Matthew Kincaid 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. Kincaid is the head of the West Belfast Brigade of 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).

Early years

Kincaid joined the West Belfast Brigade of the UDA at an early age and, as a native of the Highfield estate, a staunchly loyalist area at the top of the

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...

and adjacent to the

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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 ...

, he was assigned to the brigade's "A Company". Kincaid was one of a number of members of the West Belfast UDA arrested in the wake of the

Stevens Inquiries The Stevens Inquiries were three official British government inquiries led by Sir John Stevens concerning collusion in Northern Ireland between loyalist paramilitaries and the state security forces. While Stevens declared in 1990 that collusion wa ...

. Along with

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 ...

and Eric McKee he was one of a number of prominent young members of the group be imprisoned as a result of the Inquiries. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment for possessing information likely to be of use to terrorists.

Brigadier

Kincaid took charge of the West Belfast Brigade following the removal of his predecessor Jim Spence. Initially, Kincaid largely followed the lead of

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 ...

, the brigadier in South Belfast who had emerged as effective leader of the overall UDA in the aftermath of his removal 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 ...

. In particular, Kincaid joined McDonald in his opposition to the activity of the Shoukri brothers and supported attempts to force them out of the UDA. Kincaid also backed the expulsion of

Gary Fisher Gary Christopher Fisher (born November 5, 1950) is considered one of the inventors of the modern mountain bike. Fisher started competing in road and track races at age 12. He was suspended in 1968 because race organizers cited a rule that his ...

and

Tommy Kirkham Tommy Kirkham is a Northern Ireland loyalist political figure and former councillor. Beginning his political career with the Democratic Unionist Party, he was then associated with the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Political Resea ...

in 2007 and joined McDonald and other brigadiers in visiting

Newtownabbey Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...

in an ultimately failed attempt to bring the dissident

UDA South East Antrim Brigade The UDA South East Antrim Brigade was previously one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and are heavily involved in the drug trade. It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, No ...

back into the mainstream organisation. In 2009 he followed McDonald's lead by ensuring that the West Belfast Brigade took part in the

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 ...

process.

Estrangement

Eventually however, the relationship between Kincaid and McDonald broke down. In 2012 Kincaid released a statement condemning McDonald after the South Belfast leader had been critical of the conduct of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

and their supporters during

the Twelfth The Twelfth (also called Orangemen's Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began in the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant King William III of England, W ...

that year. Kincaid then clashed with Jimmy Birch, a close friend of McDonald and the brigadier in East Belfast, over an alleged theft of guns by West Belfast Brigade members, with the two having a public argument in the car park of a leisure centre in the east of the city. In February 2014 Kincaid attended a meeting with Jackie McDonald, Jimmy Birch and John Bunting aimed at ending the division. In what was reported as a surprise move, Kincaid rejected their proposal that he remain as leader provided he expelled Spence and McKee, both named as informers by

Desmond Lorenz de Silva Sir George Desmond Lorenz de Silva, (13 December 1939 – 2 June 2018) was a British criminal law barrister and international lawyer who served as the United Nations Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone. Early life Desmond de Silva was ...

's report into the murder of

Pat Finucane Patrick Finucane (; 21 March 1949 – 12 February 1989) was an Irish lawyer who specialised in criminal defence work. Finucane came to prominence due to his successful challenge of the British government in several important human rights cases ...

and collusion, and instead decided to support his old friends.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kincaid, Matt Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Paramilitaries from Belfast Ulster Defence Association members