Ray Smallwoods

British politician

Raymond "Ray" Smallwoods (c. 1949[1] – 11 July 1994) was a Northern Ireland politician and sometime leader of the Ulster Democratic Party. A leading member of John McMichael's South Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Smallwoods later served as a leading adviser to the UDA's Inner Council. He was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) outside his Lisburn home.

## Ulster Defence Association

[edit]

Smallwoods was a native of Lisburn and, as such, was a member of the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast brigade, which also covered the nearby town.[1] In late 1979, John McMichael, a leading figure in the UDA and also a Lisburn native, set up a commando structure within the UDA and drew up a "shopping list" of leading targets for this group to kill.[2] Amongst the names on the list killed were Irish Independence Party member John Turnley, Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners' representative Miriam Daly and INLA and Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) activists Ronnie Bunting and Noel Lyttle.[2] On 14 January 1981, Smallwoods, an associate of McMichael, was amongst those in attendance at a meeting above McMichael's pub in which it was decided that the next target would be former Irish republican politician Bernadette McAliskey.[2] According to Sammy Duddy, Smallwoods was one of only nine men that McMichael used for these operations.[3] Smallwoods and McMichael were close personally as well as professionally and both men and their families holidayed together on the Isle of Man.[4]

On 16 January 1981, Smallwoods participated in an attack on the Coalisland home of Michael McAliskey and his wife Bernadette, in which both were shot multiple times and seriously wounded. At the time, their house was being watched by a unit of the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, resulting in the attackers all being arrested after the shooting.[1] As it subsequently transpired, Smallwoods had not fired any shots but had been the driver of the getaway car.[5] UDA men Thomas Graham (38) and Andrew Watson (25) had been the gunmen.[6] He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for his involvement.[1] Following the arrests of McMichael's commando team and the leaking of the list to the press by his rival Tommy Lyttle, the "shopping list" was abandoned.[7]

## Inner Council

[edit]

During his time in prison, Smallwoods, who was described by other inmates as a deep-thinking introvert who struggled with being apart from his family for so long, spent a long time contemplating the UDA's weaknesses and considering other strategies, including political ones.[8] Following his release from prison in 1990, Smallwoods found the UDA to be greatly changed, with his ally McMichael dead and Andy Tyrie removed as leader and replaced by an Inner Council. Smallwoods was promptly attached to this body as an adviser and played a leading role in shaping UDA strategy over the next few years as a result.[9] At the time, Smallwoods was still advocating continued armed struggle by the UDA, arguing that their role was to ensure that the British government did not agree to a united Ireland, and was advising in the Inner Council in favour of the UDA's ongoing bombing campaign.[10] He also argued that the IRA's structure had changed to become subordinate to Sinn Féin and, as such, advocated a strategy of targeting Sinn Féin members, who were more vulnerable to assassination. Smallwoods' strategy was influenced by the "shopping list" idea of John McMichael.[11] Amongst those to be killed as a result of this strategy were Sinn Féin activists Tommy Casey,[12] Councillor Eddie Fullerton[13] and Thomas Donaghy,[14] as well as Robert Shaw, the father of an SF worker but not himself a member.[15]

During early 1992, Smallwoods, and others close to him in the Inner Council, held a series of meetings with Presbyterian ministers Jack Weir and Godfrey Browne. At these meetings, facilitated by Reverend Roy Magee, a former member of the Ulster Vanguard and campaigner against the Anglo-Irish Agreement who had become a peace advocate, the ministers pressed Smallwoods to lead the Inner Council towards a ceasefire.[16] The proposal was rejected by the Inner Council and Smallwoods ended the discussions in March after learning that Weir and Browne had also been negotiating with Sinn Féin, a fact that Smallwoods feared might lead to suggestions that he had been passing information to the IRA.[17]

Nonetheless, Magee remained in regular contact with Smallwoods, whom he believed to be one of the main moderates on the Inner Council.[17] Around 1993, Smallwoods, following prompting from Magee, opened communication with Alec Reid and Gerry Reynolds, two priests from the Roman Catholic Clonard Monastery on the Falls Road whom he used to open communications with republicans. Smallwoods intimated to them that the UDA was hoping to see peace and was preparing for a ceasefire.[18] Father Reid had already built a relationship with Robert "Basher" Bates, one of the Shankill Butchers whose conversion to born-again Christianity had seen the two co-operate on ecumenical initiatives, but Smallwoods was the first active, high-ranking loyalist to hold regular dialogue with Catholic clergy.[19] The Greysteel massacre of October 1993 almost led to the initiative breaking down as a disgusted Magee decided to break off contact with the UDA altogether but he was dissuaded by Smallwoods, who convinced him that there was a growing willingness to embrace peace on the Inner Council. Magee would later state that, despite his endorsement of a policy of targeting Sinn Féin members, Smallwoods proved to be an important voice for moderation on the Inner Council and a prime architect of the eventual loyalist ceasefire.[20]

## Political involvement

[edit]

As well as his role with the Inner Council, Smallwoods was also made the public spokesman for the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) following his release from prison.[21] He became party chairman in the early 1990s and around this time also became liaison officer for the UDA to the Combined Loyalist Military Command.[22] During the early 1990s, Smallwoods was in regular contact with the Progressive Unionist Party's Gusty Spence and took part in the so-called "kitchen cabinets" held in Spence's home in which leading loyalist politicians and paramilitaries met to discuss possible strategies for peace.[23]

Smallwoods was noted for his strong working class loyalist approach to Northern Irish politics, which was distinct from the more middle class unionism favoured by larger parties.[24] It was also noted by both Ian S. Wood and an Observer journalist that Smallwoods sometimes struggled with his dual role as politician and paramilitary director, often beginning interviews by calling the UDA "them" before eventually switching to "us".[24] Having come from a background in the UDA in the 1970s, Smallwoods was sympathetic to Ulster nationalism and, during his chairmanship, he placed the notion of an independent Northern Ireland at the heart of party policy. According to Gusty Spence, however, Ulster nationalism was a fallback position for Smallwoods, who also recognised the impracticalities of the idea, a plan that Spence had no truck with.[23]

## Death

[edit]

As UDP chair, Smallwoods became a prominent figure as the UDA moved towards a ceasefire and emerged as an articulate voice of loyalist politics.[25] Smallwoods, however, was not to see these developments as he was killed by the IRA in Lisburn on 11 July 1994.[26] The attack, which occurred in the garden of his house on Lisburn's Donard Drive, was witnessed by his wife Linda.[5][27][28]

Smallwoods' killing was one of a series of attacks by the IRA during the middle of 1994 in which top loyalists and other opponents, such as Martin Cahill, were targeted before the movement went on ceasefire.[29] Smallwoods' killing, as well as the killings of Joe Bratty and Raymond Elder twenty days later, were claimed at the time to be in revenge for the Loughinisland massacre.[30] The attack was condemned by his Progressive Unionist colleague David Ervine as a "totally cynical exercise" given Smallwoods' work towards peace.[18] For their part, the IRA stated that Smallwoods had actually been involved in directing UDA terror.[31] For the UDA, Smallwoods was a double loss as he was both an important director of their campaign of violence and also, increasingly, a moderating influence, who was seeking to move the UDA away from violence.[32] His funeral was held on 14 July, where Reynolds and Reid were amongst the mourners[32] whilst his pallbearers included Democratic Unionist Party politicians Peter Robinson and Sammy Wilson.[33]

The loyalists decided not to retaliate for Smallwoods' assassination and instead, on 15 July, released a statement that had been drafted by Smallwoods shortly before his murder in which the CLMC said it would go on ceasefire if the IRA did so.[34] He was succeeded as leader of the UDP by Gary McMichael, the son of John McMichael.[35]

## See also

[edit]

* 1994 Shankill Road killings

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Peter Taylor, Loyalists, London: Bloomsbury, 2000, p. 168
2. ^ a b c H. McDonald & J. Cusack, UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror, Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004, pp. 116–118
3. ^ Ian S. Wood, Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA, Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 119
4. ^ Gary McMichael, Ulster Voice: In Search of Common Ground in Northern Ireland, Niwot Colorado: Roberts Rinehart, 1999, pp. 56–57
5. ^ a b David Lister & Hugh Jordan, Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and 'C' Company, Edinburgh: Mainstream, 2004, p. 221
6. ^ Murray, Raymond (1990). The SAS in Ireland. Mercier Press. p.263
7. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 118
8. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 162
9. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 161–162
10. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 164–166
11. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 174–175
12. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 186
13. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 192
14. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 200
15. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 240
16. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 229–230
17. ^ a b McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 230
18. ^ a b Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald, UVF, Dublin: Poolbeg, 1997, p. 312
19. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 231
20. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 257
21. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 173–174
22. ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 189–190
23. ^ a b Roy Garland, Gusty Spence, Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 2001, p. 279
24. ^ a b Wood, Crimes of Loyalty, p. 188
25. ^ Lister & Jordan, Mad Dog, p. 222
26. ^ A Draft Chronology of the Conflict – 1994
27. ^ McMichael, Ulster Voice, p. 56
28. ^ David McKittrick et al, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, 2008, p. 1369
29. ^ Brian Feeney, Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years, Dublin: O'Brien Press, 2002, pp. 406–407
30. ^ Taylor, Loyalists, p. 231
31. ^ Cusack & McDonald, UVF, p. 313
32. ^ a b McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 268
33. ^ Sydney Elliott & William D. Flackes, Conflict in Northern Ireland: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 1999, p. 226
34. ^ Brendan O'Brien, The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin, 1985 to Today, Syracuse University Press, 1993, p. 314
35. ^ Wood, Crimes of Loyalty, p. 189

Political offices

Preceded by

Ken Kerr

|  Leader of the Ulster Democratic Party
c.1990 – 1994  | Succeeded by

Gary McMichael

* v
* t
* e

Ulster Defence Association

during the Troubles

Chairmen of the UDA|

* Charles Harding Smith (1971-1973)
* Andy Tyrie (1973-1988)
* position abolished (1988)

East Belfast Brigade|

* Albert "Ginger" Baker
* Jimmy Birch
* Billy Elliot
* Jim "Doris Day" Gray
* Tommy Herron
* Sammy McCormick
* Ned McCreery
* Michael Stone

North Belfast Brigade|

* John Boreland
* John Bunting
* Sammy Duddy
* Tommy English
* Davy Payne
* Andre & Ihab Shoukri
* Jimbo Simpson

South Belfast Brigade|

* David Adams
* Joe Bratty
* James Craig
* Raymond Elder
* Alex Kerr
* Jackie McDonald
* John McMichael
* Ray Smallwoods
* Michael Stone

West Belfast Brigade|

* Johnny Adair
* Ken Barrett
* Jackie Coulter
* Mo Courtney
* James Craig
* Frankie Curry
* William "Winkie" Dodds
* Hester Dunn
* Ernie Elliott
* Davy Fogel
* Donald Hodgen
* Billy Hull
* Matt Kincaid
* Tommy Lyttle
* Kenny McClinton
* Sam McCrory
* Alan McCullough
* William "Bucky" McCullough
* Stephen "Top Gun" McKeag
* Billy "Twister" McQuiston
* James "Sham" Millar
* Wendy Millar
* Brian Nelson
* Charles Harding Smith
* Gary "Smickers" Smyth
* Sammy Smyth
* Jim Spence
* William Stobie
* "Fat" Jackie Thompson
* Andy Tyrie
* John White

South East Antrim Brigade|

* Joe English
* John Gregg

North Antrim & Londonderry Brigade|

* Glenn Barr
* Ken Kerr
* Torrens Knight
* Billy McFarland
* Andy Robinson

Mid-Ulster Brigade|

* Robert John Kerr
* Eddie Sayers
* Michael Stone

Actions|

* Benny's Bar bombing (1972)
* Top of the Hill bar shooting (1972)
* New Lodge Six shooting (1973)
* Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews killings (1973)
* Murder of Ann Ogilby (1974)
* Dublin Airport bombing (1975)
* Biddy Mulligan's pub bombing (1975)
* Milltown Cemetery attack (1988)
* Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting (1992)
* Attack on James Murray's bookmakers (1992)
* Castlerock killings (1993)
* Greysteel massacre (1993)

Prominent victims|

* Paddy Wilson (1973)
* John Turnley (1980)
* Miriam Daly (1980)
* Ronnie Bunting (1980)
* James Craig (1988)
* Pat Finucane (1989)
* Gerard Casey (1989)
* Eddie Fullerton (1991)
* Ned McCreery (1992)
* Frankie Curry (1999)

Related articles|

* Combined Loyalist Military Command
* Loyalist Association of Workers
* Loyalist feud
* Quis separabit?
* Real Ulster Freedom Fighters
* Red Hand Defenders
* Shankill Defence Association
* Ulster Army Council
* Ulster Democratic Party
* Ulster loyalism
* Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
* Ulster nationalism
* Ulster Political Research Group
* Ulster Workers' Council strike
* Ulster Young Militants
* Volunteer (Ulster loyalist)
* Woodvale Defence Association

bold indicates brigadiers

* v
* t
* e

Ulster nationalism

Organisations|

* British Ulster Dominion Party
* New Ulster Political Research Group
* Official National Front
* Ulster Clubs
* Ulster Democratic Party
* Ulster Independence Movement
* Ulster Independence Party
* Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
* Ulster Movement for Self-Determination
* Ulster Third Way
* Ulster Workers' Council

People|

* Glenn Barr
* Paddy Duffy
* Willie Frazer
* David Kerr
* Kennedy Lindsay
* Tommy Lyttle
* W. F. McCoy
* Jackie McDonald
* Billy McFarland
* John McKeague
* John McMichael
* Hugh Ross
* Ray Smallwoods
* Andy Tyrie

Related topics|

* Repartition of Ireland
* Ulster Workers' Council Strike

* v
* t
* e

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General|

* Anti-Treaty IRA
* Sinn Féin
* Republican News
* An Phoblacht
* The Green Book
* The Troubles (Timeline)
* Haughey arms crisis
* IRA campaign
* Chronology of Provisional IRA actions
* Arms importation
* Weaponry
* Barrack buster
* Improvised tactical vehicles
* Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape
* Blanket protest
* Dirty protest
* HM Prison Maze
* Anti H-Block
* 1981 Irish hunger strike
* Maze Prison escape
* Armalite and ballot box strategy
* Punishment attacks
* Disappeared
* Smithwick Tribunal
* Northern Ireland peace process
* Good Friday Agreement

Organisation|

* Chief of Staff
* IRA Army Council
* IRA Northern Command
* IRA Southern Command
* Internal Security Unit
* Active service unit
* Belfast Brigade
* Derry Brigade
* South Armagh Brigade
* East Tyrone Brigade
* Balcombe Street Gang

Actions|

| 1970–1979|

* Battle of St Matthew's
* Falls Curfew
* 1970 Crossmaglen bombing
* Scottish soldiers' killings
* Red Lion bombing
* Balmoral showroom bombing
* Abercorn bombing
* Donegall Street bombing
* Battle at Springmartin
* Battle of Lenadoon
* Bloody Friday
* Claudy bombing
* Newry customs bombing
* Old Bailey bombing
* Honey Trap killings
* King's Cross & Euston bombings
* Coleraine bombings
* 1973 Westminster bombing
* M62 bombing
* Clogher attack
* Houses of Parliament bombing
* Tower of London bombing
* Guildford pub bombings
* Harrow School bombing
* Brooks's Club bombing
* Woolwich pub bombing
* British Airways bombing attempt
* Birmingham pub bombings
* London pillar box bombings
* Talbot Arms bombing
* Bristol bombing
* Telephone exchange bombings
* 1974 Oxford Street bombing
* Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings
* Mountainview attack
* Bayardo Bar attack
* Forkhill attack
* Caterham Arms bombing
* Tullyvallen massacre
* London Hilton bombing
* Piccadilly bombing
* Trattoria Fiore bombing
* Scott's Oyster Bar bombing
* Walton's Restaurant bombing
* Drummuckavall ambush
* Balcombe Street siege
* Kingsmill massacre
* West Ham station attack
* Olympia bombing
* Store bar shooting
* Stag Inn attack
* Garryhinch ambush
* Jonesborough Gazelle downing
* La Mon restaurant bombing
* Crossmaglen ambush
* Warrenpoint ambush
* Brussels bombing
* Dungannon attack

|

1980–1989|

* Dunmurry train bombing
* Lough Foyle attacks
* Glasdrumman ambush
* 1981 Bessbrook attack
* Chelsea Barracks bombing
* Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings
* Harrods bombing
* Royal Artillery Barracks bombing
* Brighton hotel bombing
* Ballygawley land mine attack
* Newry mortar attack
* Ballygawley attack
* Enniskillen mortar attack
* RUC Birches barracks attack
* Rheindahlen bombing
* Loughgall ambush
* Operation Flavius
* Corporals killings
* Lisburn bombing
* Aughanduff Lynx shootdown
* 1988 Netherlands attacks
* Glamorgan barracks bombing
* Inglis Barracks bombing
* Ballygawley bus bombing
* Jonesborough ambush
* Clive Barracks bombing
* Deal barracks bombing
* Mayobridge attack
* Derryard attack

1990–1991|

* Derrygorry Gazelle downing
* South Armagh sniper
* Downpatrick roadside bomb
* Operation Conservation
* 1990 Wembley bombing
* Carlton Club bombing
* London Stock Exchange bombing
* Honourable Artillery Company bombing
* Lichfield gun attack
* RFA Fort Victoria bombing
* Proxy bombings
* Downing Street mortar attack
* Paddington & Victoria station bombings
* Mullacreevie ambush
* Glenanne barracks bombing
* Coagh ambush
* Musgrave Park Hospital bombing
* Crumlin Road Prison bombing

1992–1997|

* Teebane bombing
* Clonoe ambush
* London Bridge bombing
* Staples Cnr bombing
* Baltic Exchange bombing
* Sussex Arms bombing
* Cloghoge attack
* Coalisland riots
* Forensic Science Laboratory bombing
* Stoke Newington Road bomb
* 1992 Manchester bombing
* Night of the Long Knives
* 1993 Harrods bombing
* Warrington bombings
* Cullaville occupation
* Camden bombing
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Finchley Road bombings
* Battle of Newry Road
* Shankill Road bombing
* 1993 Fivemiletown ambush
* Heathrow attacks
* Crossmaglen Lynx downing
* Drumcree conflict
* Docklands bombing
* Aldwych bus bombing
* 1996 Manchester bombing
* Hammersmith Bridge bombing
* Osnabrück mortar attack
* Thiepval barracks bombing
* Coalisland attack
* 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)|

* Paddy Agnew
* Martina Anderson
* Declan Arthurs
* Thomas Begley
* Ivor Bell
* Patricia Black
* Charles Breslin
* Edward Butler
* Paul Butler
* Joe Cahill
* Liam Campbell
* Fergal Caraher
* Malachy Carey
* Owen Carron
* Gerard Casey
* Carál Ní Chuilín
* Gabriel Cleary
* Peter Cleary
* Kevin Coen
* Eamon Collins
* Eddie Copeland
* Marion Coyle
* Gerard Davison
* Matt Devlin
* Hugh Doherty
* Joe Doherty
* Kieran Doherty
* Martin Doherty
* Pat Doherty
* Colin Duffy
* Rose Dugdale
* Dessie Ellis
* Mairéad Farrell
* William Fleming
* Kieran Fleming
* Bernard Fox
* Angelo Fusco
* Michael Gaughan
* John Francis Green
* Dessie Grew
* George Harrison
* Brendan Hughes
* Francis Hughes
* Martin Hurson
* Pearse Jordan
* Brian Keenan
* Gerry Kelly
* John Kelly
* Patrick Joseph Kelly
* Sean Kelly
* Jim Lynagh
* Proinsias Mac Airt
* Breandán Mac Cionnaith
* Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde
* Joseph MacManus
* Seán Mac Stíofáin
* Patrick Magee
* Paul Magee
* Donna Maguire
* Larry Marley
* Paul Marlowe
* Leo Martin
* Alex Maskey
* Pearse McAuley
* Daniel McCann
* Fra McCann
* Jennifer McCann
* Raymond McCartney
* Martin McCaughey
* Raymond McCreesh
* Joe McDonnell
* Séamus McElwaine
* Thomas McElwee
* Brendan McFarlane
* Tom McFeely
* Gerry McGeough
* Pat McGeown
* John Joe McGirl
* Martin McGuinness
* Pádraig McKearney
* Tommy McKearney
* Billy McKee
* Kevin McKenna
* Laurence McKeown
* Michael McKevitt
* Thomas McMahon
* Jackie McMullan
* Martin Meehan
* Ian Milne
* Arthur Morgan
* Danny Morrison
* Conor Murphy
* Thomas "Slab" Murphy
* Kieran Nugent
* Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
* Ed O'Brien
* Dáithí Ó Conaill
* Éamonn O'Doherty
* Joe B. O'Hagan
* Siobhán O'Hanlon
* Rita O'Hare
* Diarmuid O'Neill
* Dolours Price
* Marian Price
* Liam Quinn
* Paddy Quinn
* Billy Reid
* Bobby Sands
* Seán Savage
* Pat Sheehan
* Frank Stagg
* Jimmy Steele
* Bobby Storey
* Gerard Tuite
* Seamus Twomey
* Roy Walsh
* Séanna Walsh

Espionage and
Supergrasses|

* Eamon Collins
* Denis Donaldson
* Joseph Fenton
* Kevin Fulton
* Raymond Gilmour
* Martin McGartland
* Sean O'Callaghan
* Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates|

* Cumann na mBan
* Fianna Éireann
* South Armagh Republican Action Force
* Direct Action Against Drugs
* NORAID
* Clan na Gael
* Troops Out Movement

Derivatives|

* Continuity Irish Republican Army
* Real Irish Republican Army

Prominent
killings|

* Jeffery Stanford Agate
* Johnathan Ball
* Anthony Berry
* Robert Bradford
* Joe Bratty
* Matthew Burns
* Martin Cahill
* Eamon Collins
* Raymond Elder
* Gerard Evans
* Christopher Ewart-Biggs
* Joseph Fenton
* Billy Fox
* Maurice Gibson
* Ian Gow
* Heidi Hazell
* Donald Kaberry
* Andrew Kearney
* Baroness Brabourne
* William "Frenchie" Marchant
* Martin McBirney
* Jerry McCabe
* Robert McConnell
* Jean McConville
* Columba McVeigh
* Ross McWhirter
* Stephen Melrose
* Lord Mountbatten
* Lenny Murphy
* Robert Nairac
* Thomas Oliver
* Tim Parry
* Paul Quinn
* Robert Seymour
* Robert McCartney (allegedly)
* Joseph Rafferty (allegedly)
* Ray Smallwoods
* Sammy Smyth
* Nick Spanos
* James Stronge
* Norman Stronge
* Richard Sykes
* Stephen Tibble
* Sammy Ward
* Michael Willetts

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