Furious UDA boss Jackie McDonald read his men the riot act over their involvement in the Sandy Row race hate violence.
The veteran loyalist is worried the rampage, which left dozens of cops injured and three immigrant-owned shops destroyed, could cost UDA-backed community projects in receipt of huge amounts of government funding.
The Sandy Row-based Belfast South Community Resources (BSCR), which is run by convicted loyalist murderer Garnet Busby, is one such group. It has raked in £1m in taxpayers cash and charitable income in the past two years.
Jackie McDonald (left) and Dr Garnet Busby
South Belfast UDA chief McDonald is a former development officer with the charity, which is strongly supported by the terror group.
While BSCR does have paramilitary connections and is supported by the South Belfast UDA, the vast majority of those involved in the group have no links to criminality.
BSCR owns a property block at 127-145 Sandy Row which it bought with £757,000 of public money. The building is now valued at more than £1m, and one of its offices are rented out to DUP MLA Edwin Poots.
In the wake of the riots, McDonald visited UDA leaders in Sandy Row to warn the violence had to be “knocked on the head” because it was making a mockery of claims the group was transitioning away from criminality.
Riot police in Belfast during the violence (Photo by Kevin Scott)
Insiders said he is also concerned that revelations about the UDA being behind a plot to murder renegade loyalist Billy ‘Beachball’ McCune could damage funding.
Billy McCune
One UDA source told us: “Jackie was on Blythe Street after the riots, swinging the shoulders and telling his men to knock the trouble on the head. He was saying, ‘Look, you’ve had your fun. It’s over now’.”
In subsequent meetings with police, South Belfast UDA leaders desperately tried to play down the group’s involvement in the race-hate riots, claiming there was no order to take to the streets.
But UDA members in Sandy Row tell a different tale, saying the violence was openly encouraged by the terror gang’s three ‘commanders’, who run the area.
This is a view shared by PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones, who said she “has no doubt there is a paramilitary element” involved and that youngsters attacking police and property were being directed by older men.
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Our UDA source added: “I personally saw two of the three Sandy Row ‘commanders’ on the street, telling teenagers to throw bricks.
“The UDA has told the police it wasn’t involved in the rioting, but that’s rubbish. It’s only putting that about because it’s terrified of BSCR getting its grants stopped.”
BSCR’s biggest funders are the Department for Communities, the Executive Office-backed Communities in Transition scheme, and the Urban Villages Initiative. They account for the bulk of the almost £500,000 the charity received last year.
The organisation says it works towards the “development, regeneration and enhancement of the quality of life for residents of south Belfast”.
Cars on fire in the Sandy Row area of Belfast
The recent race-hate riots in Sandy Row, the catalyst for which was a far-right march through Belfast two weeks ago, are in stark contrast to the BSCR vision.
Although contacted, no one from the group was available for comment.
UDA insiders say the terror gang’s recent attempt to murder Billy ‘Beachball’ McCune is also giving Jackie McDonald a major headache.
The under-threat Sandy Row loyalist has been living in a caravan in Millisle since being bailed on firearms charges.
McCune was arrested in south Belfast in March, transporting a cache of weapons including handguns, an assault-type rifle and a sawn-off shotgun, as well as a quantity of ammunition.
A Syrian man surveys the damage after his shop on Sandy Row was burned out
When the 45-year-old appeared in court, it was revealed he had claimed to police that he was acting as a “go-between for the community in south Belfast and the UDA”.
He also said he had been asked by a friend who “works for the government” to dispose of the weapons.
McCune’s admissions infuriated UDA elements in Sandy Row who were behind an attempt on his life on August 3.
Sunday Life understands a hit squad was dispatched to Seaview Caravan Park near Millisle, where McCune has been living.
A cafe owner inside his torched business on the Donegall Road
The murder bid was called off at the last minute after the would-be killers were handed an under-car bomb instead of guns.
“The boys made it clear to the UDA that they weren’t prepared to put a bomb under Billy’s car in case it exploded and blew up one of his family,” said a source.
“They ended up throwing the device in the sea. The men were raging with the UDA because they had gone to Millisle expecting to pick up two guns, only to be handed a bomb.”
The entrance to the caravan site was closed off for several hours while the Army bomb squad searched for the device after receiving a telephone warning.
Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones
A UDA insider said: “The fallout over Billy McCune is causing Jackie (McDonald) more problems than the Sandy Row riots — at least they have ended.
“There are people in Sandy Row, including UDA members, who are determined to kill Billy, despite Jackie ordering that he be left alone.
“If he thinks a race riot in Sandy Row is going to upset funding, can you imaging the damage a South Belfast UDA murder would do?”
by heresmewhaa
3 comments
Objective reporting, that.
Is Northern Ireland one of the only places you can read about a paramilitary supported charity? Suppose you’d maybe get it in like Liberia or Myanmar 🤷♂️
Refresh my memory again on how a proscribed terrorist organisation got to be receiving funding for “community projects”