Ray Smallwoods
Encyclopedia
Raymond "Ray" Smallwoods (c. 1949. - 11 July 1994) was a Northern Ireland
politician and sometime leader of the Ulster Democratic Party
. A leading member of John McMichael
's south Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA), Smallwoods later served as a leading adviser to the UDA's Inner Council. He was killed by the Provisional IRA
outside his Lisburn
home.
and as such was a member of the UDA's South Belfast brigade, which also covered the nearby town. In late 1979 John McMichael, a leading figure in the UDA and also a Lisburn native, set up a commando structure within the UDA and drew up a "shopping list" of leading targets for this group to kill. Amongst the names on the list killed were Irish Independence Party
member John Turnley
, Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA) prisoners representative Miriam Daly
and INLA and Irish Republican Socialist Party
(IRSP) activists Ronnie Bunting
and Noel Lyttle. On 14 January 1981 Smallwoods, an associate of McMichale, was amongst those in attendance at a meeting above McMichael's pub in which it was decided that the next target would be former Irish republican politician Bernadette McAliskey
. According to Sammy Duddy
Smallwoods was one of only nine men that McMichael used for these operations. Smallwoods and McMichael were close personally as well as professionally and both men and their families holidayed together on the Isle of Man
.
On 16 January 1981 Smallwoods was involved in the shooting attack on the Coalisland
home of McAliskey in which she was shot seven times and her husband four times, and both seriously wounded. However at the time their house was being watched by a unit of the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
resulting in the attackers all being arrested as they left the scene. Smallwoods had not personally fired any shots but had rather been the driver of the getaway car. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for his involvement. Following the arrests of McMichael's commando team and the leaking of the list to the press by his rival Tommy Lyttle
the shopping list was abandoned.
removed as leader and replaced by an Inner Council. Smallwoods was promptly attached to this body as an adviser and played a leading role in shaping UDA strategy over the next few years as a result. At the time Smallwoods was still advocating continuing armed struggle by the UDA, arguing that their role was to ensure that the British government did not agree to a united Ireland, and was advising in the Inner Council in favour of the UDA's ongoing bombing campaign. He also argued that the Provisional Irish Republican Army
's structure had changed to become subordinate to Sinn Féin
and as such advocated a strategy of targeting Sinn Féin members, whom he felt were the weaker side of the republican movement. Smallwoods' strategy was influenced here by the "shopping list" idea of John McMichael. Amongst those to be killed as a result of this strategy were Sinn Féin activists Tommy Casey, Eddie Fullerton and Thomas Donaghy, as well as Robert Shaw, the father of an SF worker but not himself a member.
During early 1992 Smallwoods and others close to him in the Inner Council held a series of meetings with Presbyterian
ministers Jack Weir and Godfrey Browne. At these meetings, facilitated by Revd. Roy Magee
, a former member of the Ulster Vanguard and campaigner against the Anglo-Irish Agreement
who had become a peace advocate, the ministers pressed Smallwoods to lead the Inner Council towards peace. The idea was rejected by the Inner Council however and Smallwoods ended the discussions in March after learning that Weir and Browne had also been negotiating with Sinn Féin, a fact that Smallwoods feared might lead to suggestions that he had been passing information to the PIRA.
Nonetheless Magee remained in regular contact with Smallwoods, whom he believed to be one of the main moderates on the Inner Council. Around 1993 Smallwoods, following prompting from Magee, opened communication with Alec Reid
and Gerry Reynolds, two priests from the Roman Catholic Clonard Monastery
on the Falls Road whom he used to open communications with republicans. Smallwoods intimated to them that the UDA was hoping to see peace and was preparing to ceasefire. Fr Reid had already built a relationship with Robert "Basher" Bates
, one of the Shankill Butchers
whose conversion to born-again Christianity had seen the two co-operate on ecumenical initiatives, but Smallwoods was the first active, high-ranking loyalist to hold regular dialogue with Catholic clergy. The Greysteel massacre
of October 1993 almost led to the initiative breaking down as a disgusted Magee decided to break off contact with the UDA altogether but he was dissuaed by Smallwoods who convinced him that there was a growing willingness to embrace peace on the Inner Council. Magee would later state that, despite his endorsement of a policy of targeting Sinn Féin members, Smallwoods proved to be an important voice for moderation on the Inner Council and a prime architect of the eventual loyalist ceasefire.
. During the early 1990s Smallwoods was in regular contact with the Progressive Unionist Party
's Gusty Spence
and took part in the so-called "kitchen cabinets" held in Spence's home in which leading loyalist politicians and paramilitaries met to discuss possible strategies for peace.
Smallwoods was noted for his strong Working-class loyalist approach to Northern Irish politics, which strayed away from more middle-class unionism. It was also noted by both Ian S. Wood and an Observer
journalist that Smallwoods sometimes struggled with his dual role as politician and paramilitary director, often beginning interviews by calling the UDA "them" before eventaully switching to "us". Having come from a background in the UDA in the 1970s, Smallwoods was sympathetic to Ulster nationalism
and during his chairmanship he placed the notion of an independent Northern Ireland at the heart of party policy. According to Gusty Spence however Ulster nationalism was a fallback position for Smallwoods who also recognised the impracticalities of the idea, a plan that Spence had no truck with.
in Lisburn
on 11 July 1994. The attack, which occurred in the garden of his house, was witnessed by his wife Linda.
Smallwoods' killing was one of a series of attacks by the PIRA during the summer of 1994 in which top loyalists and other opponents, such as Martin Cahill
, were targeted before the movement went on ceasefire. Smallwoods' killing, as well as the killings of Joe Bratty
and Raymond Elder twenty days later, were claimed at the time to be in revenge for the Loughinisland massacre. The attack was condemned by his Progressive Unionist colleague David Ervine
as a "totally cyncial exercise" given Smallwoods' work towards peace. For their part the IRA claimed that Smallwoods had actually been involved in directing UDA terror. For the UDA Smallwoods was a double loss as he was both an important director of their campaign of violence and also increasingly a moderating influence who was seeking to move the UDA away from violence. His funeral was held on 14 July where Reynolds and Reid were amongst the mourners whilst his pall bearers included Democratic Unionist Party
politicians Peter Robinson
and Sammy Wilson
.
The loyalists decided not to retaliate Smallwoods' murder and instead on 15 July released a statement that had been drafted by Smallwoods shortly before his murder in which the CLMC said it would go on ceasefire if the PIRA did so. He was succeeded as leader of the UDP by Gary McMichael
, the son of John McMichael.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
politician and sometime leader of the 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...
. A leading member of 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"...
's south Belfast Brigade 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"...
(UDA), Smallwoods later served as a leading adviser to the UDA's Inner Council. He was killed by the Provisional IRA
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...
outside his 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...
home.
Ulster Defence Association
Smallwoods was a native of LisburnLisburn
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 as such was a member of the UDA's South Belfast brigade, which also covered the nearby town. In late 1979 John McMichael, a leading figure in the UDA and also a Lisburn native, set up a commando structure within the UDA and drew up a "shopping list" of leading targets for this group to kill. Amongst the names on the list killed were Irish Independence Party
Irish Independence Party
The Irish Independence Party was an nationalist political party in Northern Ireland, founded in October 1977 by Frank McManus and Fergus McAteer...
member John Turnley
John Turnley
John Turnley was a Northern Irish Protestant politician and activist. Originally from a Unionist background he gradually was drawn to Irish nationalism and became a republican activist. He was assassinated in 1980.-Background:...
, Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
(INLA) prisoners representative Miriam Daly
Miriam Daly
Miriam Daly was an Irish republican activist and university lecturer who was assassinated by loyalist paramilitaries.She was born in the Curragh army camp, Kildare, Ireland. Her father had been active in the Irish War of Independence alongside Michael Collins, but favoured the Anglo-Irish Treaty...
and INLA and Irish Republican Socialist Party
Irish Republican Socialist Party
The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP is a republican socialist party active in Ireland. It claims the legacy of socialist revolutionary James Connolly, who founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party in 1896 and was executed after the Easter Rising of 1916.- History :The Irish Republican...
(IRSP) activists Ronnie Bunting
Ronnie Bunting
Ronnie Bunting was an Irish republican and socialist activist in Ireland. He became a member of the Official IRA in the early 1970s and was a founder member of the Irish National Liberation Army in 1974. He became leader of the INLA in 1978 and was assassinated in 1980.-Background:Bunting came...
and Noel Lyttle. On 14 January 1981 Smallwoods, an associate of McMichale, was amongst those in attendance at a meeting above McMichael's pub in which it was decided that the next target would be former Irish republican politician Bernadette McAliskey
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
Josephine Bernadette Devlin McAliskey , also known as Bernadette Devlin and Bernadette McAliskey, is a socialist republican political activist...
. According to Sammy Duddy
Sammy Duddy
Evan Abbott Samuel Duddy , known as Sammy, was a Northern Irish loyalist, having joined the Ulster Defence Association shortly after its formation in 1971...
Smallwoods was one of only nine men that McMichael used for these operations. Smallwoods and McMichael were close personally as well as professionally and both men and their families holidayed together on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
.
On 16 January 1981 Smallwoods was involved in the shooting attack on the Coalisland
Coalisland
Coalisland is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 4,917 people . As its name suggests, it was formerly a centre for coal mining.-History:...
home of McAliskey in which she was shot seven times and her husband four times, and both seriously wounded. However at the time their house was being watched by a unit of the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
The 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment is a battalion sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment and subordinate unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade....
resulting in the attackers all being arrested as they left the scene. Smallwoods had not personally fired any shots but had rather been the driver of the getaway car. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for his involvement. Following the arrests of McMichael's commando team and the leaking of the list to the press by his rival Tommy Lyttle
Tommy Lyttle
Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle , was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association . He served as the UDA's spokesman as well as the leader of the organisation's West Belfast Brigade from 1975 until his arrest and imprisonment in 1990...
the shopping list was abandoned.
Inner Council
During his time in prison Smallwoods, who was described by other inmates as a deep-thinking introvert who struggled with being apart from his family for so long, spent a long time contemplating the UDA's weaknesses and consdering other strategies including political ones. Following his release from prison in 1990 Smallwoods found the UDA to be greatly changed, with his ally McMichael dead and Andy TyrieAndy Tyrie
Andrew "Andy" Tyrie is an Ulster loyalist and served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association during much of its early history...
removed as leader and replaced by an Inner Council. Smallwoods was promptly attached to this body as an adviser and played a leading role in shaping UDA strategy over the next few years as a result. At the time Smallwoods was still advocating continuing armed struggle by the UDA, arguing that their role was to ensure that the British government did not agree to a united Ireland, and was advising in the Inner Council in favour of the UDA's ongoing bombing campaign. He also argued that the 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...
's structure had changed to become subordinate to 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 as such advocated a strategy of targeting Sinn Féin members, whom he felt were the weaker side of the republican movement. Smallwoods' strategy was influenced here by the "shopping list" idea of John McMichael. Amongst those to be killed as a result of this strategy were Sinn Féin activists Tommy Casey, Eddie Fullerton and Thomas Donaghy, as well as Robert Shaw, the father of an SF worker but not himself a member.
During early 1992 Smallwoods and others close to him in the Inner Council held a series of meetings with Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland , is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland...
ministers Jack Weir and Godfrey Browne. At these meetings, facilitated by Revd. Roy Magee
Roy Magee
Reverend Robert James Magee OBE was a Northern Irish Presbyterian minister who is credited with playing a leading role in delivering the Combined Loyalist Military Command ceasefire of 1994...
, a former member of the Ulster Vanguard and campaigner against the Anglo-Irish Agreement
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
who had become a peace advocate, the ministers pressed Smallwoods to lead the Inner Council towards peace. The idea was rejected by the Inner Council however and Smallwoods ended the discussions in March after learning that Weir and Browne had also been negotiating with Sinn Féin, a fact that Smallwoods feared might lead to suggestions that he had been passing information to the PIRA.
Nonetheless Magee remained in regular contact with Smallwoods, whom he believed to be one of the main moderates on the Inner Council. Around 1993 Smallwoods, following prompting from Magee, opened communication with Alec Reid
Alec Reid
Father Alec Reid, C.Ss.R. is an Irish priest noted for his facilitator role in the Northern Ireland peace process. Born and raised in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Reid was professed as a Redemptorist in 1950, and ordained a priest seven years later...
and Gerry Reynolds, two priests from the Roman Catholic Clonard Monastery
Clonard monastery
Clonard Monastery is a Roman Catholic church and monastery, located off the Falls Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland.The complex was developed by a Catholic religious order known as the Redemptorist. Members of this religious order came to Belfast originally in 1896. They initially built a small...
on the Falls Road whom he used to open communications with republicans. Smallwoods intimated to them that the UDA was hoping to see peace and was preparing to ceasefire. Fr Reid had already built a relationship with Robert "Basher" Bates
Robert Bates (loyalist)
Robert William Bates was an Ulster loyalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the infamous Shankill Butchers gang, led by Lenny Murphy....
, one of the Shankill Butchers
Shankill Butchers
The Shankill Butchers is the name given to an Ulster loyalist gang, many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force . The gang conducted paramilitary activities during the 1970s in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was most notorious for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder of random...
whose conversion to born-again Christianity had seen the two co-operate on ecumenical initiatives, but Smallwoods was the first active, high-ranking loyalist to hold regular dialogue with Catholic clergy. The Greysteel massacre
Greysteel massacre
The Greysteel massacre took place on the evening of 30 October 1993 in Greysteel, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Three members of the Ulster Defence Association , a loyalist paramilitary group, attacked a crowded pub with firearms, killing eight civilians and wounding thirteen...
of October 1993 almost led to the initiative breaking down as a disgusted Magee decided to break off contact with the UDA altogether but he was dissuaed by Smallwoods who convinced him that there was a growing willingness to embrace peace on the Inner Council. Magee would later state that, despite his endorsement of a policy of targeting Sinn Féin members, Smallwoods proved to be an important voice for moderation on the Inner Council and a prime architect of the eventual loyalist ceasefire.
Political involvement
As well as his role with the Inner Council Smallwoods was also made the public spokesman for the Ulster Democratic Party following his release from prison. He became party chairman in the early 1990s and around this time also became liaison officer for the UDA to the Combined Loyalist Military CommandCombined Loyalist Military Command
The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee....
. During the early 1990s Smallwoods was in regular contact with the 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...
's Gusty Spence
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...
and took part in the so-called "kitchen cabinets" held in Spence's home in which leading loyalist politicians and paramilitaries met to discuss possible strategies for peace.
Smallwoods was noted for his strong Working-class loyalist approach to Northern Irish politics, which strayed away from more middle-class unionism. It was also noted by both Ian S. Wood and an Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
journalist that Smallwoods sometimes struggled with his dual role as politician and paramilitary director, often beginning interviews by calling the UDA "them" before eventaully switching to "us". Having come from a background in the UDA in the 1970s, Smallwoods was sympathetic to Ulster nationalism
Ulster nationalism
Ulster nationalism is the name given to a school of thought in Northern Irish politics that seeks the independence of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom without becoming part of the Republic of Ireland, thereby becoming an independent sovereign state separate from England, Scotland and Wales...
and during his chairmanship he placed the notion of an independent Northern Ireland at the heart of party policy. According to Gusty Spence however Ulster nationalism was a fallback position for Smallwoods who also recognised the impracticalities of the idea, a plan that Spence had no truck with.
Death
As UDP chair Smallwoods became a prominent figure as the UDA moved towards a ceasefire and emerged as an articulate voice of loyalist politics. Smallwoods, however, was not to see these developments as he was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional 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...
in 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...
on 11 July 1994. The attack, which occurred in the garden of his house, was witnessed by his wife Linda.
Smallwoods' killing was one of a series of attacks by the PIRA during the summer of 1994 in which top loyalists and other opponents, such as Martin Cahill
Martin Cahill
Martin "The General" Cahill was a prominent Irish criminal from Dublin.Cahill generated a certain notoriety in the media, which referred to him by the sobriquet "The General". The name was also used by the media in order to discuss Cahill's activities while avoiding legal problems with libel...
, were targeted before the movement went on ceasefire. Smallwoods' killing, as well as the killings of Joe Bratty
Joe Bratty
Joe Bratty was a Northern Irish loyalist activist and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast Brigade...
and Raymond Elder twenty days later, were claimed at the time to be in revenge for the Loughinisland massacre. The attack was condemned by his Progressive Unionist colleague David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...
as a "totally cyncial exercise" given Smallwoods' work towards peace. For their part the IRA claimed that Smallwoods had actually been involved in directing UDA terror. For the UDA Smallwoods was a double loss as he was both an important director of their campaign of violence and also increasingly a moderating influence who was seeking to move the UDA away from violence. His funeral was held on 14 July where Reynolds and Reid were amongst the mourners whilst his pall bearers included 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...
politicians Peter Robinson
Peter Robinson
Peter Robinson may refer to:* Peter Robinson , member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada who oversaw emigration schemes* Peter Robinson , professor at the University of Cambridge...
and Sammy Wilson
Sammy Wilson
Samuel Wilson is a politician from Northern Ireland who is a Member of Parliament and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Antrim. He served as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1986 – 1987; and again from June 2000 to June 2001. He was the first person from the Democratic Unionist Party ...
.
The loyalists decided not to retaliate Smallwoods' murder and instead on 15 July released a statement that had been drafted by Smallwoods shortly before his murder in which the CLMC said it would go on ceasefire if the PIRA did so. He was succeeded as leader of the UDP by Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael is the son of former Ulster Defence Association leader John McMichael and was the leader of the now defunct Ulster Democratic Party during the peace process....
, the son of John McMichael.