John White (born 1950) is a former leading

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 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary group, the

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 act ...

(UDA) and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the

Ulster Democratic Party The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), to replace the New Ulster Political Res ...

(UDP). Always a close ally of

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 ...

, White was run out of Northern Ireland when Adair fell from grace and is no longer involved in loyalist activism.

Early years

Born in Belfast, White was one of eight children, two of whom had died in infancy, whose father was permanently disabled as a result of wartime injuries. The family had initially lived on the mainly

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

Ballymurphy area of the

Springfield Road The Springfield Road ( ga, Bóthar Chluanaí) is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare adjacent to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The local population is predominantly Irish nationalist and republican. Parts of the road form an int ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

but had left upon the outbreak of

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

to move to the Old Lodge Road area of the lower Shankill.Wood, p. 6 White has claimed that although his house "wasn't a loyalist one" his father "hated Catholics" and was bitter about what he saw as the treachery of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

in not becoming involved in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early UDA activity

White began his career in loyalism with a group called the

Woodvale Defence Association The Woodvale Defence Association (WDA) was an Ulster loyalist vigilante group in the Woodvale district of Belfast, an area immediately to the north of the Shankill Road. The organisation grew from a few smaller vigilante groups. It initially m ...

, a vigilante group based on the Woodvale estate in the upper Shankill, in the early 1970s. Before long the WDA was absorbed into the

(UDA) and White became one of this group's leading members. White was close to

Charles Harding Smith Charles Harding Smith (24 January 1931 – 1997) was a loyalist leader in Northern Ireland and the first effective leader of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). An important figure in the Belfast-based "defence associations" that formed the ba ...

, who emerged as the first leader of the

West Belfast UDA 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 in April 1972 he accompanied Harding Smith to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where the two held a meeting with an arms dealer in order to procure weapons for the UDA. However, both men were arrested after the meeting and charged with the procurement of arms. After a series of mistakes by the prosecution, the case collapsed in December of that year, allowing White and the other defendants to return to Belfast.

Ulster Freedom Fighters and the Paddy Wilson killing

White was credited with inventing the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF) covername adopted in 1973 in order to help the UDA to avoid being outlawed. He claimed that the UDA had become too bloated, having as it did around 30,000 members, to act efficiently and that it was felt there was a need to separate off a hardcore of militants who were "willing to take the war to the IRA". When

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

replied that the majority of UFF victims were in fact Catholic civilians, White responded that the UFF felt that by killing non-combatants the Catholic community might force the IRA to surrender. He was the UFF's "Captain Black", a pseudonym often used for press statements, and that organisation admitted, without naming him, that he had been involved in murders.

Martin Dillon Martin Dillon (born 2 June 1949) is an Irish author, journalist, and broadcaster. He has won international acclaim for his investigative reporting and non-fiction works on The Troubles, including his bestselling trilogy, ''The Shankill Butcher ...

, ''Political Murder in Northern Ireland'' p. 290 Amongst these was the brutal killing of the Roman Catholic

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

Senator

Paddy Wilson Patrick Gerard "Paddy" Wilson (c. 1933 – 25/26 June 1973) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who was murdered by the loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).

, who was stabbed to death and had his throat cut in 1973 along with Irene Andrews, Wilson's Protestant friend. Their bodies were found dumped in a quarry on the Hightown Road near

Cavehill Cave Hill or Cavehill is a rocky hill overlooking the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a height of . It is marked by basalt cliffs and caves, and its distinguishing feature is 'Napoleon's Nose', a tall cliff which resembles the profile ...

, with Wilson having suffered 32 stab wounds and Andrews 19. White would later claim that on the night of the killing he and

Davy Payne H. David "Davy" Payne (c. 1949 – March 2003) was a senior Northern Irish loyalist and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during the Troubles, serving as brigadier of the North Belfast Brigade. He was first in comma ...

had led an assassination squad with the intention of killing a Catholic and that Wilson and Andrews had just been discovered by accident rather than being actual targets. Following the killings of Wilson and Andrews, White was interned for a while before being released again. He was arrested for the murders in 1978 and under interrogation confessed his guilt and expressed remorse. White was handed a life sentence for the double murder soon afterwards.McDonald & Cusack, p. 62 Following his imprisonment, White at first remained an important paramilitary figure and served as officer commanding of the UDA inside the

Maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...

. He also studied with the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

and gained a degree in

Social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

Ulster Democratic Party

Upon his release in 1992, White joined the

(UDP) and became a familiar face as the party worked with the

Progressive Unionist Party The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volunte ...

to help broker a loyalist ceasefire. When the statement of ceasefire from the

Combined Loyalist Military Command The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee. Bringing t ...

was read by

Gusty Spence Augustus Andrew Spence (28 June 1933
. ''

Belfast Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

, White was elected to the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...

talks body in 1996, although he (along with the UDP as a whole) failed to gain a seat in the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

in 1998. According to

Sammy Duddy Andrew Samuel Duddy (25 August 1945 – 17 October 2007), known as Sammy, was a Northern Irish loyalist, having joined the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) shortly after its formation in 1971. He later became a leading member of the Ulster Poli ...

, White's failure to get elected was inevitable as the savage nature of his earlier double murder had even sickened many loyalists and as a result, there was a reluctance to vote for him. However, White was a high-profile figure in the developing tendency of loyalist politics and on 22 July 1996 he was even part of a four-man delegation, along with

Gary McMichael Gary McMichael (born 1969) is a Northern Ireland community activist, and retired politician. He was the leader of the short-lived Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) during the Northern Ireland peace process, and was instrumental in organizing the Loy ...

David Ervine David Ervine (21 July 1953 – 8 January 2007) was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belf ...

and

Hugh Smyth Hugh Smyth, OBE (1941 – 12 May 2014) was a Northern Irish politician who was leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He was a former Lord Mayor of Belfast as well as the longest serving member of Belfast City Council, having represented t ...

, to meet Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

. Given his background in paramilitarism, White became the closest UDP member to

and began to work closely with the West Belfast Brigadier, much to the concern of many of his fellow UDP politicians, who saw Adair as a destabilising influence, especially in relations with the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaig ...

(UVF). At this point, White remained committed to the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developm ...

and when word came out from the Maze that the incarcerated Adair was wavering in his support of peace, White accompanied

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

Mo Mowlam Dr Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minis ...

into the jail on 9 January 1998 to meet with Adair and other leading UDA prisoners to discuss their grievances. White and Adair had been near-neighbours during Adair's childhood, with both of their families living on the Old Lodge Road, although with thirteen years between them they only vaguely knew each other.Lister & Jordan, p. 25 White, who had long been a public exponent of decommissioning, accompanied Adair to meet General

John de Chastelain Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain (born 30 July 1937) is a British-Canadian retired army officer and diplomat. De Chastelain was born in Romania to Scottish and American parents and was educated in England and Scotland before his famil ...

of the

Independent International Commission on Decommissioning The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process. Legislation and organisation An earlier international bo ...

on 10 December 1999, with leading UDA members John Gregg,

Jackie McDonald John "Jackie" McDonald (born 2 August 1947) is a Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following J ...

and

Winkie Dodds William "Winkie" Dodds (born 7 May 1959) is a Northern Irish loyalist activist. He was a leading member of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and for a number of years a close ally of Johnny Adair. Frequently servin ...

also in attendance. Although the meeting ended inconclusively, White had convinced Adair that decommissioning could make his name and soon afterwards Adair called a meeting of the Inner Council at which he said the UDA should decommission every weapon it had. All the brigadiers rejected the move, although Adair leaned on

Jimbo Simpson James "Jimbo" Simpson, also known as the Bacardi Brigadier, (died 11 October 2018) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary. He was most noted for his time as Brigadier of the North Belfast Ulster Defence Association (UDA). After falling from gr ...

and another unidentified brigadier so that when a vote was taken, it was tied at three votes for and three against. After the others had left, Adair invited them to a second meeting at which he did not turn up but instead sent White to read a prepared statement. In this, Adair attacked his fellow brigadiers for their lack of forward vision, particularly attacking North Antrim and Londonderry chief

Billy McFarland William, Willie, Billy, Bill, or Will McFarland or MacFarland may refer to: Musicians *Bill McFarland, American trombonist who played for Southside Movement in 1973–75 *Will McFarland, American guitarist on 1979's Dream Master (album)#Credits an ...

, whom he denounced as a dinosaur. Jackie McDonald dismissed the whole plan as a scam by Adair, whom he believed wanted to make himself look good to the world's media in return for giving up a load of old and spent weapons. Around this time, Adair had already opened a new line of contact with arms dealers in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

from whom he was procuring more sophisticated weapons for his main power base of C Company.

Adair's ally

As Adair moved closer towards the

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 ...

(LVF) and a dissident position, so too did White increasingly become associated with the renegade end of loyalism. In 1999, he strongly condemned the killing of

Frankie Curry Frankie Curry ( – 17 March 1999)McDonald & Cusack, p. 284 was a Northern Irish loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career. A critic of the Northern Ireland peace process, Curry was killed during a loy ...

, an active dissident who had come up with the

Red Hand Defenders The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) is an Ulster loyalism#Paramilitary and vigilante groups, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1998 by loyalists who opposed the Belfast Agreement and the loyalist ceasefires.

covername, claiming "it's disgraceful that a man who dedicated his life to the loyalist cause should be cut down like this by people who call themselves loyalists". When Adair, who had also praised Curry, was released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement on 14 September 1999, White met him outside the prison gates and accompanied him back to the Shankill. White meanwhile came under heavy police surveillance. As a result of what he claimed to be his success as a property dealer he had become considerably wealthy and rumours began to circulate that his wealth was actually derived from his involvement in the drugs trade. White's nickname "Coco" emerged at this time due to his alleged involvement with cocaine.

leader David Ervine would claim that he once heard White describe himself as a "patriotic drug dealer" whilst

claims that White and Adair once left a UDA Inner Council meeting, only to return a few minutes later with white dust around their nostrils. Adair's one-time girlfriend, Jackie "Legs" Robinson, also claimed that on one occasion she had been accompanied by White to Kelly's nightclub in

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway station as well as most hote ...

and that as they travelled White took out a large bag of

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

tablets and gave her two. White was never prosecuted for any drug-related crimes. On 19 August 2000, White read a brief statement at a "Loyalist Day of Culture" on the lower Shankill before Adair and other UDA members, wearing balaclavas, took the stage and fired machine guns. Later that same day a bitter

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 ...

broke out between Adair's men and the local UVF, who hated Adair's LVF allies. White's office in the mid-Shankill was blown up by the UVF as soon as the feud started and in order to underline his support for Adair, White established his new office on Boundary Way, facing Adair's house. The feud fizzled out when Adair was imprisoned soon afterwards but White remained close and the following year was a regular at the

Holy Cross dispute The Holy Cross dispute occurred in 2001 and 2002 in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the 30-year conflict known as the Troubles, Ardoyne had become segregated – Ulster Protestants and Irish Catholics lived in separat ...

alongside Adair's brother James. White was again on hand when Adair was released on 15 May 2002 and made a speech in which he claimed that Adair would make " a positive contribution to the peace process". On Adair's behalf, White even held a meeting with

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 ...

Alex Maskey Alex Maskey (born 8 January 1952) is an Irish politician who has been Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2020 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003. He was Sinn Féin's longest si ...

to discuss peace strategies. The meeting was not sanctioned by the rest of the UDA and soon Adair was linking up with the LVF to target fellow brigadiers such as Jim Gray and John Gregg. In October 2002, both Adair and White were expelled from the UDA after a stormy meeting of the Inner Council. After Adair supporters killed Gregg in early 2003, Jackie McDonald launched an attack on Adair's Lower Shankill stronghold and ran his supporters, including White, out of the area. They were put on the ferry to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and ordered not to return. One of the main catalysts for the launch of the attack had been a television appearance by White the day before it happened in which he described himself as "indifferent" to the killing of Gregg, a figure widely respected in loyalism for having shot and wounded

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...

in the 1980s. White and the others were escorted to

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

by the police and immediately caught the ferry to

Cairnryan Cairnryan ( sco, The Cairn;
gd, Machair an Sgithich) is a vi ...

. White arrived in the company of "Fat" Jackie Thompson and the two were detained for a while by Met

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

officers attached to

Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland until 1 April 2013. The police force was formed in 1948 as an amalgamation of the police forces of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshi ...

. In the immediate aftermath he told the press "I will return". However, White, whose precise whereabouts are still unclear, stated soon afterwards that he was done with the UDA and loyalism in general. He was reported to have become a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

. A 2003 ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

'' programme stated White was living in the

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

area of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

.Gangsters at war, ''Panorama''
/ref>

References

Links

Profile
nuzhound.com, 7 February 2033; accessed 19 September 2015.

Bibliography

*Lister, David & Jordan, Hugh. ''Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and 'C' Company'', Mainstream, 2004 * McDonald, Henry & Cusack, Jim ''UDA: Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Penguin Ireland, 2004 * Peter Taylor (journalist), Taylor, Peter. ''Loyalists'', Bloomsbury, 2000 *Wood, Ian S., ''Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA'', Edinburgh University Press, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:White, John 1950 births Living people Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Paramilitaries from Belfast Ulster Defence Association members UDA C Company members Ulster Democratic Party politicians Ulster loyalists imprisoned on charges of terrorism Alumni of the Open University People convicted of murder by Northern Ireland Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Northern Ireland