Red Hand Defenders (RHD)

The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) is a paramilitary group comprised of loyalist extremists who seek to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. The group emerged in 1998, using violence to undermine Irish republican pressure for a united Ireland. Like other loyalist groups, the RHD actively opposes the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and its fellow travelers. The RHD has targeted nationalist civilians, republican politicians, and police personnel across Northern Ireland. The group's small membership of about 20 dissident hardliners comes from organizations who share a similar ideology.

Two other loyalist paramilitary groups, the Ulster Defense Association (UDA) and the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) share close ties with the RHD. The RHD label, in fact, is often considered a cover name for these two older organizations. Moreover, police have expressed skepticism over the RHD's very existence, telling reporters in 2002, “The title Red Hand Defenders has been widely used to claim murders on all sides and is not thought to represent any real organization.”

The group known as the Red Hand Defenders first came to prominence during the Drumcree crisis in July 1998, when the Protestant Orange Order was banned from marching along its annual parade route in Portadown, Northern Ireland. The RHD title was first used when the group claimed responsibility for the killing of a policeman, Frank O'Reilly, during the ensuing violent protests. In the months following the standoff over Drumcree, the group emerged as a growing threat to Northern Ireland's civilian population, refusing to agree to a cease-fire.

The RHD's acts of terror include arson, bombing and murder. It has concentrated on “soft” civilian targets including homes, churches, pubs and hotels. In August 2001, they claimed responsibility for an attempted pipe-bomb attack on the office of Sinn Fein Member of Parliament Martin McGuinness. Just days later, the group attempted a car bomb attack in a street packed with visitors in the town of Ballycastle during a fair. Both operations were foiled by the police.

The RHD has also killed several Catholic citizens in sectarian attacks, which the group justifies as avenging “crimes against the loyalist community.” Most of the group's victims tend to be Catholic because the virtually all of its favored nationalist targets fall into that religious category. But it should be stressed that the motives of the RHD and its affiliates extend beyond religious bigotry, into the political spectrum.

The RHD dealt a serious blow to the Northern Ireland peace process in March 1999, with the car bomb murder of Rosemary Nelson, a prominent lawyer who had acted for several leading republicans. The month prior to her murder, Nelson had been part of a delegation that met Prime Minister Tony Blair in order to resolve issues surrounding the standoff between nationalists/republicans and unionists/loyalists. Nelson's murder was also significant because she was the first prominent victim of a sectarian attack since the passage of the Good Friday Agreement.

In September 2001, the group claimed to have killed a prominent Catholic journalist named Martin O'Hagen in the town of Lurgan, southwest of Belfast. O'Hagen had recently spoken on television about alleged secret ties between Northern Ireland security forces and Protestant terrorist groups, which may have motivated the RHD to act. O'Hagen's murder spawned a police investigation that led then Northern Ireland secretary, John Reid, to rule that members of the UDA and the LVF broke their cease-fires under the cover name of Red Hand Defenders. This ruling however, was seen by most as the end of a false pretense, since violence never stopped in the first place. The RHD possibly killed two other Catholic civilians in unrelated murders in December 2001. And in January 2002, the group issued death threats against Catholic teachers and postal workers. RHD violence was also coupled with consistent warnings from the group that their campaign would escalate and that they considered “all nationalist people as hostile and legitimate targets.”

The Ulster Freedom Fighters condemned these threats in January 2002, calling on the RHD to disband. In issuing this statement, the UFF denied having any connections to the RHD, claiming that RHD actions were deliberately damaging to loyalists: “We will not tolerate any longer the damage that you are doing to the loyalist cause and to the reputation of the UFF.” The next day, the RHD agreed to this call and claimed to have officially stood down. Just three months later however, the supposedly disbanded group claimed responsibility for a nail-bomb attack on the home of a prominent republican.

In February 2003, the RHD distanced itself from the UDA when it claimed responsibility for the murder of a senior UDA member, John Gregg, who is best known for his attempt to assassinate Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in the 1980s. It is believed that Johnny Adair, a UDA brigadier recently expelled from the organization, tipped off an RHD gunman who killed Gregg in a taxi ambush. Adair's hunger for power in the loyalist movement caused a feud in September 2002, when Adair allegedly encouraged assassinations of his fellow UDA men. Gregg's murder marked the zenith of violent tensions between Adair's group and the UDA. The RHD's motive for killing Gregg may have arisen from the UFF's opposition to the group. Regardless, RHD involvement signified an assertion of independence from the organization's roots in the UDA. It also revealed a lack of cohesion in the loyalist movement.

In 2003, the RHD is thought to have continued with sporadic shootings of Catholics and bombing attacks on public establishments such as bars. Although one known member was arrested in June 2001 for a mock bomb threat, several other RHD members are still at large and the organization has claimed responsibility for attacks as recently as September 2004.

Despite divisions in the loyalist movement that suggest weak leadership and organizational structure, those operating under the RHD title still present a threat to Northern Irish nationalists and the ongoing peace process. As for the RHD's future, their operations will most likely continue to be limited to small-scale terrorism in Northern Ireland. Given their region-specific philosophy, there is no indication that the group will pursue attacks elsewhere.

Sources

"LVF link to Red Hand Terrorists,” BBC News, March 16, 1999.

“Northern Ireland's Red Hand Defenders claim journalist killing,” Agence France Presse, Sept. 29, 2001.

“The downfall of Mad Dog Adair,” Observer, Oct. 5, 2003.

“UFF condemns death threats,” BBC News, Jan. 15, 2002.

Bowcott, Owen and Cowan, Rosie “Pretence ends as minister calls UDA's bluff: Loyalist groups used Red Hand Defenders as murder cover,” The Guardian, Oct. 13, 2001.

Jimmy Burns, “N Ireland car bomb killing deals blow to peace process,” Financial Times, March 16, 1999.

Liam Clarke, “Republican held over taxi driver murder,” Sunday Times, April 21, 2002.

Jim Cusack, “Red Hand Defenders could pose threat to North's civilian population …” The Irish Times, Nov. 2, 1998.

Dixon, Paul, Northern Ireland: The Politics of War and Peace, Ireland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.

Martin Fletcher, “RUC officer dies from Drumcree riot wounds,” The Times, Oct. 7, 1998.

Gavin Jennings, “Sinn Fein outrage as Red Hand Defenders claim latest attacks,” Belfast News Letter, Aug. 23, 2001.

Vincent Kearney, “Nationalists escalate Drumcree campaign,” Sunday Times, Jan. 31, 1999.

Garry Kelly,“Loyalist terror group warns Red Hand Defenders,” Press Association, Jan. 15, 2002.

Jackie Mckeown, “Loyalists `behind Lammas blast bid,” Belfast News Letter, Aug. 29, 2001.

Sharon O'Neill ,“Republicans threatened by Red Hand Defenders,” Irish News, April 27, 2002.

Christopher Walker, “Ceasefire confusion after bomb attacks,” The Times, Aug. 30, 2001.

For more information concerning this and other terrorism related issues, please contact [e-mail].

Author(s): Matthew La Rocque

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