thousands gathered in the area for the annual Brian Robinson march. The UVF gunman was shot dead by undercover soldiers in Crumlin Road in September 1989, minutes after he was witnessed murdering Catholic Paddy McKenna in the Ardoyne shops. The paramilitary gang honors him every year on the first weekend of September with a huge parade organized by the B Company unit. Saturday’s event featured 54 bands, with many traveling from as far as Scotland and Liverpool. They were cheered on by thousands of supporters who packed the Shankill Road. The parade is usually organized by UVF commander Winkie Irvine, who was Robinson’s brother-in-law, but there was no sign of the leading loyalist. Sources say he is on a low profile because he is accused of possessing a firearm and more than 200 rounds of ammunition that police found in the trunk of his car in June. Prominent loyalists Tommy Harrison and Ian ‘Spud’ Wilson, who were friends of Brian Robinson, were seen on the Shankill yesterday. In a statement, victims and survivors group South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) slammed the march. “It is wrong for any public marching band to bear the name of someone who has been involved in terrorism (whether Republican or loyalist). “We do not rejoice in anyone’s death, the events of that day were tragic, but there is no justification for naming a marching band after someone who committed religious murder. “And to those who will participate in today’s event or to those who would condone it. You have zero moral justification for calling Irish Republicans terrorists when they display the pagan displays of terrorism. “People need to wise up once and for all. Every family has the right to mourn their loved one regardless of their actions in life, however there is no right for the idolatry of terror and violence in the public space and it must be eradicated from our society. “Killing thy neighbor was never ‘for God and Ulster.’ This mantra belongs to those who have shown self-restraint and who have never abandoned the fundamental principle of the sanctity of human life.” The killing of the UVF man 33 years ago is one of the most controversial of the issues because the undercover soldier who shot him watched him murder Paddy McKenna. They chased Robinson, who was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by Davy McCullough, before stabbing and shooting them both. As Robinson lay on the ground, he was hit in the back of the head with a bullet. Believers believe he was killed to ease pressure from the government over Republican allegations of a shooting to kill. In 1988, the previous year, SAS troops killed three IRA members in Gibraltar. This followed the killing of eight Provo gunmen in Loughgall in 1987. Robinson’s friends are convinced it was set up by UVF agents and Paddy McKenna’s murder was allowed to take place to make the army “look good”. When news of his death reached his mother, Margaret, she dropped dead of a massive heart attack. The SEFF added: “There have been claims over the years by some that Brian Robinson was set up and Paddy McKenna was left to die to ‘make the army look good’. “Whatever the accuracy or otherwise of this allegation (which remains unproven), the fact remains that it was Brian Robinson and no one else who fired 11 bullets into the body of another man causing his death – Paddy McKenna…” [email protected]
