Clifford Peeples | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1969 (age 56–57) |
| Political party | Ulster Independence Movement |
| Other political affiliations | Families Against Intimidation and Terror |
| Movement | Ulster nationalism |
| Military career | |
| Paramilitaries | |
| Conflict | The Troubles |
Clifford Peeples (born c. 1969) is a self-styled pastor in Northern Ireland who has been associated withUlster loyalism, for which he was convicted of terrorist activity and imprisoned. Peeples has been a member of theUlster Volunteer Force (UVF), theLoyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) prisoners' spokesman and leader of theOrange Volunteers (OV). He has taken a prominent role in opposing theNorthern Ireland Protocol in the courts.
According to writersHenry McDonald and Jim Cusack, Peeples had been a member of the UVF early in his life.[1] This is also confirmed by Steve Bruce.[2] At some point, he was given security clearance forRAF Aldergrove.[3] Peeples did not come to prominence, however, until the mid-1990s when he was an activist withFamilies Against Intimidation and Terror.[4]
Peeples became close to another self-styled pastor,Portadown-basedKenny McClinton, who had formerly been a member of theUlster Defence Association (UDA) before falling out with that organisation and joining forces with theUVF Mid-Ulster brigadierBilly Wright.[1] According to McDonald and Cusack, Peeples and McClinton were also linked to a British intelligence agent known as "the Pastor". Together the three associates launched a propaganda campaign against theProgressive Unionist Party (PUP) andUlster Democratic Party (UDP) through which they hoped to destabilise the nascentNorthern Ireland peace process. McDonald and Cusack further claimed that Peeples, McClinton and "the Pastor" helped to convince Wright that establishing the LVF, after he had been stood down by the UVF leadership, would be beneficial in creating an "army of God" which would appeal to Wright'sevangelical Christian beliefs.[5]
Peeples was also involved inUlster nationalist politics as a member of theUlster Independence Movement. He was, along with McClinton, one of two unsuccessful candidates for the party inBelfast West in the 1996 elections to theNorthern Ireland Forum, jointly securing only 43 votes (out of 42,000).[6] In keeping with UIM policy, Peeples campaigned against theGood Friday Agreement and, on 24 April 1998, shared a platform at anAntrim rally withDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillorsJack McKee andSammy Wilson. During the rally he set fire to a copy of the document whilst members of the crowd shouted "and burnFenians too".[7]
As a quasi-political figure he retained his links to the LVF. During an LVF hunger strike in theMaze Prison, he went into the jail to discuss the incident with the loyalist prisoners.[4] His links to this dissident group did not go unnoticed amongst the more mainstream elements of loyalist paramilitarism, however. For a time he ran a flower shop on theCrumlin Road which was ransacked in 1997 in an attack that Peeples blamed on loyalist racketeers.[4] Peeples was seen as a target by the UVF because of his association with the LVF and Wright.[8] He then resettled on the Woodvale Road,Greater Shankill, where he began styling himself as a pastor.[4]
A group known as the Orange Volunteers had existed in the early 1970s. However, the name was revived in late 1998 by a group ofProtestant fundamentalists based inStoneyford, County Antrim who launched a series of pipe bomb attacks onGaelic Athletic Association halls and the homes of prominentIrish nationalists inCounty Antrim andCounty Londonderry.[9] The group also carried out simultaneous arson attacks on many Catholic churches.[2]
In 1999 theRoyal Ulster Constabulary, using a bugging device, overheard a conversation between a local DUP politician and Peeples, who was briefly OV leader, in which the politician encouraged Peeples to attack localIrish republicans.[10] Peeples defended the activities of the OV by arguing that they were "defenders of the reformed faith" and that theRoman Catholic Church was a tool of theAntichrist.[2]
Peeples was assistant pastor at the Bethel Pentecostal Church onBelfast'sShankill Road when, in 1999, he was arrested for paramilitary offences and given a ten-year jail sentence after apipe bomb and grenades were found in his car.[11] It had been stopped outsideDungannon on theM1 motorway when the discovery was made, with his passenger, well-known loyalist, James McGookin-Fisher also arrested.[4] Six months before Peeples had also been arrested after grenades were discovered in the church hall, but no charges were made.[4]
Having been replaced as leader of the OV, Peeples was disowned by the movement whilst on remand. In December 2000 he, along with Stuart Wilson from Glenavy and Alan Lynn from Antrim, was handed a death sentence by the new leadership supposedly for leading a "black propaganda campaign" against the group from prison. Although the precise nature of Peeples' transgressions were not discussed, an OV statement stated:
The Orange Volunteers believe Peeples is deliberately seeding dissent within loyalism. He has received three or four warnings to stop orchestrating a campaign of misinformation against the Orange Volunteer leadership from within Maghaberry prison. He chose to ignore those warnings. So too did Wilson and Stuart [sic]. That is the reason behind the death sentences.[12][better source needed]
Whilst inMaghaberry prison, Peeples was involved in two separate attacks on republican prisoners.[13] He also led a prisoners' campaign in support of segregation, as republicans and loyalists mixed freely in the jail.[14]
His close friend and mentorPastor Alan Campbell visited him in prison in February 2001.[11]
Released from jail in 2004, he returned to Bethel Church and was installed a minister at Easter 2005 in a move that divided the church. Peeples distributed theanti-CatholicRome Watch pamphlet. Pastor John Hull, who had joined in 2001 whilst Peeples was in prison, accused Peeples of bigotry. This led to the church breaking into two factions and legal action.[11]Rome Watch was produced by PastorAlan Campbell who shared his belief inBritish Israelism.[15]
Peeples is married to Suzanne, who ran as anIndependent Unionist in theUpper Bann constituency in the2007 Assembly election, coming last with less than 0.2%.[16]
Peeples was the official applicant in a court case launched from 2020–22 by Ulster loyalists against the British Government in respect of theNorthern Ireland Protocol.[17]
In early 2023, Peeples went toUkraine to assist its people "in their hour of need" againstRussia. In preparation for that trip, he was seen wearing battle dress and carrying a sub-machine gun.[18]
Peeples was arrested in August 2024 in connection with police investigations intorace hate riots.[19]
In February 2025, Peeples lost a judicial review case in theHigh Court after a judge rejected it and noted that aFreedom of Information Act request would be a better preliminary and alternative remedy. The case was in relation to records of an encounter between theFirst Minister and Deputy First Minister with aChinese diplomat, which Peeples claimed was part of a widerExecutive policy of non-disclosure that violates theMinisterial Code.[20] Peeples subsequently lodged a complaint with the Information Commissioner about this matter.[21]
Peeples' home in the Glencairn area of the upper Shankill came under attack on 25 July 2025, when a petrol bomb was thrown through a window; loyalists are believed to be responsible.[22]
duringthe Troubles | ||
| Leaders |
| |
| Members and spokesmen | ||
| Related articles | ||
