Robert John Kerr
Encyclopedia
Robert John "R. J." Kerr ( 1943 – 8 November 1997), was a leading Northern Irish loyalist
. He served as the commander of the Portadown battalion of the Ulster Defence Association
's Mid-Ulster Brigade. Along with the Mid-Ulster Ulster Volunteer Force's brigadier Robin Jackson
, Kerr was implicated in the killing of Catholic chemist William Strathearn. Royal Ulster Constabulary
Special Patrol Group
officers John Weir
and Billy McCaughey
named him as one of the gunmen; however, neither Kerr nor Jackson were questioned nor brought before the court for "reasons of operational strategy". Both Weir and McCaughey were convicted of Strathearn's killing.
Kerr was alleged to have been a member of the Glenanne gang
, of which Jackson was a key figure. This gang of loyalist extremists was a loose alliance of loyalist paramilitaries and rogue members of the security forces who carried out a series of sectarian attacks in south County Armagh
in the 1970s against the local nationalist Catholic population.
He was killed in mysterious circumstances; his charred body having been found near a burnt-out boat that had exploded as it was being towed on a trailer on the main Newry
to Warrenpoint
road.
, County Armagh
, Northern Ireland
in about 1943. He joined the loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA), shortly after it's formation in Belfast
in September 1971. It was an umbrella organisation of local vigilante groups that each had their genesis following the outbreak of violent religious and political conflict known as The Troubles
in the late 1960s. The groups were committed to the defence of their Protestant communities from nationalist
gangs.
At some stage he became the commander of the Portadown battalion of the UDA's Mid-Ulster Brigade. On 9 September 1972 he was charged with possession of weapons and ammunition in suspicious circumstances in Lurgan
. Miami Showband bomber
Harris Boyle
was one of those arrested with him. Kerr was later found guilty of having participated in an armed robbery on 10 March 1973. The following year, on 29 January 1974, he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for assaulting and intimidating two men seven months before.
(SPG) officer John Weir
as having been one of the two gunmen who shot Catholic chemist William Strathearn to death at his home in Ahoghill
, County Antrim
on 19 April 1977. Strathearn, who lived above his chemist shop, was shot dead at 2.00 am by a loyalist hit squad. They gunned him down when he opened the front door after the men used a ruse of needing medicine for a sick child. Weir alleged that the actual trigger man was Robin Jackson
, brigadier of the Mid-Ulster
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and Kerr was his accomplice. After the killing, Jackson and Kerr went away in the former's poultry lorry to deliver a load of chickens. Jackson made a living delivering chickens all over Ireland and Kerr worked as his lorry helper, assisting him in loading and unloading the chickens.
Weir and fellow SPG officer Billy McCaughey
were later convicted of the killing, although they maintained that they had waited in Weir's car throughout the entire operation. Although Weir and McCaughey named Kerr and Jackson as the gunmen, the two men were never questioned about the attack, and an RUC officer stated that neither Kerr nor Jackson were brought before the court for "reasons of operational strategy". Weir had offered to testify against Kerr and Jackson, but only on the condition that the murder charge against him was withdrawn. Weir's offer was refused by the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions who said:
The Derry-based human rights group, the Pat Finucane Centre
, asked Professor Douglass Cassel (formerly of the Northwestern University School of Law
in Chicago
) to convene an international panel of inquiry to investigate alleged collusion by members of the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries in sectarian killings in Northern Ireland. This panel, in their 2006 report, named Kerr as one of the members of the notorious Glenanne gang
, of which Robin Jackson was a key figure. The gang was a loose alliance of loyalists extremists who carried out a series of sectarian attacks and killings against the Catholic nationalist community in the South Armagh area in the 1970s. The gang comprised loyalist paramilitaries and rogue members of the security forces, including the RUC and Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR). It was allegedly directed by British Military Intelligence and/or the RUC Special Branch
."Collusion in the South Armagh/Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s The same report also described Kerr as a local UDA commander.
John Weir stated in his affidavit, which was published in a judiciary inquiry commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron
into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
, that he had first met Kerr in the company of Robin Jackson in 1974. Weir had gone to a pub in Moira, County Armagh with a girlfriend and there had been introduced to Kerr and Jackson. Jackson was implicated by Weir as one of the leaders of the two UVF gangs that exploded three car bombs in Dublin's city centre on 17 May 1974, leaving 26 people dead. Kerr was not implicated, however. Weir made his affidavit in 1999 when both Kerr and Jackson were already dead.
It is noted in Henry Barron's report (The Barron Report 2003) that Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
Robert Lowry
was aware of Kerr and Jackson's involvement in the Strathearn killing, and that they were not prosecuted for "operational reasons". Mr. Justice Barron was highly critical of the RUC's failure to properly investigate Kerr and Jackson.
on 25 February 1977.
Journalist and author Paul Larkin maintained that Kerr had first coined the nickname "King Rat" for the notorious Billy Wright
, leader and founder of the Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF). It came about as a form of pub bantering. Kerr was sitting inside a pub and jokingly bestowed a nickname upon every patron as they entered. When Wright walked through the door, Kerr dubbed him "King Rat", as Wright and his unit called themselves "The Brat Pack". Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan
picked up on it and the name was introduced to the media at large, much to Wright's fury.
A post mortem revealed that he had died in a "vapour explosion". Police believe he had been towing the boat on a trailer; when he climbed on the deck, his cigarette ignited the gas, causing a fireball. His death was ruled accidental.
A petrol bomb attack was carried out the previous August by the LVF against the home Kerr shared in Glandore Terrace, Portadown with his common-law wife, Muriel Richardson. Richardson was hospitalised for smoke inhalation. This attack was followed by a death threat against Kerr. Richardson later testified before a Crown Court jury at Newry that Kerr had lived in fear of the Wright-led LVF after he had accused them of extortion and intimidation. She was a witness for the prosecution at the trial of James Alexander Gribben who was facing charges of conspiring with Kerr to destroy his 36ft motor cruiser the "Lorna Doon" between 24 March and 8 November 1997 in order to claim compensation from an insurance company. Gribben was found guilty and sentenced to a jail term. LVF leader Billy Wright was shot dead by the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA) in an ambush at the Maze Prison in December 1997 while being transported to the prison's visitors' block.
Kerr was posthumously described by Mike Browne in The People as a former Mid-Ulster UDA brigadier.
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
. He served as the commander of the Portadown battalion 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"...
's Mid-Ulster Brigade. Along with the Mid-Ulster Ulster Volunteer Force's brigadier Robin Jackson
Robin Jackson
Robert John "Robin" Jackson, known as the Jackal was a Northern Irish loyalist who held the rank of brigadier in the Ulster Volunteer Force during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney,...
, Kerr was implicated in the killing of Catholic chemist William Strathearn. Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group (RUC)
The Special Patrol Group in the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a police unit tasked with counter terrorism. Each SPG had 30 members. Many of the SPG units were accused of collusion with the illegal paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force, particularly the actions of a unit based in Armagh.-A...
officers John Weir
John Weir (loyalist)
John Oliver Weir , is an Ulster loyalist born in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group , and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force...
and Billy McCaughey
Billy McCaughey
William "Billy" McCaughey was a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group and the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force in the 1970s. He was imprisoned for 16 years for murder from 1980 to 1996...
named him as one of the gunmen; however, neither Kerr nor Jackson were questioned nor brought before the court for "reasons of operational strategy". Both Weir and McCaughey were convicted of Strathearn's killing.
Kerr was alleged to have been a member of the Glenanne gang
Glenanne gang
The Glenanne gang was a name given, since 2003, to a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists who carried out sectarian killings and bomb attacks in the 1970s against the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community. Most of its attacks took place in the area of County Armagh and mid...
, of which Jackson was a key figure. This gang of loyalist extremists was a loose alliance of loyalist paramilitaries and rogue members of the security forces who carried out a series of sectarian attacks in south County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
in the 1970s against the local nationalist Catholic population.
He was killed in mysterious circumstances; his charred body having been found near a burnt-out boat that had exploded as it was being towed on a trailer on the main Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
to Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northern shore of Carlingford Lough and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town sprang up within the townland of Ringmackilroy...
road.
Ulster Defence Association
Robert John Kerr was born into a Protestant family in PortadownPortadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
, Northern Ireland
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...
in about 1943. He joined the loyalist paramilitary organisation, 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), shortly after it's formation in 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...
in September 1971. It was an umbrella organisation of local vigilante groups that each had their genesis following the outbreak of violent religious and political conflict known as The Troubles
The 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...
in the late 1960s. The groups were committed to the defence of their Protestant communities from 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...
gangs.
At some stage he became the commander of the Portadown battalion of the UDA's Mid-Ulster Brigade. On 9 September 1972 he was charged with possession of weapons and ammunition in suspicious circumstances in 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...
. Miami Showband bomber
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle was a Ulster Defence Regiment soldier and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Volunteer Force , a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisation. Boyle was implicated in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings which left a total of 33 people dead...
was one of those arrested with him. Kerr was later found guilty of having participated in an armed robbery on 10 March 1973. The following year, on 29 January 1974, he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for assaulting and intimidating two men seven months before.
William Strathearn killing
Kerr was named by RUC Special Patrol GroupSpecial Patrol Group (RUC)
The Special Patrol Group in the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a police unit tasked with counter terrorism. Each SPG had 30 members. Many of the SPG units were accused of collusion with the illegal paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force, particularly the actions of a unit based in Armagh.-A...
(SPG) officer John Weir
John Weir (loyalist)
John Oliver Weir , is an Ulster loyalist born in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group , and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force...
as having been one of the two gunmen who shot Catholic chemist William Strathearn to death at his home in Ahoghill
Ahoghill
Ahoghill or Ahohill is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, four miles from Ballymena. It has a population of 3,055 people . It is within the Borough of Ballymena....
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
on 19 April 1977. Strathearn, who lived above his chemist shop, was shot dead at 2.00 am by a loyalist hit squad. They gunned him down when he opened the front door after the men used a ruse of needing medicine for a sick child. Weir alleged that the actual trigger man was Robin Jackson
Robin Jackson
Robert John "Robin" Jackson, known as the Jackal was a Northern Irish loyalist who held the rank of brigadier in the Ulster Volunteer Force during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney,...
, brigadier of the Mid-Ulster
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and Kerr was his accomplice. After the killing, Jackson and Kerr went away in the former's poultry lorry to deliver a load of chickens. Jackson made a living delivering chickens all over Ireland and Kerr worked as his lorry helper, assisting him in loading and unloading the chickens.
Weir and fellow SPG officer Billy McCaughey
Billy McCaughey
William "Billy" McCaughey was a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group and the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force in the 1970s. He was imprisoned for 16 years for murder from 1980 to 1996...
were later convicted of the killing, although they maintained that they had waited in Weir's car throughout the entire operation. Although Weir and McCaughey named Kerr and Jackson as the gunmen, the two men were never questioned about the attack, and an RUC officer stated that neither Kerr nor Jackson were brought before the court for "reasons of operational strategy". Weir had offered to testify against Kerr and Jackson, but only on the condition that the murder charge against him was withdrawn. Weir's offer was refused by the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions who said:
"Kerr and Jackson have not been interviewed by the police because the police state they are virtually immune to interrogation and the common police consensus is that to arrest and interview either man is a waste of time. Both men are known to police to be very active and notorious UVF murderers. Nevertheless the police do not recommend consideration of withdrawal of charges against Weir. I agree with this view. Weir and McCaughey must be proceeded against. When proceedings against them are terminated the position may be reviewed in respect of Jackson and Kerr."In Mid-Ulster membership of the UVF and UDA was often interchangeable.[Ref:"Collusion in the South Armagh/Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s"
The Derry-based human rights group, the Pat Finucane Centre
Pat Finucane Centre
The Pat Finucane Centre is a human rights advocacy and lobbying entity in Northern Ireland. Named in honour of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, it operates advice centres in Derry and Newry, dealing mainly with complaints from nationalists and republicans...
, asked Professor Douglass Cassel (formerly of the Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law of the Old University of Chicago. The first law school established in Chicago, it became jointly controlled by Northwestern University in...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
) to convene an international panel of inquiry to investigate alleged collusion by members of the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries in sectarian killings in Northern Ireland. This panel, in their 2006 report, named Kerr as one of the members of the notorious Glenanne gang
Glenanne gang
The Glenanne gang was a name given, since 2003, to a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists who carried out sectarian killings and bomb attacks in the 1970s against the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community. Most of its attacks took place in the area of County Armagh and mid...
, of which Robin Jackson was a key figure. The gang was a loose alliance of loyalists extremists who carried out a series of sectarian attacks and killings against the Catholic nationalist community in the South Armagh area in the 1970s. The gang comprised loyalist paramilitaries and rogue members of the security forces, including the RUC and 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...
(UDR). It was allegedly directed by British Military Intelligence and/or the RUC Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
."Collusion in the South Armagh/Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s The same report also described Kerr as a local UDA commander.
John Weir stated in his affidavit, which was published in a judiciary inquiry commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron
Henry Barron
Henry Barron was an Irish judge. He sat on the Irish Supreme Court from 1997 until his retirement in 2000. He was the first Jew to hold this position....
into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
, that he had first met Kerr in the company of Robin Jackson in 1974. Weir had gone to a pub in Moira, County Armagh with a girlfriend and there had been introduced to Kerr and Jackson. Jackson was implicated by Weir as one of the leaders of the two UVF gangs that exploded three car bombs in Dublin's city centre on 17 May 1974, leaving 26 people dead. Kerr was not implicated, however. Weir made his affidavit in 1999 when both Kerr and Jackson were already dead.
It is noted in Henry Barron's report (The Barron Report 2003) that Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is the head of the judiciary in Northern Ireland, presiding over the Courts of Northern Ireland. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Sir Declan Morgan...
Robert Lowry
Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry
Sir Robert Lynd Erskine Lowry, Baron Lowry PC , often known as Robbie Lowry, was a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary...
was aware of Kerr and Jackson's involvement in the Strathearn killing, and that they were not prosecuted for "operational reasons". Mr. Justice Barron was highly critical of the RUC's failure to properly investigate Kerr and Jackson.
Subsequent activity
According to Sean McPhilemy, Kerr was one of three loyalist gunmen responsible for the attempted killing of Catholic civilian Paschal Mulholland in Portadown on 11 February 1984. McPhilemy claimed that Kerr and the other gunmen, Philip "Silly" Silcock and Ernest McCreanor, had been drinking with a local Portadown solicitor when they concoted the plan to "kill a Taig".Taig is a derogatory term for Irish Catholics used by loyalist extremists in Northern Ireland McPhilemy also stated that Kerr had been part of the hit team responsible for the murder of Sergeant Joseph Campbell in CushendallCushendall
Cushendall and formerly known as Newtown Glens is a village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.It is on the A2 coast road between Glenariff and Cushendun, in the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
on 25 February 1977.
Journalist and author Paul Larkin maintained that Kerr had first coined the nickname "King Rat" for the notorious Billy Wright
Billy Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
, leader and founder of 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...
(LVF). It came about as a form of pub bantering. Kerr was sitting inside a pub and jokingly bestowed a nickname upon every patron as they entered. When Wright walked through the door, Kerr dubbed him "King Rat", as Wright and his unit called themselves "The Brat Pack". Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan
Martin O'Hagan
Owen Martin O'Hagan, was an Irish investigative journalist from Lurgan, Northern Ireland. He was the most prominent journalist to be killed as a consequence of the Troubles and the only one to be specifically assassinated as a result of his work.-Life:Martin O'Hagan's father served in the British...
picked up on it and the name was introduced to the media at large, much to Wright's fury.
Death
On 8 November 1997, he was killed in mysterious circumstances. His charred body was found on wasteground 20 yards from a burnt-out boat that had blown up as he was towing it on a trailer. Police and firemen made the discovery after rushing to the scene of the explosion and subsequent fireball which had consumed the craft. This occurred on the main Newry to Warrenpoint road. Kerr was 54 years old at the time of his death, and his body was so badly damaged by the flames that he had to be identified by the documents in his wallet. According to McPhilemy he had made loose arrangements to meet Kerr immediately prior to his death. By that time he had become disillusioned with loyalism.A post mortem revealed that he had died in a "vapour explosion". Police believe he had been towing the boat on a trailer; when he climbed on the deck, his cigarette ignited the gas, causing a fireball. His death was ruled accidental.
A petrol bomb attack was carried out the previous August by the LVF against the home Kerr shared in Glandore Terrace, Portadown with his common-law wife, Muriel Richardson. Richardson was hospitalised for smoke inhalation. This attack was followed by a death threat against Kerr. Richardson later testified before a Crown Court jury at Newry that Kerr had lived in fear of the Wright-led LVF after he had accused them of extortion and intimidation. She was a witness for the prosecution at the trial of James Alexander Gribben who was facing charges of conspiring with Kerr to destroy his 36ft motor cruiser the "Lorna Doon" between 24 March and 8 November 1997 in order to claim compensation from an insurance company. Gribben was found guilty and sentenced to a jail term. LVF leader Billy Wright was shot dead by the 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) in an ambush at the Maze Prison in December 1997 while being transported to the prison's visitors' block.
Kerr was posthumously described by Mike Browne in The People as a former Mid-Ulster UDA brigadier.