Jimmy Birch (born c. 1970Josephine Long
Flags protest: UDA speaks out

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

) is a Northern Irish

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

paramilitary leader and activist.

Brigadier

Birch joined the UDA as a 17-year-old and during his long service he was never imprisoned, in contrast to many of his colleagues. Birch became Brigadier in 2005, after the flamboyant Jim Gray was expelled from the organisation for "treason". As leader, Birch initially purged the East Belfast UDA of the "Spice Boys", a flamboyant group of racketeers close to Gray. This was later relaxed, with William Murphy in particular welcomed back into the fold. He initially opposed

decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decommi ...

and had reportedly told a meeting of East Belfast UDA members that their weapons would not be handed in. Subsequently, however, Birch revised his position and a cache of East Belfast Brigade weapons were given up for decommissioning.

Political development

Birch was critical of the

Belfast City Hall flag protests On 3 December 2012, Belfast City Council voted to limit the days that the Union Flag (the flag of the United Kingdom) flies from Belfast City Hall.Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a uni ...

protesters caused widespread disruption after the temporary removal of the

Union flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

from

Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall ( ga, Halla na Cathrach Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: ''Bilfawst Citie Haw'') is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the comm ...

. He stated that the vote had been part of a democratic process and claimed that loyalist rioters were allowing themselves to be "played" by

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

. Birch and his close ally David Stitt advocated a move by the UDA towards working more closely with the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

(DUP) to engage more closely with politics. Birch is a close friend of Sam "Chalky" White, a DUP activist in east Belfast and former UDA prisoner. He was in attendance as an

Ulster Political Research Group The Ulster Political Research Group is an advisory body connected to the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), providing advice to them on political matters. The group was permanently founded in January 2002, and is largely a successor to the Ulster ...

representative at the inaugural meeting of the Unionist Forum, a task force established by

Peter Robinson Peter Robinson may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Robinson (sideshow artist) (1873–1947), American actor and sideshow performer, known for his appearance in film ''Freaks'' (1932) * J. Peter Robinson (born 1945), British musician and film score ...

and

Mike Nesbitt Michael Nesbitt, MLA (born 11 May 1957) is a British politician and former broadcaster

, Billy McFarland and John Bunting. In 2013 this tendency broke relations with the

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 emer ...

and accused it of interfering in a developing

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 f ...

in North Belfast where Bunting's leadership was coming under internal pressure. Individually Birch had a long-standing disagreement with his opposite number in West Belfast,

Matt Kincaid Matthew Kincaid is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary leader and activist. Kincaid is the head of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). Early years Kincaid joined the West Belfast Brigade of the UDA at an early age ...

, over allegations relating to the theft of weapons by West Belfast Brigade members from an East Belfast Brigade cache. According to reports Birch and Kincaid had a public argument in an east Belfast carpark over the claims in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Jimmy Living people Ulster Defence Association members Paramilitaries from Belfast Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth uncertain Year of birth missing (living people)