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BBC News
17-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Andy Tyrie: Former UDA leader dies in his 80s
Andy Tyrie, a former leader of loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), has Tyrie, who was in his 80s and died on Friday, began his leadership of the paramilitary group in the early 1970s, during some of the bloodiest years of the continued until the late 1980s when he avoided death in a car bomb attack and later backed the Ulster Democratic Party's (UDP's) support of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to the 30-year conflict in 1998. A prominent figure within loyalism, the Loyalist Conflict Museum in east Belfast, which recounts the history of the UDA, was originally called the Andy Tyrie Interpretive Centre. Former chair of the Parades Commission and Community Relations Council, Peter Osbourne, paid tribute on X, writing: "In the years that I knew him, Andy Tyrie was an advocate for tolerance, reconciliation, and on those issues that particularly affect working-class communities." Mr Tyrie emerged as UDA leader after former leader Tommy Herron was shot dead in 1973. The UDA, which formed in 1971, had tens of thousands of members at its peak and killed hundreds of people during the Troubles, often claiming responsibility under the cover name the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). It remained a legal organisation until it was banned in August his leadership, Mr Tyrie was involved in Ulster Workers' Council strike in 1974, a 14-day campaign of civil disobedience which brought down Northern Ireland's first power-sharing 1999, he told The Observer that the UDA were not opposed to power sharing but "the Council of Ireland, which was being seen as a mechanism to roll us into a United Ireland". State papers released in 2005 showed that 30 years previously Mr Tyrie had organised talks between the UDA and the IRA, without the knowledge of many of his supporters. Merlyn Rees, the then Northern Ireland secretary, told Prime Minister Harold Wilson that the meetings included a "certain amount of camaraderie". In that interview with The Observer in 1999, Mr Tyrie said many of the things they had argued for had come to fruition through the Good Friday Agreement."We called for power sharing, sensible north-south co-operation under the control of a Belfast assembly and a council of the British Isles. All of this has happened and that is why I'm happy about the new government at Stormont."
Belfast Telegraph
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Former UDA leader Andy Tyrie dies after lengthy illness
Andy Tyrie, who was aged in his 80s, was one of the most prominent figures from the early years of the UDA. He led the terror group from 1973 until 1988, when an attempt on his life led to him quitting. Tyrie stepped away from politics and the public spotlight some time ago. His tinted glasses and thick moustache made him a recognisable figure during the 1970s and 1980s. It is understood Tyrie had been ill for some time. Peter Osborne, who chaired the Community Relations Council, posted on X: 'In the years that I knew him Andy Tyrie was an advocate for tolerance, reconciliation, and on those issues that particularly affect working class communities. Sorry to see this. Condolences to his family.' His name had featured on a loyalist museum in east Belfast. The Loyalist Conflict Museum opened its doors in 2012, and was originally called The Andy Tyrie Interpretive Centre. Tyrie's first involvement in loyalist paramilitary activity came with the UVF in the late 1960s, before he switched to the UDA. Soon Tyrie became a UDA officer in the Shankill Road area, and was appointed leader in 1973 after the murder of Tommy Herron. Although not convicted of any paramilitary activity, under his leadership the UDA was widely involved in terrorism. According to the Sutton database of deaths at Ulster University's Cain project, the UDA/UFF was responsible for 260 killings during the Troubles. Most (208) of its victims were civilians, predominantly Catholics. However, Tyrie encouraged the organisation to embrace politics through the establishment of the New Ulster Political Research Group (NUPRG). He was involved in organising the Ulster Workers' Council strike, which brought down the old power-sharing government. News Catch Up - Friday 16 May In an interview with The Observer in 1999, Tyrie said: 'We opposed the Sunningdale agreement because it was imposed upon us. "The British government just said 'This is your lot and you have to accept it'. "What people fail to understand was that the organisation I was involved with, the UDA, was not opposed to power-sharing. "Our main gripe was the Council of Ireland, which was seen as being a mechanism to roll us into a United Ireland.' The UDA was comprised of different factions and by the late 1980s this was proving increasingly problematic. In March 1988, Tyrie narrowly avoided death from a car bomb. No-one admitted responsibility for the failed attack, but Tyrie believed it was carried out by potential successors within the UDA. He quit as leader days later and went on to sever all links with the organisation. Tyrie backed the Ulster Democratic Party's campaign in favour of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Asked in 1999 about the presence of senior Sinn Fein figures in the Executive – Martin McGuinness was Education Minister at the time – he was relaxed. 'Look, 130,000 people voted for McGuinness and his party and there is nothing I can do about it. I'm happy he is in there working the political system. It doesn't bother me in the slightest,' Tyrie said. Tyrie told the late Henry McDonald that lessons in politics and citizenship should be introduced in our schools to 'help expel the fear and ignorance that is so prevalent in our community'. He said he was anxious for old adversaries like Adams to survive for the future. In the 1999 interview, he added: 'I saw a picture of Adams in the paper last week and I didn't like it. The photographer managed to get a shot of him in front of a book on Michael Collins. The implication was that Adams could go the same way Collins did. "I thought someone should have complained to the Press Complaints Commission about it - we need Adams to stay where he is for this process to work.'
