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Jim Gray (loyalist)
James Gray (1958 – 4 October 2005), known as Jim Gray, was a Northern Irish loyalist and the East Belfast brigadier of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the largest Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. He was often nicknamed "Doris Day" for his flamboyant clothing, jewellery, and dyed blond hair. Another media nickname for Gray was the "Brigadier of Bling". He was the owner of several bars in East Belfast. Early life Gray, the son of James and Elizabeth Gray, was born in 1958 and raised a Protestant in East Belfast. He had one sister, Elizabeth. He left school at age 15 and had ambitions of becoming a professional golfer, playing off a handicap of three. He briefly worked at the Short Brothers' factory but did not hold the job long as he was heavily involved in petty crime with the Tartan gangs prevalent in loyalist areas at the time. Ulster Defence Association According to an interview in the ''Sunday World'' with his ex-wife Anne Tedford, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions, undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of the participants of the Troubles. Its declared goal was to defend Ulster Protestant loyalist areas and to combat Irish republicanism, particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the 1970s, uniformed UDA members openly patrolled these areas armed with batons and held large marches and rallies. Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks that used the cover name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) so that the UDA would not be outlawed. The British government proscription, proscribed the UFF as a terrorist group in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed until August 1992. The UDA/UFF were responsible for more than 400 deaths. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Romanticism
The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New Romantic movement was characterised by flamboyant, eccentric fashion inspired by fashion boutiques such as Kahn and Bell in Birmingham and PX in London. Early adherents of the movement were often referred to by the press by such names as Blitz Kids, New Dandies and Romantic Rebels. Influenced by David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Roxy Music, the New Romantics developed fashions inspired by the glam rock era coupled with the early Romantic period of the late 18th and early 19th century (from which the movement took its name). The term "New Romantic" is known to have been coined by musician, producer, manager and innovator Richard James Burgess. He stated that "'New Romantic' ..fit the Blitz scene and Spandau Ballet, although most of the groups ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gregg (UDA)
John Gregg (1957 – 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. From the 1990s until he was shot dead in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. Early life Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. Gregg when explaining his family background, revealed that his father, regarded as a quiet man, had trust in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army but joined the loyalist vigilante groups set up around the start of the Troubles ostensibly to protect the Protestant community from attacks by republicans. His own earliest memory of the Troubles was the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loyalist Feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups during and after the ethno-political conflict known as the Troubles broke out in 1969. The feuds have frequently involved problems between and within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) as well as, later, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). UDA–UVF feuds Although the UDA and UVF have frequently co-operated and generally co-existed, the two groups have clashed. Two particular feuds stood out for their bloody nature. 1974–1975 A feud in the winter of 1974-75 broke out between the UDA and the UVF, the two main loyalist paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland.Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p.146 The bad blood originated from an incident in the Ulster Workers' Council strike of May 1974 when the two groups were co-operating in support of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) after breaking its ceasefire. Most of its members came from the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade, which Wright had commanded. In a two-year period from August 1996, the LVF waged a paramilitary campaign in opposition to Irish republicanism and the Northern Ireland peace process. During this time it killed at least 14 people in gun and bomb attacks, almost all of them Catholic civilians killed at random. The LVF called off its campaign in August 1998 and decommissioned some of its weapons, but in the early 2000s a loyalist feud led to several killings. Since then, the LVF has been largely inactive, but its members are believed to have been involved in rioting and organized crime. In 2015, the security forces stated that the LVF "exists only as a criminal group" in Mid-Ulster and Antrim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Adair
John Adair (born 27 October 1963), better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is an Ulster loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary organisation. In 2002 Adair was expelled from the organisation following a violent internal power struggle. Since 2003, he, his family and a number of supporters have been forced to leave Northern Ireland by the mainstream UDA. Early life Adair was born into an Ulster Protestant loyalist family and raised in Belfast. He grew up on the Old Lodge Road, a now mostly demolished road linking the lower Shankill Road to the lower Oldpark area, a site of many sectarian clashes and riots during the Troubles. The son of Jimmy and Mabel Adair, he was the youngest of their seven children, his siblings being (in age order) Margaret, Mabel, Jean, Etta, Lizzie and Archie, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UDA West Belfast Brigade
The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), based in the western quarter of Belfast, in the Greater Shankill area. Initially a battalion, the West Belfast Brigade emerged from the local "defence associations" active in the Shankill at the beginning of the Troubles and became the first section to be officially designated as a separate entity within the wider UDA structure. During the 1970s and 1980s the West Belfast Brigade was involved in a series of killings as well as establishing a significant presence as an outlet for racketeering. The Brigade reached the apex of its notoriety during the 1990s when Johnny Adair emerged as its leading figure. Under Adair's direction the West Belfast Brigade in general and its sub-unit "C Company" in particular became associated with a killing spree in the neighbouring Catholic nationalist districts of west Belfast. With Adair and his supporters suspicious of the deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UFF East Belfast Mural
UFF or Uff may refer to: * Uff!, a Venezuelan boy band * Uganda Freedom Fighters, an anti-government faction in the Ugandan Bush War * Ulster Freedom Fighters, paramilitary wing of the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist organisation in Northern Ireland * United Freedom Front, an American left-wing terrorist group active in the 1970s and 1980s * Universal File Format, a file format used in computer aided test software packages * Universal force field, an all atom potential containing parameters for every atom * Universidade Federal Fluminense (Fluminense Federal University), a university in Brazil * Uzbekistan Football Federation, the governing body of association football in Uzbekistan * Team UFF, a Brazilian cycling team * UltraFast Fibre, a local fibre company in New Zealand, part of the Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative * Ulandshjælp fra Folk til Folk, projects organised by the Danish organisation Tvind See also * Uffie Anna-Catherine Hartley (born December 9, 1987), kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stormont, Belfast
The Stormont Estate is an estate east of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main Parliament Buildings, which is surrounded by woods and parkland, and is often referred in contemporary media as the metonym "Stormont". The Stormont Estate is within the townland of Ballymiscaw. The Cleland family The Stormont Estate was established by the Reverend John Cleland (1755–1834) in the early nineteenth century. He built Stormont Castle in 1830 which was described as a "large plain house with very little planting about it". In 1858 the exterior of the castle was redesigned in the Scottish Baronial style by the local architect Thomas Turner. Some ancillary buildings were added at this time including a lean-to glasshouse and stables. A terraced garden and a walled kitchen garden were also created. When Cleland died in 1834 the estate went to John Cleland (1836–1893) and then finally to Arthur Charles Stewart Cleland (1865–1924). The origin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 250 million records worldwide. He has had 10 number-one albums and 31 top ten singles in the UK, six of which reached number one. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity. Stewart's music career began in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In 1963, he joined The Dimensions as a harmonica player and vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars before moving to the Jeff Beck Group in 1967. Joining Faces in 1969, he also maintained a solo career releasing his debut album that year. Stewart's early albums were a fusion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunch Of Grapes
Bunch may refer to: * Bunch (surname) * Bunch Davis (), American baseball player in the Negro leagues * BUNCH, nickname of five computer manufacturing companies, IBM's main competitors in the 1970s * Tussock (grass) or bunch grass, members of the family Poaceae * Bunch, Oklahoma, United States * Bunch Creek, Placer County, California, United States * The Bunch, a 1972 folk rock group * , a United States Navy destroyer escort * Humpback whale, sometimes called a bunch See also * Bunch Reservoir, Apache County, Arizona, United States * Wild Bunch (other) * Brunch * Bunches A woman with long pigtails and braids. In the context of hairstyles, the usage of the term pigtail (or twin tail or twintail) shows considerable variation. The term may refer to a single braid, but is more frequently used in the plural ("p ... * Bunching (other) * * {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibrox Park
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . Opened as Ibrox Park in 1899, it suffered a disaster in 1902 when a wooden terrace collapsed. Vast earthen terraces were built in its place, and a main stand, now a listed building, in 1928. A British record crowd of 118,567 gathered in January 1939 for a league match with Celtic. After the Ibrox disaster of 1971, the stadium was largely rebuilt. The vast bowl-shaped terracing was removed and replaced by three rectangular, all-seated stands by 1981. After renovations were completed in 1997, the ground was renamed Ibrox Stadium. Ibrox hosted the Scotland national football team when Hampden Park was redeveloped in the 1990s, and three Scottish cup finals in the same period, and has also been a concert venue. History Rangers played its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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