Sammy Smyth | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1929 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | (aged 46) |
| Cause of death | Assassinated by theProvisional IRA |
| Political party | New Ulster Political Research Group |
| Military career | |
| Paramilitary | Ulster Defence Association |
| Conflict | The Troubles |
Samuel Smyth (c. 1929 – 10 March 1976) was a Northern Irishloyalist activist. A founder member of theUlster Defence Association (UDA) he was the early public face of the movement as the organisation's spokesman, and he later became involved in the group's attempts to politicise. He was assassinated by theProvisional IRA duringthe Troubles. Author Steve Bruce described Smyth as the "sometime editor of theUlster Militant and a loose cannon who enjoyed an exciting and erratic relationship with the UDA".[1]
Smyth was a native of Louisa Street inBelfast, a loyalistinterface area street which linked theCrumlin Road to the Oldpark Road and which faced "the Bone", a Catholic area at the bottom ofArdoyne.[2] According to Smyth the area was regularly attacked by republicans from Ardoyne throwingnail bombs and shooting, and that in response he organised local men into a vigilante group. The group erected barriers on Louisa Street although these were removed by theBritish Army, which had a base in the area.[3] In his youth he had worked atHarland & Wolff shipyard.[4]
Smyth attended and addressed meetings at Aberdeen Street school on theShankill Road which were organised byAlan Moon, who had a similar group in that area. Several of these groups from across Belfast met and agreed to pool their resources, leading to the formation of theUlster Defence Association (UDA) in September 1971.[5] Smyth, who was a community worker in the Lower Oldpark area and who was considered articulate, was the first public spokesman for the new movement. His first engagement came in 1972 when he appeared, wearing a mask, on a television debate withJohn Hume, warning him of a "Protestant backlash" against the recent formation of theSocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).[6]
Smyth's rhetoric at this time was noted for its extremism. He reacted to an interview withDáithí Ó Conaill published in the press by stating "at that moment in time I could have, without a twinge of conscience, bombed every well-filled chapel in Belfast".[7] He also edited a news sheet entitledUlster Militant which urged war onrepublicans and their "passive sympathisers" by the emerging UDA.[7] The journal also repeated claims, which had initially appeared earlier in theProtestant Telegraph, that theEaster Rising had been personally blessed byPope Benedict XV as well as allegations of Smyth's own devising that the green, white and orange colours of theFlag of Ireland had been chosen to represent thePapacy rather thanThomas Davis's desire that Protestant and Catholic should unite in peace and thatJames Connolly, the socialist activist whoseIrish Citizen Army had taken part in the 1916 Rising, had been ordained as a priest in theRoman Catholic Church.[8]
All of this was despite the fact that Smyth's previous community work had seen him participate in a number of projects involving Catholics and Protestants, particularly with regards to housing.[6] As chairman of the Lower Shankill Community Association he had even spoke at events atUniversity College Dublin andUniversity College Galway.[4] He briefly enrolled atQueen's University Belfast around 1974 as a mature student but did not stay long.[4]
Smyth took up the cause of recruitment for the UDA, and travelled around Belfast and beyond securing new members for the organisation.[7] However he was seen as lacking any military ability and as the UDA increasingly moved from vigilantism to sectarian killings his input became less important and he was sidelined.[7] His position of leadership had effectively ended by 1973, by which time other early leaders such as Jim Anderson, had also been pushed aside with power lying firmly in the hands ofCharles Harding Smith andTommy Herron.[9]
As the UDA's public spokesman, Smyth was a prominent figure in the May 1974Ulster Workers' Council strike and he produced the daily bulletin of theUlster Workers' Council (UWC) for the duration of the strike withVanguard Unionist Progressive Party politicianDavid Trimble.[10] Following theDublin and Monaghan bombings, which were carried out by theUlster Volunteer Force (UVF) during the strike, Smyth told the media "I am very happy about the bombings in Dublin. There is a war with the Free State and now we are laughing at them".[11] The outcry which followed Smyth's statements on the bombings saw him disciplined by the UDA – in the form of a punishment beating – before being formally removed as UDA spokesman.[12]
In the aftermath of the strike,Andy Tyrie added Smyth to his new political initiative, theNew Ulster Political Research Group (NUPRG), reasoning that the articulate Smyth could be of use in raising the profile of the UDA and helping to secure funding from overseas.[13] Smyth emphasised the working class nature of the UDA and was highly critical of the mainstreamunionist politicians, adopting a siege mentalitypopulism similar to that endorsed by someWhite nationalist populists in the southern United States, albeit with a Protestant rather than a white identity as the basis and Catholics rather than African-Americans as the out-group.[14]
As part of his taste forpopulism and community politics, Smyth advocated the establishment of a Community Convention to be made of delegates from interested parties such as community groups, trade unions and paramilitaries although he did not reveal what purpose he had in mind for this body and in the event it was not adopted as an official UDA or NUPRG policy.[15]
In 1974, Smyth appeared on an edition ofWeekend World alongsideWilliam Craig andRuairí Ó Brádaigh debating the future of Northern Ireland. On air the two paramilitaries agreed that they both felt alienation from mainstream politics, whilst in a discussion off air Smyth intimated to Ó Brádaigh that he might be amenable to the notion of a federal Ireland, something that was central to Ó Brádaigh's ownÉire Nua policy.[16]
In the late summer of 1975, a group of American academics and businesspeople with Irish links organised a conference inAmherst, Massachusetts to discuss the future of Northern Ireland. Although they sent out invitations to several leading political and paramilitary figures few chose to attend, with the exception ofIrish Republican Socialist Party leaderSeamus Costello and the ReverendMartin Smyth, the Grand Master of theOrange Institution. The invitation was refused by the Ulster Volunteer Force whilst Provisional IRA representatives who accepted were refused entry visas; however, the UDA sent a delegation made up ofAndy Tyrie,Glenn Barr and Sammy Smyth. Whilst the delegation pushed the ideals ofUlster nationalism, which was found favour with the UDA at that point, during the debates Smyth's main contribution was to argue that the civil rights that had dominatednationalist rhetoric was as applicable to Protestants as it was to Catholics.[17]
Smyth was interviewed byThe News Letter in 1976 and he discussed the formation and development of the then legal UDA in some detail with the paper.[18] Around the same time he gave an interview toThe Gown in which he endorsed sectarian killings, arguing that "war exists in Northern Ireland and in a war situation there are no innocent people" before adding that "there will be no room for R.C.s [Roman Catholics] in a new state".[19] Despite these pronouncements Smyth had returned to his earlier interests in housing advocacy and was again working on behalf of some Catholics.[7] He was a regular visitor to the staunchly republicanNew Lodge area where he was involved in housing issues.[4] For his own part Smyth had moved to Downshire Park East in theCregagh area of east Belfast.[4]
In 1976, Smyth was caught in the crossfire of aloyalist feud between the UDA and the UVF which had its roots in the UWC strike and which had continued on and off ever since. In early 1976 Smyth, who was still acting as spokesman for the UDA on an occasional basis, was attacked at his home by members of the UVF and, whilst he was able to prevent them from entering the house, he still suffered minor injuries in the attack.[20]
On 10 March 1976, Smyth was shot and killed by the Provisional IRA whilst he visited his sister on Alliance Avenue in Ardoyne. He was 46 years old.[21]