Donegall Road
Encyclopedia
The Donegall Road runs from Shaftesbury Square in Belfast city centre
to the Falls Road in west Belfast
. It is bisected by the Westlink
, and the largest part of the road, prior to the Westlink
junction, is predominantly unionist. The latter part is predominantly nationalist
.
and The Village areas. Most of the housing is of the 'two up, two down' (many of them converted) red-bricked terraced variety. The area is mostly working class
, but has become a cachement area for student rental accommodation due to its close proximity to Queen's University. Across Broadway in West Belfast the demographics change as the road forms the southern border of the almost exclusively Roman Catholic St. James area. Located where this section of the road meets the Broadway intersection is the Park Centre, a shopping centre built on the former site of Celtic Park, the home of the now defunct Belfast Celtic
. The roundabout at this intersection is also home to Rise
, a huge spherical metal sculpture completed in 2011.
The road provides access to the Belfast City Hospital
and the City Hospital railway station
. Travelling outwards from the city centre also takes one to the Broadway entrance of the Royal Victoria Hospital
. The road gets particularly congested at peak times. It is bordered by the Lisburn Road
, the "Golden Mile
" and Sandy Row
.
A number of churches are to be found both on the road itself and the adjacent streets. Broadway Gospel Hall, St Simon's Church of Ireland
, Donegall Road Methodist Church, Donegall Road Gospel Hall, Richview Presbyterian, St Aidan's Church Hall, Church of the Nazarene on Roseland Place and the William Tyndale Memorial Free Presbyterian Church on Donegall Avenue.
, a prominent family in the Peerage of Ireland
which have given their name to a number of locations in Belfast. It was originally known as Blackstaff Lane and subsequently Blackstaff Road before being given its current name.
the Donegall Road was the scene of a number of attacks by paramilitaries from both sides. Eastwood's Garage was the scene of one of the explosions that took place on Bloody Friday
in 1972 as part of a series of Provisional Irish Republican Army
(PIRA) bomb attacks on a single day. The site is still occupied by a garage. Earlier that same year Joseph Gold, a British Army
soldier, had been killed on the road after stopping a PIRA vehicle at a check point.
On 29 January 1973 Peter Watterson, a 15 year old Catholic civilian, was shot dead as he stood outside a shop at the corner of the Donegall and Falls Roads whilst two days later the body of another Catholic teenager, Gabriel Savage, was found on a grass verge on the Donegall Road. Both killings are recorded as the work of unspecified loyalists. Henry McDonald
and Jim Cusack however say that both killings were the work of a UDA team based in the Village area. On 13 May of the same year two more soldiers, Thomas Taylor and John Gaskell, were killed by a PIRA explosive left in an abandoned factory on the nationalist part of the road whilst on 5 July Catholic Robert Clarke was killed at his place of work by the UDA. On 29 September 1974 Gerard McWilliams, a Catholic, was found stabbed to death in another UDA attack. The following year on 28 April the UDA attempted to kill another Catholic working on railway lines close to the Donegall Road but they mistakenly soht and killed his colleague Samuel Grierson, a Protestant.
Following Grierson's murder the killings largely dried up, with Roy Butler, an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
killed by the PIRA whilst he shopped at Park Centre on 2 August 1988, the only killing recorded in the area during the 1980s. However in late 1991 the road was the scene of four murders in quick succession. On 10 August Catholic civilian James Carson was shot and killed in his shop on the corner of the Donegall and Falls Roads in an attack claimed by the "Loyalist Retaliation and Defence Group", actually a code name used by the Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF). On 10 September John Hanna, a 19 year old member of the UVF, was killed by the PIRA at his home in the Village. The republican group struck again on 13 November when they entered a house on Lecale Street in the Village and killed William Kingsberry and his stepson Samuel Mehaffey. Kingsberry was a member of the Ulster Defence Association
and Mehaffey was with the Red Hand Commando (RHC).
On 7 September 1993 Stephen McKeag
and two other volunteers
in C-Company of the UDA West Belfast Brigade
entered a hairdresser's shop on the upper Donegall Road and shot the proprietor Sean Hughes dead. Although brought to trial, McKeag – known as "Top Gun" – was not convicted after eyewitness testimony did not stand up to scrutiny. The following year the RHC killed 31 year old Margaret Wright at a social club on Meridi Street and dumped her body in an empty house in the Village. Wright was taken for a Catholic although in fact she was Protestant. The most recent sectairna murder to occur on the road took place on 21 January 1998 when the UDA shot and killed Catholic Benedict Hughes outside his place of work on Utility Street near Sandy Row.
In terms of paramilitary organisation the Donegall Road has also seen much activity. In late 1970 John McKeague
, who had earlier founded the Shankill Defence Association
, attempted to establish a similar "defence association" in the area amongst loyalist residents but the plan floundered when leaders of the local branch of the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee
warned their members and supporters not to associate with McKeague, whilst also spreading the rumour that he was a "fruit
". The UDA would soon take route on the Donegall Road however, forming part of the movement's South Belfast Brigade. Variously commanded by John McMichael
, Jackie McDonald
and Alex Kerr
, the South Belfast Brigade covered the largest area of any UDA brigade, including not only south Belfast but all of Lisburn
and everywhere in between and, despite its name, active units as far away as South County Down
, Cookstown
, Lurgan
and even County Tyrone
and County Fermanagh
. The Village area of the Donegall Road was a centre of activity for the UDA and the unit it shared with the neighbouring Sandy Row was one of the brigade's two most active units along with that in Lisburn. Alex Kerr would later switch from the UDA to the Loyalist Volunteer Force
and his move briefly gained some support in the Village, where graffiti attacking the UDA-linked Ulster Democratic Party
appeared. This however proved short-lived and before long Kerr was forced to flee Belfast for the LVF's Mid-Ulster base of operations.
The UVF have generally played second fiddle to the UDA on the Donegall Road with only Donegall Pass, a thoroughfare connecting the base of the Donegall Road to the Ormeau Road
, recognised as a true stronghold. A UVF memorial garden stood on Nubia Street in the area, although in 2008 it was replaced by a children's playground. A series of racially motivate attacks carried out on the homes of immigrants in the area in January 2004 were blamed on local members of the UVF, with even the local spokesman for the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party
(PUP) conceding that UVF members had been behind the attacks. He did however add that the UVF leadership had not sanctioned the attacks. Four members who were said to be behind the attacks were subsequently "arrested" by the UVF leadership, who issued claims that two of those held responsible had links to the far right
British National Party
. The leader of the Donegall Road UVF was subsequently stood down by supreme command.
Relations between the UVF and the UDA in the area have not always been cordial and as late as 2004 a UVF band parade in the Village was cancelled following mediation by the PUP over fears that the march could lead to clashes between UDA and UVF supporters.
Republican activity in the St James's area of the Donegall Road is commemorated by a garden of remembrance as pictured. 21 year old Peter Wilson, one of sixteen people believed or confirmed to have been abducted, killed and buried in unmarked graves by republicans and known collectively as "the Disappeared", was a native of the St James's area. Wilson disappeared in July 1973 with his body not recovered until 2 November 2010.
, the home of both Linfield F.C.
and the Northern Ireland national football team
is accessible from Donegall Avenue, a street that leads off the Donegall Road. As a consequence both the club and national team are well supported within the road's Protestant community and are celebrated by murals in the Village area. The Donegall Road also features in a popular chant that Linfield supporters often sing. A supporters club for Scottish Premier League
club Rangers F.C.
is located at Barrington Street adjacent to the Donegall Road. As stated, Belfast Celtic previously made their home on the Donegall Road. However the club left the Irish Football League in 1949 after a series of sectarian incidents at matches, notably at Windsor Park. Their stadium remained as a venue for greyhound racing
until it was demolished in the 1980s.
Snooker
player Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins
also grew up on the road, having been born on Abingdon Drive. He was a regular visitor to the local snooker hall, the Jampot Club, before he went on to win the World Snooker Championship
for the first time in 1972. Like Murray, Higgins is also commemorated by a piece of public art on the road.
The Donegall Road is the birthplace of popular singer Ruby Murray
. Murray's ties to the area are now commemorated by a photographic montage on the side of the Road's Credit Union.
the Donegall Road is split between the Balmoral District Electoral Area
, currently represented by Claire Hanna and Bernie Kelly of Social Democratic and Labour Party
(SDLP), Tom Ekin
of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
(APNI), Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP), Máirtín Ó Muilleoir of Sinn Féin
and Bob Stoker
of the Ulster Unionist Party
(UUP), and the Laganbank District Electoral Area
, an area currently represented by Kate Mullen and Pat McCarthy
of the SDLP, Catherine Curran of the APNI, Deirdre Hargey of Sinn Féin and Christopher Stalford of the DUP. It is part of the Belfast South
constituency for the House of Commons, with Alasdair McDonnell
of the SDLP serving as MP, as well as the Belfast South
constituency of the Northern Ireland Assembly
which is represented by Conall McDevitt
and Alasdair McDonnell of the SDLP, Anna Lo
of the APNI, Michael McGimpsey
of the Ulster Unionist Party
, Alex Maskey
of Sinn Fein and Jimmy Spratt
of the DUP.
Belfast City Centre
Belfast city centre is the central business district of Belfast, Northern Ireland.The city centre was originally centred around the Donegall Street area. Donegall Street is now mainly a business area, but with expanding residential and entertainment development as part of the Cathedral Quarter...
to the Falls Road in west Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. It is bisected by the Westlink
Westlink
Westlink or West-link could refer to:*Westlink M7, an urban freeway connecting the northern and southern suburbs of Sydney, Australia.*Westlink, the A12 dual-carriageway through Belfast, Northern Ireland....
, and the largest part of the road, prior to the Westlink
Westlink
Westlink or West-link could refer to:*Westlink M7, an urban freeway connecting the northern and southern suburbs of Sydney, Australia.*Westlink, the A12 dual-carriageway through Belfast, Northern Ireland....
junction, is predominantly unionist. The latter part is predominantly nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
.
Features
The eastern side the road and the streets leading from it, are predominantly Protestant and include the well-known Sandy RowSandy Row
Sandy Row is a Protestant working-class community in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has a population of about 3,000. It is a staunchly loyalist area of Belfast, being a traditional heartland for affiliation with the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and the Orange Order.-Location:Sandy...
and The Village areas. Most of the housing is of the 'two up, two down' (many of them converted) red-bricked terraced variety. The area is mostly working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, but has become a cachement area for student rental accommodation due to its close proximity to Queen's University. Across Broadway in West Belfast the demographics change as the road forms the southern border of the almost exclusively Roman Catholic St. James area. Located where this section of the road meets the Broadway intersection is the Park Centre, a shopping centre built on the former site of Celtic Park, the home of the now defunct Belfast Celtic
Belfast Celtic
Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club in Northern Ireland that was founded in 1891, and was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until forced to withdraw from the Irish League in 1949.-History:...
. The roundabout at this intersection is also home to Rise
Rise (sculpture)
Rise also called the Balls on the Falls, Belfast Ball and Broadway Junction Art Piece is a concept £400,000 public art spherical metal sculpture by Wolfgang Buttress 37.5 metres high and 30 metres wide to be constructed early 2011 in the centre of the Broadway roundabout, at the...
, a huge spherical metal sculpture completed in 2011.
The road provides access to the Belfast City Hospital
Belfast City Hospital
The Belfast City Hospital located in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive tower block dominates the Belfast skyline being the fourth tallest storeyed building in Ireland...
and the City Hospital railway station
City Hospital railway station
City Hospital railway station serves Belfast City Hospital and the surrounding area of south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of the four stations located in the city centre, the others being Great Victoria Street, Botanic, and Central....
. Travelling outwards from the city centre also takes one to the Broadway entrance of the Royal Victoria Hospital
Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast
The Royal Victoria Hospital is a hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
. The road gets particularly congested at peak times. It is bordered by the Lisburn Road
Lisburn Road
The Lisburn Road is a main arterial road linking Belfast and Lisburn, in Northern Ireland.The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the "Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road runs almost parallel to the Malone Road, the two being joined by many...
, the "Golden Mile
Golden Mile (Belfast)
The Golden Mile is the name given to the stretch of Dublin Road, Great Victoria Street, Bradbury Place and University Road between the City Hall and the university area in Belfast, Northern Ireland...
" and Sandy Row
Sandy Row
Sandy Row is a Protestant working-class community in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has a population of about 3,000. It is a staunchly loyalist area of Belfast, being a traditional heartland for affiliation with the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and the Orange Order.-Location:Sandy...
.
A number of churches are to be found both on the road itself and the adjacent streets. Broadway Gospel Hall, St Simon's Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
, Donegall Road Methodist Church, Donegall Road Gospel Hall, Richview Presbyterian, St Aidan's Church Hall, Church of the Nazarene on Roseland Place and the William Tyndale Memorial Free Presbyterian Church on Donegall Avenue.
History
The road is named after the Marquess of DonegallMarquess of Donegall
Marquess of Donegall is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the head of the Chichester family, originally from Devon, England. Sir John Chichester sat as a Member of Parliament and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1557. One of his sons, Sir Arthur Chichester, was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1604...
, a prominent family in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
which have given their name to a number of locations in Belfast. It was originally known as Blackstaff Lane and subsequently Blackstaff Road before being given its current name.
The Troubles
During the TroublesThe Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
the Donegall Road was the scene of a number of attacks by paramilitaries from both sides. Eastwood's Garage was the scene of one of the explosions that took place on Bloody Friday
Bloody Friday (1972)
Bloody Friday is the name given to the bombings by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Belfast on 21 July 1972. Twenty-two bombs exploded in the space of eighty minutes, killing nine people and injuring 130....
in 1972 as part of a series of Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(PIRA) bomb attacks on a single day. The site is still occupied by a garage. Earlier that same year Joseph Gold, a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
soldier, had been killed on the road after stopping a PIRA vehicle at a check point.
On 29 January 1973 Peter Watterson, a 15 year old Catholic civilian, was shot dead as he stood outside a shop at the corner of the Donegall and Falls Roads whilst two days later the body of another Catholic teenager, Gabriel Savage, was found on a grass verge on the Donegall Road. Both killings are recorded as the work of unspecified loyalists. Henry McDonald
Henry McDonald (writer)
Henry McDonald is a writer and is the Irish editor for The Observer, the sister paper of The Guardian.McDonald has written extensively about The Troubles, its precedents, its consequences, its demographics, and such. He was born in the nationalist Markets area of Belfast and attended St. Malachy's...
and Jim Cusack however say that both killings were the work of a UDA team based in the Village area. On 13 May of the same year two more soldiers, Thomas Taylor and John Gaskell, were killed by a PIRA explosive left in an abandoned factory on the nationalist part of the road whilst on 5 July Catholic Robert Clarke was killed at his place of work by the UDA. On 29 September 1974 Gerard McWilliams, a Catholic, was found stabbed to death in another UDA attack. The following year on 28 April the UDA attempted to kill another Catholic working on railway lines close to the Donegall Road but they mistakenly soht and killed his colleague Samuel Grierson, a Protestant.
Following Grierson's murder the killings largely dried up, with Roy Butler, an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
killed by the PIRA whilst he shopped at Park Centre on 2 August 1988, the only killing recorded in the area during the 1980s. However in late 1991 the road was the scene of four murders in quick succession. On 10 August Catholic civilian James Carson was shot and killed in his shop on the corner of the Donegall and Falls Roads in an attack claimed by the "Loyalist Retaliation and Defence Group", actually a code name used by the Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF). On 10 September John Hanna, a 19 year old member of the UVF, was killed by the PIRA at his home in the Village. The republican group struck again on 13 November when they entered a house on Lecale Street in the Village and killed William Kingsberry and his stepson Samuel Mehaffey. Kingsberry was a member of the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
and Mehaffey was with the Red Hand Commando (RHC).
On 7 September 1993 Stephen McKeag
Stephen McKeag
Stephen McKeag , known as Topgun or Top Gun, was a Northern Irish loyalist who became one of the most notorious figures within the Ulster Defence Association's 'C' Company in the 1990s...
and two other volunteers
Volunteer (Ulster loyalist)
Volunteer, abbreviated Vol., is a title used by a number of Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisations to describe their members.-History of the term volunteer in Ireland:...
in C-Company of the UDA West Belfast Brigade
UDA West Belfast Brigade
The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association based in the western quarter of Belfast in the Greater Shankill area...
entered a hairdresser's shop on the upper Donegall Road and shot the proprietor Sean Hughes dead. Although brought to trial, McKeag – known as "Top Gun" – was not convicted after eyewitness testimony did not stand up to scrutiny. The following year the RHC killed 31 year old Margaret Wright at a social club on Meridi Street and dumped her body in an empty house in the Village. Wright was taken for a Catholic although in fact she was Protestant. The most recent sectairna murder to occur on the road took place on 21 January 1998 when the UDA shot and killed Catholic Benedict Hughes outside his place of work on Utility Street near Sandy Row.
In terms of paramilitary organisation the Donegall Road has also seen much activity. In late 1970 John McKeague
John McKeague
John McKeague was a prominent Ulster loyalist who founded the paramilitary group the Red Hand Commando in 1972. Authors on the Troubles in Northern Ireland claim that McKeague, a homosexual, was a paedophile who abused young boys during the Kincora Boys' Home scandal and was a long-time agent of...
, who had earlier founded the Shankill Defence Association
Shankill Defence Association
The Shankill Defence Association was a loyalist vigilante group formed in May 1969 for the defence of the loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland during the communal disturbances that year....
, attempted to establish a similar "defence association" in the area amongst loyalist residents but the plan floundered when leaders of the local branch of the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee
Ulster Constitution Defence Committee
The Ulster Constitution Defence Committee was established in Northern Ireland in April 1966. The UCDC was the governing body of the loyalist Ulster Protestant Volunteers...
warned their members and supporters not to associate with McKeague, whilst also spreading the rumour that he was a "fruit
Fruit (slang)
Fruit and fruitcake are sexual slang terms which have various origins but modern usages tend to primarily refer to gay men and sometimes other LGBT people. Usually used as pejoratives, the terms have also been re-appropriated as insider terms of endearment within LGBT communities...
". The UDA would soon take route on the Donegall Road however, forming part of the movement's South Belfast Brigade. Variously commanded by John McMichael
John McMichael
John "Big John" McMichael was a leading Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent figure within the Ulster Defence Association as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade. He was also commander of the organisation's cover name, the "Ulster Freedom Fighters"...
, Jackie McDonald
Jackie McDonald
John "Jackie" McDonald is a senior Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following John McMichael's killing by the Provisional IRA in December 1987...
and Alex Kerr
Alex Kerr (loyalist)
Alex Kerr is a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary. Kerr was a brigadier in the Ulster Defence Association before becoming one of the two founders of the Loyalist Volunteer Force . He is no longer active in loyalism....
, the South Belfast Brigade covered the largest area of any UDA brigade, including not only south Belfast but all of Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
and everywhere in between and, despite its name, active units as far away as South County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Cookstown
Cookstown
Cookstown may refer to either of the following:*Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland*Cookstown, Ontario, Canada*Cookstown, New Jersey, United States...
, Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
and even County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
and County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
. The Village area of the Donegall Road was a centre of activity for the UDA and the unit it shared with the neighbouring Sandy Row was one of the brigade's two most active units along with that in Lisburn. Alex Kerr would later switch from the UDA to the Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
and his move briefly gained some support in the Village, where graffiti attacking the UDA-linked Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
appeared. This however proved short-lived and before long Kerr was forced to flee Belfast for the LVF's Mid-Ulster base of operations.
The UVF have generally played second fiddle to the UDA on the Donegall Road with only Donegall Pass, a thoroughfare connecting the base of the Donegall Road to the Ormeau Road
Ormeau Road
The Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24.-History:Having previously been the home of George Chichester, 2nd Marquess of Donegall, a road was first built in 1815, when it was known more commonly as the New Ballynafeigh Road...
, recognised as a true stronghold. A UVF memorial garden stood on Nubia Street in the area, although in 2008 it was replaced by a children's playground. A series of racially motivate attacks carried out on the homes of immigrants in the area in January 2004 were blamed on local members of the UVF, with even the local spokesman for the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
(PUP) conceding that UVF members had been behind the attacks. He did however add that the UVF leadership had not sanctioned the attacks. Four members who were said to be behind the attacks were subsequently "arrested" by the UVF leadership, who issued claims that two of those held responsible had links to the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
. The leader of the Donegall Road UVF was subsequently stood down by supreme command.
Relations between the UVF and the UDA in the area have not always been cordial and as late as 2004 a UVF band parade in the Village was cancelled following mediation by the PUP over fears that the march could lead to clashes between UDA and UVF supporters.
Republican activity in the St James's area of the Donegall Road is commemorated by a garden of remembrance as pictured. 21 year old Peter Wilson, one of sixteen people believed or confirmed to have been abducted, killed and buried in unmarked graves by republicans and known collectively as "the Disappeared", was a native of the St James's area. Wilson disappeared in July 1973 with his body not recovered until 2 November 2010.
Sport and culture
Windsor ParkWindsor Park
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:...
, the home of both Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
and the Northern Ireland national football team
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
is accessible from Donegall Avenue, a street that leads off the Donegall Road. As a consequence both the club and national team are well supported within the road's Protestant community and are celebrated by murals in the Village area. The Donegall Road also features in a popular chant that Linfield supporters often sing. A supporters club for Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
club Rangers F.C.
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
is located at Barrington Street adjacent to the Donegall Road. As stated, Belfast Celtic previously made their home on the Donegall Road. However the club left the Irish Football League in 1949 after a series of sectarian incidents at matches, notably at Windsor Park. Their stadium remained as a venue for greyhound racing
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
until it was demolished in the 1980s.
Snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
player Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins
Alex Higgins
Alexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins , also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play...
also grew up on the road, having been born on Abingdon Drive. He was a regular visitor to the local snooker hall, the Jampot Club, before he went on to win the World Snooker Championship
World Snooker Championship
The World Snooker Championship is the leading professional snooker tournament in terms of both prize money and ranking points. The first championship was held in 1927; since 1977, it has been played at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England...
for the first time in 1972. Like Murray, Higgins is also commemorated by a piece of public art on the road.
The Donegall Road is the birthplace of popular singer Ruby Murray
Ruby Murray
Ruby Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1950s. In 1955 alone, she secured seven Top 10 UK hit singles.-Child star:...
. Murray's ties to the area are now commemorated by a photographic montage on the side of the Road's Credit Union.
Politics
For representation on Belfast City CouncilBelfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
the Donegall Road is split between the Balmoral District Electoral Area
Balmoral (District Electoral Area)
Balmoral is the most southern of nine district electoral areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The district elects six members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Blackstaff; Finaghy; Malone; Musgrave; Upper Malone and Windsor...
, currently represented by Claire Hanna and Bernie Kelly of Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
(SDLP), Tom Ekin
Tom Ekin
Tom Ekin is a politician and business owner in Northern Ireland.Ekin joined the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and was elected to Belfast City Council at the Northern Ireland local elections, 1997. From 2000 until 2002, he served as the Chairperson of Alliance.Ekin held his seat with an...
of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
(APNI), Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
(DUP), Máirtín Ó Muilleoir of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and Bob Stoker
Bob Stoker
Bob Stoker is a Ulster Unionist Party politician and former Member of the Northern Ireland Forum for South Belfast.He was elected to Northern Ireland Forum for Belfast South in May 1996....
of the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
(UUP), and the Laganbank District Electoral Area
Laganbank (District Electoral Area)
Laganbank is one of the nine district electoral areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the south of the city, the district elects five members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Ballynafeigh; Botanic; Shaftesbury; Stranmillis and Rosetta...
, an area currently represented by Kate Mullen and Pat McCarthy
Patrick McCarthy (politician)
Patrick McCarthy is a Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party politician and member of Belfast City Council.First elected to the council in 2001 for Laganbank he was chosen as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2006. McCarthy, the city's fourth nationalist mayor, was endorsed by all parties except...
of the SDLP, Catherine Curran of the APNI, Deirdre Hargey of Sinn Féin and Christopher Stalford of the DUP. It is part of the Belfast South
Belfast South (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast South is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
constituency for the House of Commons, with Alasdair McDonnell
Alasdair McDonnell
Dr Alasdair McDonnell is an Irish politician, Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and both a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for South Belfast. On 5 November, 2011, he was elected as the new leader of the SDLP.-Early...
of the SDLP serving as MP, as well as the Belfast South
Belfast South (Assembly constituency)
Belfast South is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
constituency of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
which is represented by Conall McDevitt
Conall McDevitt
Conall McDevitt became National Secretary of Labour Youth in 1993 and Vice President of ECOSY in 1994...
and Alasdair McDonnell of the SDLP, Anna Lo
Anna Lo
Anna Manwah Lo MBE is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland. Born in Hong Kong, of Chinese ethnicity, Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast in the 2007 assembly election...
of the APNI, Michael McGimpsey
Michael McGimpsey
Michael McGimpsey MLA is an Ulster Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South who has twice served in the Northern Ireland Executive...
of the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
, Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey is an Irish politician who was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Belfast's Lord Mayor. He is Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor and is currently an MLA for South Belfast as well as being a councillor for the Laganbank area of Belfast.-Early life:Maskey was educated at St...
of Sinn Fein and Jimmy Spratt
Jimmy Spratt
Jimmy Spratt is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland.In 2007, he was elected as a Democratic Unionist Party member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast. He chairs the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, is one of the DUP representatives on the Northern Ireland Policing...
of the DUP.