Joe Bratty
Joe Bratty (c. 1961 - 31 July 1994) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitant and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast Brigade. The head of UDA activity in the area during one of the organisation's most active phases, Bratty was suspected by security forces of playing a role in, or at least orchestrating, around 15 killings.
Early years
Bratty first came to attention in his native
UDA activity
Eventually, Bratty became head of the UDA in
Bratty, together with Stephen "Inch" McFerran, UDA military commander for the Ormeau area and
In addition to the 5 February Ormeau Road shootings, Bratty's unit was allegedly involved in the murder of Michael Gilbride, a Catholic taxi driver who had settled in the Lower Ormeau area.[9] Gilbride was killed outside his parents' home on Fernwood Street not far from Bratty's Annadale Flats base.[10] Another victim was Donna Wilson, a Protestant and resident of Annadale Flats who had recently moved to the area from Tullycarnet, East Belfast. A number of residents had complained to Bratty in his role as local UDA commander about the noise of her stereo and he assembled a team of ten men armed with baseball bats who broke in, beat her to death (seriously injuring three of her companions) and wrecked the flat. In the end, only a sixty-year-old who had led the complaints to Bratty was charged in relation to Wilson's death.[11] Bratty was also identified as the getaway driver for the attack in which Teresa Clinton, the wife of a Sinn Féin election candidate, was murdered in her Lower Ormeau home.[12] Thomas "Tucker" Annett, one of Bratty's closest lieutenants, was identified as the main gunman although not charged. Annett died on 12 July 1996 as part of an internal UDA dispute when two fellow members of the organisation kicked him to death outside a bar on the Ormeau Road.[12] One of the killers has since been identified as Stephen "Inch" McFerran.[4]
Death
Bratty was first targeted in late 1991 by the
Bratty and Raymond Elder were shot dead by the IRA on 31 July 1994, in an act seen as one of a number of "revenge attacks" immediately prior to the IRA ceasefire. The pair had been drinking in the Kimberley Bar off the Ormeau Road unaware that two gunmen were waiting outside in a van, and both died at the scene of the attack.[15] The gunmen were armed with AK-47 assault rifles.[16] The getaway car was pursued by a Royal Ulster Constabulary vehicle that was in the area but the chase stopped when the police vehicle was impeded by a crowd of republicans.[15][17] Bratty was 33 years old at the time of his death.[18] He left behind a widow and three children. His son was given honorary membership of the Paisley Imperial Blues flute band, the leading UDA-aligned flute band in Scotland, immediately following his father's death.[19]
Reaction
The killing of Bratty was greeted with relief, even by some nationalist residents of the Lower Ormeau normally opposed to violence.[15] However, the aftermath saw three Catholics killed by the UDA in separate attacks with these sparking a series of IRA bomb attacks on loyalist bars, thus bringing about a temporary return to the spiral of tit-for-tat killing.[20] The killings of Bratty and Elder, along with that of Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) leader Ray Smallwoods earlier the same month, played a central role in delaying the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) ceasefire. The CLMC had been considering declaring a ceasefire following the Loughinisland massacre, but reversed their decision after these three killings as they believed that any cessation of violence would have then been seen as a sign of weakness.[21] This was confirmed by the UDP's David Adams, who said the CLMC was ready to call a ceasefire in late June/early July 1994, although his party colleague Gary McMichael admitted the killings of Bratty and Smallwoods convinced him that an IRA ceasefire was near as he felt these were long-standing targets who were being killed before calling a halt to hostilities.[22]
Certain hardline elements with the UDA would later claim that Bratty's killing had been sanctioned by members of the CLMC who were eager to see a ceasefire as Bratty had been an outspoken opponent of the initiative, although these allegations were never proven.[15] Pastor Kenny McClinton, a dissident former UDA gunman who was variously associated with the Ulster Independence Movement, the Loyalist Volunteer Force and the Orange Volunteers, even suggested in a pamphlet that Bratty's killing had been arranged by the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). This was part of a wider theme in McClinton's writing arguing that the PUP was a front for MI5 activity.[23]
Bratty and Elder were commemorated in a wall plaque erected outside the Kimberley Bar. The pub, where the pair had been on the day they were killed, was known as a UDA stronghold in the area.
An August 2014 march commemorating the pair was condemned by both nationalist politicians and the
Notes
- ^ a b c McDonald and Cusack 2004, p. 270
- ^ a b McDonald and Cusack 2004, p.184
- ^ David McKittrick et al, Lost Lives, Mainstream Publishing, 2008, p. 1373
- ^ a b "Guilty plea meant loyalist's double life remained secret". Irish News. Barry McCaffrey. 13 April 2007 retrieved 28 May 2015
- ^ McDonald and Cusack 1997, p. 285
- ^ "Sean Graham massacre full report" (PDF).
- ^ a b McDonald and Cusack 2004, p. 224
- ^ Lister and Jordan 2004 p. 134
- ^ McDonald and Cusack, 2004, p. 238
- ^ Sutton Index of Deaths 1992
- ^ McDonald and Cusack 2004, pp. 238-39
- ^ a b McDonald and Cusack 2004, p. 255
- ^ Lister & Jordan, Mad Dog, p. 104
- ^ McKittrick et al, Lost Lives, p. 1372
- ^ a b c d McDonald and Cusack 2004, p. 269
- ^ Lister &Jordan, Mad Dog, p. 225
- ^ "2 Ulster Protestants Slain Reuters". The New York Times. Reuters. 1 August 1994. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- ^ Loyalists pledge to avenge shootings: Ian MacKinnon finds tension running high in parts of Belfast after the latest sectarian killings, with IRA gunmen promised a 'summary execution'
- ^ Wood 2006, p. 337
- ^ McDonald and Cusack 2004, pp. 259-70
- ^ Taylor 2004, p. 231
- ^ Wood 2006, p. 189
- ^ McDonald and Cusack 2004, p.283
- ^ Wood 2006, pp. 288-89
- ^ Breen, Stephen (16 July 2007). "Why did Order fly flag for my brother's killer?". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- ^ Fitzmaurice, Maurice (2 August 2014). "WW1 Garden 'Has No Link to Terrorism'. Housing Executive Defends Its Funding". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ Kilpatrick, Chris (8 March 1996). "'Disgrace' as UDA Accused of Hijacking Memorial to War Heroes; Residents' Fury at Plaque". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
References
Cusack, Jim; McDonald, Henry (1997). UVF. Dublin: Poolbeg.
Cusack, Jim; McDonald, Henry (2004). UDA: Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror. Dublin: Penguin Ireland.
Lister, David; Jordan, Hugh (2004). Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and C Company. Edinburgh: Mainstream.
Wood, Ian S. (2004). Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.