No More Nods for the Wink

My sources close to the UVF have confirmed to me that a secret meeting of the 1st Belfast Battalion of the organisation was held last night in the Shankill.

I understand that representatives from all UVF 1st Battalion companies were in attendance, as were members of the group’s ruling Brigade Staff.

Allegations were made in this forum specifically relating to the conduct of Winston ‘Winkie’ Irvine.

I am told these allegations ranged from the theft of large amounts of money from UVF coffers, drug-dealing and other illicit activity, which members believed had brought the organisation into disrepute.

It was also alleged that Irvine had used the name of the organisation to intimidate and threaten people on a personal level.

Perhaps most seriously of all was the outcome of the meeting.

It would appear that Irvine, long reported by the Belfast Telegraph and BBC Northern Ireland as being the commander of B Company, has been subject to a ‘court-martial in absentia’ and duly expelled from the UVF.

I understand that Irvine’s expulsion is also tied to deep suspicions within the UVF that he has been working as an informer or agent of influence for the authorities.

Trials and Tribulations

Irvine is currently serving a 30-month sentence (half in prison and half on licence) in the segregation wing of HMP Maghaberry. Critics of the judicial process include UUP politician Doug Beattie, who flagged up the lack of transparency, and Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who has pointed to the leniency of the sentence.

Doug Beattie’s call for clarity, particularly around the issue of the PPS’s decision not to seek Irvine’s prosecution under the Terrorism Act (2000) or Counter-Terrorism Act (2008), was met by a terse response from the PPS. It is common for this legislation to be applied in circumstances where suspects and defendants have ties to proscribed paramilitary groups. The PPS defended its position by saying it was “satisfied that the correct offences were prosecuted in this case.”

Following his prosecution Irvine entered the prison system, promptly declaring himself to be aligned to a paramilitary organisation. This revelation was covered at length by Stephen Nolan on his BBC Radio Ulster show.

The segregation wing in Bush House typically houses those individuals who believe they are under threat or who profess sympathies or support for one of the many paramilitary groups still in existence in Northern Ireland.

The PPS was clear in its press release that “Statements in the media in relation to a defendant’s alleged position within a proscribed organisation do not constitute admissible evidence.”

Irvine’s re-designation by the Prison Service would seem to sit at odds with this pronouncement.

Expulsion

The expulsion of Irvine by the UVF is a significant move.

It demonstrates clearly the enormous pressure the group has been under internally from its own rank-and-file to deal with the allegations swirling around since Irvine’s initial arrest in June 2022.

It also comes in the wake of huge external pressure by the media and the public on loyalist paramilitaries, to say nothing of those who have worked with them in the business of ‘conflict transformation’.

It will be highly embarrassing for the ‘great and the good’ who Belfast Telegraph journalist Sam McBride revealed had supported Irvine over the years, particularly in light of other damaging revelations that are expected to come in the immediate future.

For the moment, however, it would appear that there will be no more nods for the Wink, at least from his former comrades in the UVF.

More on this breaking story when I get it…