but with some terrorist attacks here and there.

This book while it did a good job covering major events and attacks in the conflict. I really feel like it gets repetitive and sometimes doesn't know where to go. But if all you want is some basic info on the war. This is the book

[Fintan Brennan]

The first port of call for anyone interested in Ulster loyalist paramilitaries. Excellent interviews with the former gunmen, bombers, and directors of terrorism which inculcate upon the reader their motivations, beliefs, and regrets concerning their activities during the last several decades of violence in the North. The opening chapters are the perfect summary of the unique historical position the Ulster Protestant/Loyalist community occupies in Ireland and adds to a deeper contextual understanding of why a minority within that community took the law into their hands rather than join the police force or the part-time Ulster Defence Regiment to serve in the British Army. As somebody whose political beliefs are of an Irish republican persuasion, this book certainly opened my eyes to the complete opposite end of the political spectrum concerning the ongoing Irish question. Perhaps the only snag is that this book was published in the late 1990s so doesn't cover key events post 1997-1998ish such as the longer ramifications of Billy Wright's split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (questions over how much did the Democratic Unionist Party influence this, the murder of Richard Jameson and the horrific U.V.F. retaliation in Tandragee as well as Johnny Adair's feud with the U.V.F. and later the U.D.A). Obviously, I can't really fault a book for not detailing events after its publication but hopefully, this should be the spur to dig deeper into the murky but fascinating world of Ulster loyalism.

[Jory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good but I wish that it had had a bit more focus. The book as it is jumps around between all of the major loyalist paramilitaries to paint a complete picture of loyalist violence, and while that's great, I would have preferred if it had picked just one or two to explain in detail like Provos does. Secondly, it irritates me a bit that Taylor's explanation of North Irish loyalist history goes right from 1690 to 1916 without exploring at all the 18th and 19th centuries; both because that's a particular area of interest to me and because I feel a few paragraphs about early Orange tradition could have done wonders for making some later parts of the book more clear to the average reader. Don't let any of that dissuade you, though, I still consider this the best general exploration of loyalism that I've read yet.

[Matthew O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used alot of anti-republican terminology even when not quoting a loyalist. The interviews are interesting but the author is clearly more sympathetic to loyalists then to the republican movement. Also for some reason it mentions how two people are gay and that fact plays no role in the book itself. I know its a slight issue but the book never says "the heterosexual david trimble". The author also doesn't belive that british intelligence helped with the dublin and monaghan bombings however there was collusion as can be read in "a broad church" by Gearóid Ó Faoleán. I certainly won't read the authors book on the PIRA or on the british government but this book did have a few interesting parts for example collusion between the UDA, UR and UVF and the South African government.

[Jim Pomeroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably more like a 3.5, but I’m rounding up because Peter Taylor’s documentaries on The Troubles are par excellence. The book is good and includes very interesting interviews with some of the key players in the Unionist movement (Gusty Spence, John White, Andy Tyrie).

But it’s a slow read at times. It would’ve benefited from a “cast of characters” section in the beginning. The most illuminating bits for me had to do with the run up to Good Friday. So many killings/incidents in 1997-98 that could’ve torpedoed everything. A good book worth read.

[FellowBibliophile KvK · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has some interesting details, specifically the behind the scenes actual physical altercation between Paisley and the UDA in 1974.

On the whole, however, his tone is like that of an Eton or Harrow snot going on an anthropological expedition to Ulster to try to catalogue how "These Ulstermen are oh so different from us civilised Englishmen!" All in all, he comes off like Jonathan Falla and Jack Fong among the Karen/Pwak Nyah and Isabella Fonseca among the Romani; i.e., he sounds like an Orientalist voyeur.

[Mick Maye · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting

Appears a valid history of the loyalists throughout the Troubles. Little detail or verification of loyalist and British collaboration which is just hinted at. Always worthwhile to see both sides of a conflict which this clearly addresses.

[Leif Bodnarchuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, interesting. Long sentences, dense text.

[Kate Zimmerbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insights into Northern Irish loyalist history

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives an interesting perspective on the conflict from a side that has rarely been able to set the public narrative in the way that the IRA were able to

[Zack Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of an often neglected viewpoint on the conflict in the North of Ireland, that of the Protestant paramilitaries and the Loyalist community generally. This misunderstood community often attracts a kind of derision from other parts of the UK, largely thanks to the cartoon antics of the likes of the Reverend Ian Paisley.

The men who did the killing get plenty of space to share their stories, but there is no gloating or glorifying, either from the author or the many subjects he interviewed. What is interesting is that from the whole bloody mess of the conflict, it is often the paramilitaries, of both sides, who emerge with more credit and a greater moral justification than either the cringing and cowardly politicians, or the thuggish British security forces and Army.

The contempt many of the men of action feel for Ian Paisley is very revealing, as is the way the clergyman inflames situations and then walks away. The men who went to jail for Ulster's just cause, as they saw it, have no time for Paisley at all.

Another interesting revelation is early contact about possible peace deals between Republicans and Loyalists in the mid-1970s. Men such as David Ervine and Gusty Spence emerge with great credit from a horrible and bloody war, which was what it was. It sometimes seems as though they were not quite sure as they were on the same side as the British at times either, perhaps strangely.

Taylor's TV series was a fascinating and perceptive, as well as deeply illuminating account of the 'Troubles'. This is just as fascinating, and written in a clear and very readable prose style.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An open and honest view of the Northern Ireland Troubles through the eyes of the Loyalist and Unionist paramilitaries in some cases in their own words. Taylor describes all aspects of the Loyalist/Unionist/Protestant arguement with regard to the Troubles and their attempts at justifying their actions as objectively as is humanly possible, thus allowing the reader to make up their own mind about the issues raised. Taylor manages to explain how and why the Protestant community felt and still feel threatened by the Nationalist/Republican and often Catholic cause (although it can be said that this is very much reciprocated 'on the other side') and how this was used by some to fuel the decisions and actions taken without acting as judge and jury. An interesting yet seriously frustrating and infuriating insight into the Loyalist/Unionist mindset in all its sickening, bias and discriminatory 'glory'. An accessible and insightful read no matter which of the many sides you're on, or if, like me, you just really don't get it, a great way to see inside the mind of the many aspects of the Protestant community.

[Scott Lyall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read as generally the Republican side of things is better known, Taylor got access to numerous senior figures in the various Loyalist groups from mainstream politicians to paramilitaries and provides a neutral, jounalistic account of the Loyalist movement from the 1600s to the Good Friday agreement. Some of the most interesting stuff are asides in the main narrative- elements in the UDA who wanted to make common cause with working class Catholics, the disdain many paramilitaries had for the likes of Ian Paisley, who would stir up trouble but not take responsibility for the killing and dying that followed. Taylor's also not afraid to press his interviewees on difficult issues as well, such as racketeering and the murder of innocent Catholics.
Worth a read if you're interested in Northern Ireland.

[Jacqueline Brocker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Film and popular culture often gives us the Republican perspective of the conflict in Northern Ireland, but what of the Loyalists? This book does that extremely well - I certainly now understand their point of view more. Taylor, a journalist who reported on the conflict for several decades, balances the politics as well as the personal stories of those involved - there's a real sense of the personalities involved here - while frequently reminding the reader of just how many people not directly involved in the fighting died at the hands of paramilitaries. Taylor presents a very clear history from the earliest days right up until the time of writing the book (1999-2000). I'm now keen to read his earlier companion book, Provos, for the other side's story.

[Virginia Rand · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and a bit hard to follow but if you're really interested and have some background knowledge it's probably worth reading.

[Shellie Gazdik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author storyline is annoying to follow & although there's some good content there, I couldn't get through the mediocre writing style.