Tommy Herron (1938 – 14 September 1973) was 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 ...

and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) until his death in a fatal shooting. Herron controlled the UDA in East

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 ...

, one of its two earliest strongholds. From 1972, he was the organisation's vice-chairman and most prominent spokesperson, and was the first person to receive a salary from the UDA.

Early life

Herron was born in 1938 in

Newcastle, County Down Newcastle () is a small seaside resort town in County Down, Northern Ireland, which had a population of 7,672 at the 2011 Census. It lies by the Irish Sea at the foot of Slieve Donard, the highest of the Mourne Mountains. Newcastle is known fo ...

to a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

father and a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

mother. According to

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 ...

, Herron was baptised in St Anthony's Catholic Church on Belfast's Woodstock Road as a baby.Martin Dillon, ''The Trigger Men'', Mainstream, 2003, p. 184

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

Shankill Butcher Lenny Murphy, took on the mantle of a "Super Prod", or individual who acts in an affectedly extreme Ulster Protestant loyalist way, to deflect any potential criticism of his Catholic roots. Herron was a member of the

Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster :''Distinct from Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland (post 1900)'' The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster ( ga, Eaglais Phreispitéireach Saor Uladh) is a Calvinist denomination founded by Ian Paisley in 1951. Doctr ...

and regularly attended services at the Martyrs' Memorial Church, the group's headquarters on the Ravenhill Road in south-east Belfast. He worked as a

car salesman The automobile salesperson is one of many sales professions. The automobile salesman is a retail salesperson, who sells new or used cars. Unlike traditional retail sales, car sales are sometimes negotiable. Salesmen are employed by new car de ...

Michael Farrell, ''Northern Ireland: The Orange State'' in East BelfastTommy Herron
MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base and was married to Hilary Wilson, by whom he had five children.

UDA leadership

Herron was a leading member of the UDA, which was the largest

paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland, from its formation and emerged at the group's top man in East Belfast. A thirteen-member Security Council was established in January 1972 with Herron a charter member of this group, although control lay in the west of city with

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 ...

emerging as chairman of the new body. Along with the likes of

Billy Hull William Hull (born 1912, date of death unknownWD Flackes & Sydney Elliott, ''Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968–1993'', Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 185) was a loyalist activist in Northern Ireland. Hull was a leading figure in politica ...

, has Herron was one of a handful of UDA leaders to be invited to meetings with

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 ...

William Whitelaw after the suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in March 1972. By this time Herron had come to see himself as the most powerful figure in the UDA and had begun to make statements on behalf of the movement unilaterally. In September 1972, the

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 ...

intervened to defend a Catholic area of

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 ...

against loyalists. British Army vehicles ran down two civilians in East Belfast,Ciaran De Baroid, ''Ballymurphy and the Irish War'' one of whom was believed to be a UDA member. Under the name of the

Ulster Citizen Army Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingd ...

, Herron declared war on the British Army. He called this off after two days of gunfire due to a lack of support, Seán Mac Stíofáin ''Memoirs of a Revolutionary'' two more loyalists having been killed. Herron's decision to go against the British Army, as brief as it was, as well as the looting and rioting that was taking place in Belfast under the direction of Herron and his close ally Jim Anderson as a reaction to the loyalists' deaths, saw both his stock and that of the Belfast UDA fall somewhat locally. Protestant clergymen petitioned the UDA to end the street violence whilst middle class Protestants, as well as politicians such as Roy Bradford, loudly condemned the attacks on the British Army, which traditionally enjoyed a high reputation amongst Northern Irish Protestants. On 20 October 1972 Herron sent word to Colonel Sandy Boswell, the army commander in Belfast, that the trouble would end and it was to the relief of many that Herron left Belfast the following month, in the company of Billy Hull, to launch a tour of Canada promoting loyalism.

Herron and Harding Smith

For much of 1972 Herron's main rival

, the 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 ...

, was absent from the scene after being arrested in England on gun-running charges. During his absence control on West Belfast went into the hands of

Davy Fogel David "Davy" Fogel, also known as "Big Dave" (born 1945), was a former loyalist and a leading member of the loyalist vigilante Woodvale Defence Association (WDA) which later merged with other groups becoming the Ulster Defence Association (UDA ...

and his ally

Ernie Elliott Ernest "Ernie" Elliott (1943/1944 – 6 December 1972), nicknamed "Duke", was a Northern Irish loyalist activist and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during its early days. Unusually for the generally right-wing UDA, E ...

, both of whom had been influenced to varying degrees by left-wing rhetoric. Whilst Herron was not involved in initiatives by both men that saw dialogue with the Catholic Ex-Servicemen's Association of Ardoyne or the

Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged ...

he did accompany them to a meeting with representatives of the British & Irish Communist Organisation which, unusually for communist groups, followed a staunchly unionist position with regards Northern Ireland. Herron also garnered a reputation for his involvement in racketeering, something that Harding Smith had strongly condemned. In early 1973 an east Belfast publican was interviewed anonymously by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' and he claimed that Herron would regularly send one of his men to the pub to ask for a contribution to the "UDA prisoners' welfare fund". The publican stated that he knew if he refused to contribute his windows would be smashed or the pub shot at, making the fund simply a protection racket. Herron was apparently asking as much as £50 per week from each pub with shop owners expected to pay half that amount. After his return from England Harding Smith immediately clashed with Fogel but, somewhat surprisingly given their personal enmity, Herron sided with Harding Smith in the struggle. Herron summoned Fogel to his east Belfast office on 13 January 1973; when Fogel arrived, he was placed under arrest and detained for several hours. Herron told Fogel that he could only remain in charge of Woodvale if he agreed to accept Harding Smith's leadership in West Belfast as a whole. Fogel would leave Belfast altogether soon after this episode. In February, Herron called for a

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

against the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

's decision to introduce

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

for suspected loyalist parliamilitaries, mirroring the existing internment for suspected republican paramilitaries. This led to a day's fighting on the streets. Soon after the meeting with Fogel, and to many people's surprise, Herron called for "both sides" – loyalists and republicans – to stop assassinations, claiming that if they did not, they would face "the full wrath of the UDA". This temporarily halted killings in East Belfast. Herron's decision to stop the random killings, as well as his meeting with communists and rumours about his Catholic background, led to criticism within the UDA and he was criticised strongly in the pages of ''Ulster Militant'', one of the UDA's publications at the time. Herron's position came under increasing pressure and, in an attempt to save face, he again threw his weight behind a new Harding Smith initiative. This time Harding Smith had decided to not only return to sectarian killings but to set up a group within the UDA, the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), to be dedicated solely to this aim. In the meantime Herron's leading hitman Albert Walker Baker had already been sent back on sectarian killing duty, launching a grenade attack on Catholic workers in East Belfast before shooting up a bus of Catholics in the Cherryvalley area.

Fall from grace

In the summer of 1973 it was decided to choose a chairman of the UDA, after the resignation of joint chairman Jim Anderson, who shared his duties with Harding Smith but who had been in effect leader during the latter's absence, had left a power vacuum. Fears were raised that the issue might bring about the much feared Harding Smith and Herron feud, but in the end a compromise candidate, Andy Tyrie, was chosen in an effort to avert the war.Wood, ''Crimes of Loyalty'', p. 23 Herron remained in an unsafe position. On 15 June 1973, masked gunmen broke into his

Braniel Braniel or The Braniel is a large housing estate and townland in southeast Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is in the barony of Castlereagh Upper and parish of Knockbreda in County Down. Two small developments, Roddens and Glenview, are located in t ...

home and shot and killed his brother-in-law, 18-year-old Michael Wilson. Herron had been out of the house at the time. Michael Stone, a young UDA member who ran errands for Herron, had been near the house, and afterward asked Herron if he wanted him to kill a

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 ...

(PIRA) member in retaliation. Herron told Stone "wrong side, kid", indicating that he believed the murder had been perpetrated by the rival faction of the UDA. According to

, the attack had been directed against Herron and had been ordered by Harding Smith, who hoped that it would be blamed on the PIRA. Certainly Harding Smith had made it clear in the summer of 1973 that he wanted Herron and the rest of the criminal element out of the UDA. Although Herron did not publicly speak about the killing, he placed information in the press that he believed it had been the work of rivals within the UDA, and also accused the UFF, and by extension Harding Smith, of being too close to the rival Ulster Volunteer Force in these same news stories. Herron was arrested in August 1973 under the terms of the Emergency Powers Act. A considerable sum of money, reported to be between £2000 and £9000, was found in his coat. Herron was released soon afterwards, but the story of the money was widely circulated in the press and it increased the growing discontent with his leadership in East Belfast, where many felt that he was increasingly using his role in the UDA to personally enrich himself. Herron's personality and actions also fed into this animosity. He was known for swaggering around in the style of a mafia don, visibly carrying his legally held handgun, as well as for his short temper and sudden changes in mood.

Politics

Despite narrowly missing death, Herron was also involved in a political campaign, as he was the candidate for the

Vanguard Progressive Unionist 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 Unio ...

(VPUP) candidate in East Belfast at the

1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. P ...

. One of the founding principles of the UDA had been that it should not be tied to a single political party, but Herron was an enthusiastic supporter of William Craig and when he established the VPUP, Herron declared as UDA spokesman that "we will be supporting the new party 100% and using every means within our power to ensure its success".McDonald & Cusack, ''UDA'', p. 49 Herron had argued that those who had joined or supported the UDA should be able to vote for its members, although in the event Herron struggled to convert his reputation as a loyalist hard case into that of a political figure. Criticism came from Brian Faulkner and other moderate unionists, when on 10 June a UDA member exchanging gunfire with soldiers on the Beersbridge Road, East Belfast, shot and killed a Protestant bus driver. Herron's campaign was again hit in June, when his East Belfast UDA headquarters were raided by the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

(RUC) and two illegal guns and a quantity of ammunition were seized with two men arrested. He took 2,480 votes but was not elected.

Death

Herron was kidnapped in September 1973, and died by one gunshot to the head. His body was found in a ditch near Drumbo,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. His death has often been ascribed to other members of the UDA, either in protest at his involvement in

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

or as part of the ongoing feud, while the UDA itself has claimed that the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

was responsible. Herron received a paramilitary funeral, presided over by 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 ...

. It was attended by 25,000 mourners. He was buried at Roselawn Cemetery as a piper played " Amazing Grace".

Sammy McCormick Samuel McCormick was a Northern Irish loyalist who served from 1973 until the 1980s as the brigadier for the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) East Belfast Brigade. He had taken over the command following the shooting death of its former leader ...

took over Herron's East Belfast Brigade and this much more low-key figure was tasked with returning a sense of discipline to the increasingly chaotic brigade.McDonald & Cusack, ''UDA'', p. 68

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herron, Tommy 1938 births 1973 deaths Assassinated politicians from Northern Ireland Ulster Defence Association members Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party politicians Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland People killed during The Troubles (Northern Ireland) People from County Down