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

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 ...

(UPRG), which provided political advice to that organisation.

Early years

Duddy was born in

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 ...

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 ...

, and grew up in a large

Ulster Protestant Ulster Protestants ( ga, Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the ...

family in the "Hammer" area of the city, located in the lower

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 ...

. He had eight siblings. His father was originally from Derry but had settled in Belfast and served in the

B Specials The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the par ...

during

World War II 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 ...

. Duddy was born shortly after the war ended.Wood, Ian S. (2006). ''Crimes of loyalty: a history of the UDA''. Edinburgh University Press. p.3 He attended a local secondary modern school where he displayed a talent for writing, and would often compose valentines for his classmates in return for Dinky cars or pens. At the age of 15, Duddy was apprenticed to a letterpress printer. His father held the same occupation.

Role in loyalism

Duddy was initially known in

for his

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

act, performing in the city's clubs and pubs as "Samantha". His costume consisted of a long, black wig, fishnet tights, prosthetic breasts and heavy make-up.H. McDonald & J. Cusack, ''UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004, pp. 366–367 He once performed for British troops on tour. At the outbreak of the violent religious and political conflict known as "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 " ...

" in the late 1960s, he became involved in loyalist vigilante groups. He joined the paramilitary organisation, the

(UDA) in 1971, the year it was formed. By that point living in the Westland estate, a loyalist enclave in north Belfast close to the republican

Ardoyne Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Catholic and Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during The Troubles. Foundation The village of Ardoyne was founded in ...

and Newington areas, he was sworn in as a UDA member at a ceremony in the Westland community centre at which he had to swear allegiance to the movement on a Bible in the presence of a UDA colonel. Known as a "court jester" by his associates,Taylor, Peter (1999): ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p.84 he never took much of an active military role in the UDA, although he was considered "handy with his fists". On one occasion during the

Ulster Workers' Council Strike The Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during " the Troubles". The strike was called by unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had ...

in May 1974, he physically barred Reverend

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First ...

from entering the

Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (VUPP), informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1978. Led by William Craig, the party emerged from a split in the Ulster Un ...

headquarters where an important meeting was being held by the Ulster Workers' Council Co-Ordinating Committee and chaired by

Glenn Barr Albert Glenn Barr OBE (19 March 1942 – 24 October 2017) was a politician from Derry, Northern Ireland, who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism and Loyalism due to simultaneously hol ...

.Taylor, pp.134–135 In the course of the general strike, which effectively brought Northern Ireland to a standstill, he was among those who manned the many street barricades that were set up. On the first full day of the strike he had assisted in the hijacking of a bakery van. Duddy and the others, however, paid the driver for the loaves of bread he was in the process of delivering.Wood, p.41 Duddy, who was known as a literate and well-spoken individual from his involvement in the Westland housing association, was in the early 1970s employed by then UDA leader

Andy Tyrie Andrew Tyrie (born 5 February 1940) is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary leader who served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during much of its early history. He took the place of Tommy Herron in 1973 when the latter was ...

to work as part of his staff at the UDA headquarters at 254A Shankill Road. He rose to prominence within the organisation in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he served as the UDA's

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

officer along with

Hester Dunn Hester Rogers (born 1940) is a Northern Irish former loyalist activist and writer who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) political wing during the period of religious-political conflict known as the Troubles. She headed the UDA ...

. At that time the UDA was legal, and would remain so until 1992. Duddy went on to serve as the editor of UDA magazine ''Ulster'' for a time and in 1983 published a book of his poetry entitled ''Concrete Whirlpools of the Mind'' which received praise for its sensitive treatment of the problems for young working-class men drawn into violence. To avoid any possible implication in the

Kincora Boys' Home The Kincora Boys' Home was a boys' home in Belfast, Northern Ireland that was the scene of serious organised child sexual abuse, causing a scandal and attempted cover-up in 1980, with allegations of state collusion.Dodd, Vikram; Norton-Taylor, Ric ...

scandal, Duddy ended the drag act in 1981 under orders from Tyrie, who also told him to grow a

moustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...

and drop his voice. He was briefly a suspect in the UDA killing of Catholic lawyer,

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 ...

in 1989; UDA brigadier Ken Barrett was later convicted of the shooting. From 1989 to 1990, he spent 11 months in jail on remand following his arrest during the John Stevens inquiry into collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the Royal Ulster Constabulary and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He was charged with possession of classified security force documents which had been passed to the UDA and contained the names of republicans which the UDA used to target

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

members. The charges against him were dropped in October 1990 and he was released. Duddy retired from active loyalism in the 1990s, but was recalled by the UPRG to help rebuild their image after the collapse of 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 ...

and the split from

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 ...

and John White. He was the North Belfast representative for the UPRG. At the height of the fall-out in 2002, his home in Rathcoole, north Belfast, was hit with a pipe bomb. That same year, shots were fired through his front door by masked gunmen; although he was unharmed, his seven-year-old pet chihuahua dog "Bambi" died within an hour after being hit by gunfire. Another dog, "Pepsi" was injured in the attack but survived. According to Johnny Adair, Duddy never got over the loss of "Bambi".

Death

He died at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on 17 October 2007, aged 62, after suffering a massive heart attack.

Frankie Gallagher Frankie Gallagher was a loyalist community worker from Northern Ireland and was along with Tommy Kirkham and Sammy Duddy one of the first leading spokespeople for the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) which offered political advice to the U ...

, a spokesman for the UPRG, stated, following Duddy's death: "He came out of retirement to pursue a peaceful path for his community and in pursuit of that he has given his life. It's a massive, massive loss for his community." A Sammy Duddy Memorial Flute Band was established in his memory in February 2012. His name was also given to the Sammy Duddy Conflict Transformation Centre, the headquarters of the North Belfast UPRG on York Road.

Early years

Role in loyalism

Death

References

External links