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BBC News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
'Loyalist paramilitary transitioning has failed' ex-watchdog says
The process aimed at disbanding loyalist paramilitary groups has failed, a former security watchdog has told BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight Alderdice, the former Alliance Party leader who was a member of the Independent Monitoring Commission, said talks about loyalist transition should was responding to the arrest and conviction on firearms charges of Winston Irvine, who worked as an interlocutor with the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), which represents mainstream loyalist groups.A senior LCC source told Spotlight that loyalist transition is on course to be concluded this autumn, with an announcement of the complete dismantling of all paramilitary structures. Irvine, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast, was a well-known community worker before being given a two and a half year sentence over guns and ammunition found in the boot of his car in Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is appealing the sentence for being "unduly lenient".Irvine's conviction has returned attention to loyalist funding and paramilitary up in 2015, the LCC says it represents a loyalist leadership committed to transition, the scaling back of criminality and ultimately disbandment.A source in the organisation told Spotlight that Winston Irvine has been instrumental in moving the mainstream Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) away from criminality, and that a final push for loyalist transition is imminent. Lord Alderdice spent seven years on the Independent Monitoring Commission, which was given access to secret intelligence to report on paramilitary activities, before it was wound up in said the transition process is "not working". "A halt should be called, and you can't call a halt now sooner than today."There comes a point when you have to say no, this hasn't been delivered."It's not going to be delivered. And, actually, by continuing we are making it worse."Lord Alderdice told the programme he does not believe the loyalist paramilitaries are making a genuine effort to transition away from criminality."What I've seen is more talking about transition, and transformation, and no doubt with an invoice provided, for how much money is needed to be made available from public services in order to pay off these people." Cathy McIlvenny's sister, Lorraine, was murdered by UDA members in previously told Spotlight, in 2013, that she dealt with Winston Irvine when he arranged a punishment shooting of her nephew, Craig, in believes the sentence given to Irvine is not enough, and says loyalist paramilitaries will continue as long as funding is still available."They're just being given money to keep them quiet and make it look to the rest of the world now that the British government has solved the Northern Ireland problem."But, it hasn't. It's made it worse for the communities."In 2013 it was alleged to Spotlight that Winston Irvine was a UVF leader, something which he has denied as "preposterous". No explanation was given in court as to why Irvine and his co-accused had the the arrest, police discovered UVF paraphernalia in Irvine's home, and that of his co-accused Robin in sentencing, Judge Gordon Kerr KC concluded the movement of weapons had not been directly connected to terrorism.54-year-old, Workman, of Shore Road in Larne, was sentenced to five years - the minimum custodial sentence, which the PPS said it would not be guns were found by covert police six weeks after a hoax bomb, which targeted a peace event in Belfast attended by then Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in March said UVF involvement in the hoax attack was a primary line of inquiry. Prior to his arrest and conviction, Winston Irvine spent more than a decade as a paid community role gave him access to high-level contacts and enhanced his credibility as a peace 49-year-old, who received a number of supportive character references during the case, provided a pre-prepared statement in which he claimed to be a "trusted interlocutor" in community relations and the peace his arrest sent shock waves through the British and Irish governments because of how they often rely on community workers to engage with loyalist his arrest, Irvine was suspended from his role at the north Belfast community group Intercomm Ireland, in line with its internal disciplinary left the organisation several months said it was "difficult to convey the impact" the case had on its team who were "shocked, disappointed and felt let down" by Winston Irvine's actions.A statement added that "significant reorganisation (was) required to continue to deliver on our commitments to projects and fulfil obligations to funders and to the community".But Irvine continued to work on funded projects in unionist and loyalist areas while on bail for the weapons charges.
ITV News
20-05-2025
- ITV News
Leading loyalist Winston Irvine jailed for 15 months for firearms offences
Leading loyalist Winston Irvine has been jailed for 15months after he was caught with firearms and ammunition in the boot of his car. In all Irvine was sentenced to 30 months with half his term to be served on licence. Imposing the sentence, Judge Gordon Kerr KC ruled that there were 'exceptional circumstances' in his case, namely Irvine's 'work for peace and his charity work in the community'. Irvine's co-accused in the case, Robin Workman, was handed the statutory five-year sentence by Judge will also serve half of that term behind 49, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast and Workman, 54, of Shore Road in Larne, County Antrim had both previously admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious also admitted two counts of possessing a handgun without a certificate, one count of possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a firearm without a further pleaded guilty to possessing a .177 calibre air rifle without holding a firearm offences were committed on June 8, 2022 when Workman transported a quantity of weapons and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, which were then put into the boot of Irvine's Volkswagen Tiguan car.A short time later Irvine's vehicle was stopped by police in Disraeli Street.A long-barrelled firearm, two suspected pistols, several magazines and a large quantity of ammunition were discovered inside a bag in the boot. While the judge noted that UVF paraphernalia was found in the homes of both defendants he did not consider there was a terrorist link to the weapons that were references crediting Irvine for peacebuilding work in Northern Ireland were submitted by his legal team, including from David Campbell, chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), and former Northern Ireland Policing Board member Debbie Kerr said he had taken into account the references praising Irvine's work in the community when assessing whether the case involved exceptional circumstances.'I do consider a combination of the matters relating to the defendant do reach a level which could be described as exceptional, in particular the defendant's work for peace and charity work in the community,' he said it would therefore not be proper to impose the statutory five-year judge added: 'My finding does not, however, mean that I should ignore the purpose behind that provision in deterring such offences by the imposition of custodial sentencing, but such sentence should reflect the defendant's circumstances and allow for appropriate mitigation.'
RTÉ News
20-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Leading loyalist Winston Irvine sentenced for firearms offences
A leading loyalist who was caught with firearms and ammunition in the boot of his car has been handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence. Winston Irvine will serve half of the 30-month sentence imposed in Belfast Crown Court in jail and the other on licence. Irvine avoided a statutory five-year sentence on several of the charges he faced after Judge Gordon Kerr ruled that there were "exceptional circumstances" in his case, namely Irvine's "work for peace and his charity work in the community". Irvine's co-accused in the case, Robin Workman, was handed the statutory five-year sentence by Judge Kerr. He will also serve half of that term behind bars. Irvine, aged 49, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast and 54-year-old Workman, of Shore Road in Larne, Co Antrim had both previously admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances. They also admitted two counts of possessing a handgun without a certificate, one count of possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a firearm without a certificate. Workman further pleaded guilty to possessing a .177 calibre air rifle without holding a firearm certificate. The offences were committed on 8 June 2022 when Workman transported a quantity of weapons and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, which were then put into the boot of Irvine's Volkswagen Tiguan car. A short time later Irvine's vehicle was stopped by police in Disraeli Street. A long-barrelled firearm, two suspected pistols, several magazines and a large quantity of ammunition were discovered inside a bag in the boot. While the judge noted that UVF paraphernalia was found in the homes of both defendants he did not consider there was a terrorist link to the weapons that were seized. Several references crediting Irvine for peacebuilding work in Northern Ireland were submitted by his legal team, including from David Campbell, chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), and former Northern Ireland Policing Board member Debbie Watters. Judge Kerr said he had taken into account the references praising Irvine's work in the community when assessing whether the case involved exceptional circumstances. "I do consider a combination of the matters relating to the defendant do reach a level which could be described as exceptional, in particular the defendant's work for peace and charity work in the community," he said. He said it would therefore not be proper to impose the statutory five-year sentence. The judge added: "My finding does not, however, mean that I should ignore the purpose behind that provision in deterring such offences by the imposition of custodial sentencing, but such sentence should reflect the defendant's circumstances and allow for appropriate mitigation."
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No explanation why weapons were in boot of loyalist's car, court hears
No explanation why weapons were in boot of loyalist's car, court hears No explanation has yet been provided why a leading loyalist had firearms and ammunition in the boot of his car, a court has been told. However, a barrister for Winston Irvine said his 'long-term commitment to peace-building in Northern Ireland' should be taken into account when he is sentenced for weapons offences. Irvine, 49, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast and co-accused Robin Workman, 54, of Shore Road in Larne, County Antrim were both remanded in custody following a sentencing hearing at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday. The sentencing hearing took place at Belfast Crown Court (Liam McBurney/PA) They had previously admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances. ADVERTISEMENT They also admitted two counts of possessing a handgun without a certificate, one count of possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a firearm without a certificate. Workman further pleaded guilty to possessing a .177 calibre air rifle without holding a firearm certificate. The court heard that the offences were committed on June 8 2022. A prosecuting barrister said that Workman transported a quantity of weapons and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, which were then put into the boot of Irvine's Volkswagen Tiguan car. A short time later Irvine's vehicle was stopped by police in Disraeli Street. A long-barrelled firearm, two suspected pistols, several magazines and a large quantity of ammunition were discovered inside a bag in the boot. ADVERTISEMENT The barrister said that during police interview Irvine had given a statement outlining his work as a 'community representative and interlocutor'. The court was told that a UVF magazine was discovered during a subsequent police search of Workman's house. The barrister said: 'No explanation has been forthcoming to this day about what was going on with these firearms.' He said there was no evidence that they had been intended for terrorist use. Brenda Campbell KC, representing Irvine, said he had a 'proven long-term commitment to peace-building in Northern Ireland'. She told the court he had directly engaged with a number of groups, including the UK and Irish governments, over the years. Ms Campbell said a number of references had been provided for Irvine, including from David Campbell, chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC). ADVERTISEMENT She said Mr Campbell had described Irvine as a 'key figure in discussions within the loyalist community in moving away from paramilitarism'. The barrister added: 'At critical junctures he has brought people away from violence to peace.' Winston Irvine was told he would be sentenced next week (Liam McBurney/PA) She said he had only been in possession of the 'low grade' firearms for a few minutes and there was no evidence of violent or terrorist intent. Ms Campbell said: 'The possession of these items ought not to hold this man back from making a continued contribution in the not-too-distant future.' Michael Borrelli KC, representing Workman, said his client was occasionally asked to undertake work as a 'messenger' to 'prevent problematical situations'. He told the court that he had been asked to transport a bag in his vehicle, and became suspicious when he picked it up that it contained firearms. ADVERTISEMENT The barrister said when his client saw Irvine in Belfast it confirmed his belief that the weapons were to be taken out of circulation. In response, the prosecuting barrister said there was no evidential basis for the contention that the weapons were to be taken out of commission. Judge Gordon Kerr KC said he would pass sentence in the case next Thursday. However, he said he was satisfied that the custodial threshold had been met and ordered the two defendants to be remanded in custody.
